Tata Motors is collaborating with Chery Automobile to launch a new SUV in India which will rival the Hyundai Creta.
China’s Chery Automobile will be entering the Indian market in collaboration with Tata Motors and the automakers are working on a new compact SUV that will compete against the likes of the Hyundai Creta. This new SUV will be positioned between the Nexon and Harrier and will be a very important product.
Tata Motors has been working on the Blackbird (H4) SUV but this isn’t compatible with the Alfa and Omega platforms that the automaker currently uses for its new vehicles and hence Chery will provide the platform for the vehicle now. Downsizing the Omega platform doesn’t make sense because it would require a lot of expenses and engineering.
Stretching the Alfa platform was an option for Tata but this platform cannot support large wheels and for the new SUV, the minimum wheel diameter would be 700 mm to get the right proportions and stance. The Alfa platform is more suited to a sub-4-metre SUV.
Chery Automobile has a lot of platforms from Tiggo 2 to Tiggo 5 that can accommodate a variety of SUVs but it is unclear which platform will be used by Tata. For this shared platform, both the companies will build separate bodyshells but things like the suspension and powertrains will be shared and this will lead to huge cost savings.
Tata-Chery Compact SUV
– The new compact SUV will be based on Chery’s platform
– It will rival the Hyundai Creta, Nissan Kicks and Renault Duster
– Launch expected in 2021
Source – AutocarIndia.com
