Tata Aria Launched in India

Mumbai, Oct 12 (ANI): Tata Motors launched the first Indian crossover four-wheeler called the Tata Aria.

Tata Motors on Monday (11/10/2010) launched the much-awaited Tata Aria, which the company claims is the country’s first ever cross-over car that straddles a sport utility and multi-utility vehicle. Tata Aria, which is a mingling of the refinement of sedan and the sturdiness of a SUV, is priced between Rs 12.91 lakhs to Rs 15.50 lakhs. Aria, the most expensive cars of Tata so far, will help the auto giant compete with Toyota and Mahindra. However, Aria still has to convince the market that it is better than Toyota’s Innova and Mahindra’s Xylo. The car will be made available in 25 cities through 69 dealerships.

"Tata Aria is the first Indian crossover which has got the finesse of a sedan and the stability and rigidity of a sports utility vehicle," said R. Ramkrishnan, Vice-President (Commercial and Passenger Vehicles) at Tata motors. "It’s got many features, which are the first in India. It’s got a four-disk brake, an electronic stability program which will keep the vehicle on track even in panic braking, an electronic brake distribution, which will ensure that even in different steer conditions it maintains the vehicle’s steered trajectory so that the passengers and the drivers are safe," he added.

The company said the car would shortly be exported to Europe followed by Latin America and Asia. "The car has been designed to be in line with European standards and meets the Euro V emission norms," said Tata Motors managing director for India operations PM Telang. "By next year, we will come up with a left-hand drive version of the vehicle (for exports)," he added at the launch of the six-seater car the price for which will be announced later this evening. However, it is speculated that that it will be tagged in around Rs. 15 lakh or even more. Telang further informed that the company would be launching the Aria in Italy, Spain and Poland, where the company is already present.

Chief executive and managing director Carl-Peter Forster said the company, the largest auto company in the country and the fifth one globally, would export the vehicle to Latin America and Asia as well. The Aria is being launched in three trim levels, all with selectable Adapterra 4x4 - the Aria Pride at the top end, the Aria Prestige and the Aria Pleasure.

The prices of the Aria are (All prices are ex-showroom in Rs. lakh)

Ruling out any joint production between Tata Motors and JLR in the immediate future, Forster said the management is looking at the possibility of combining the individual strengths of both the companies. R&D and engineering head Timothy Leverton said the company has used the expertise of interior designers of its European arm JLR, the British marque brands which the Tatas bought a few years back, to do the interiors of the Aria.

To a question, Forster said, the company is not looking at entering the US market, which he said is the toughest market in the world, and hence would need hefty investment. To another query, he said, by next year, the company would roll out one model of the premium Land Rover from a local assembly unit in the country. The Aria, which will compete with the imported counterparts like the Honda CRV, Chevrolet Captiva, Audi Q9 and Mitsubishi Outlander-all priced above Rs. 17 lakhs-comes with an array of features and safety measures like the electronic stability programme (ESP) to avoid accidents, six airbags and all four wheel drive. Tata Motors said the 2.2-L Aria, which will be available in three trims - Pride at the top end, and the Prestige and the Pleasure, each in eight colour options. The company claims the Aria is the country’s first four-wheel drive crossover, that offers the luxury and the finesse of a sedan and the muscle of an SUV.

The Aria Adapterra 4x4 is a torque-on-demand system that helps distribute the torque evenly to all four wheels, which helps in maintaining grip and stability, both on and off the road. The Aria, which will be rolled out from the Pune plant of the company, offers three-rows of flexible theatre-style seating, with leather upholstery. It is the first in its segment with an in-dash GPS-based navigation system that maps 400 cities. The car will be sold through 69 dealers in 25 cities.