Tatas roll out SUV Hexa for Rs 12 lakh

Tata Motors, which has been struggling with its car business in recent years, on Wednesday launched the much-awaited SUV, Hexa, positioning it as a lifestyle off- roader with a price starting at Rs 12.08 lakh. The introductory price goes up to Rs 17.43 lakh for the top-end automatic version.

The Hexa is powered with an advanced 2.2-litre Varicor 400 diesel engine which offers 156 PS (horsepower) and is coupled with a 6 speed G-85 transmission for smooth power and torque delivery.

The SUV is being rolled out from Tata Motors' Pune plant, and comes in six variants - three each in manual and automatic options and offers an ARAIcertified fuel efficiency of 14.4 kmpl. The company expects the Hexa model to take on industry leader Innova, Mahindra XUV 500, Renault's Duster, Hyundai's Creta and Maruti's Ertiga.

Launching the seven-seater vehicle, Tata Motors Managing Director and Chief Executive Guenter Butschek described the Hexa as the flagship model. The Hexa is the fourth model and the first all-new SUV under its revival plan tagged as HorizonNext strategy launched around five years ago.

Based on Tata Motors' 'Impact Design' philosophy which uses elements created across Tata Motors Design studios in Britain, Italy and India, the Hexa is the second model from this platform after the compact car Tiago launched last April.

Mayank Pareek, Tata Motors President for passenger cars business unit said, ``We want to break the clutter. There are so many vehicles in the market that claim to be SUUVs/UVs. With the Hexa we want to give both the feel of an SUV and the comfort and style of a sedan.''