Indian automaker Tata Motors is soon going to give the Harrier SUV -- its latest offering in the market -- a dual tone paint scheme. Many industry experts and observers believe that the company has been forced to do so amid increased rivalry in the segment after the launch of the competitively-priced MG Hector. A couple of teaser videos have surfaced on the internet hinting at dual tone paint scheme for the SUV. At present, Harrier gets dual tone paint schemes from Tata dealers through aftermarket route. However, once the automaker begins to offer this paint scheme as factory-finished option, a lot of buyers are likely to opt for it.
It is a normal practice for carmakers these days to offer dual-tone paint schemes on their top variants and Tata Motors has followed this approach with the Nexon compact SUV as well that gets a slew of contrast roof options in multiple colors. This makes Nexon quite attractive and a similar effect is likely to happen on the Harrier as well.
Tata had recently increased the prices of Harrier. This may well be good news for buyers as Tata Motors won't go for another major price hike following the addition of a dual tone paint scheme. We expect that the prices of the car with dual tone would go up by Rs. 20,000. With British brand MG adopting an aggressive pricing strategy for Hector and Kia also entering the market with Seltos, Tata Motors will avoid any adventure with pricing in a closely-fought segment.
We believe that Tata should soon come out with an automatic gearbox option for Harrier to gain edge over rivals who are now launching feature-laden cars to challenge the Indian carmaker. The automatic gearbox will be a 6-speed torque converter unit that Tata will take from Hyundai. The Harrier automatic will use the same 2-liter Fiat MultiJet turbocharged diesel engine. The engine's power and torque outputs could be revised to 170 Bhp and 350 Nm in the automatic variant that is likely to comply with Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) emission norms right from launch.
The engine will be re-tuned for the manual Harrier variants as well in near future when Tata revamps its range of cars to meet the upcoming BS6 emission norms. The increase in power would bring Harrier on par with rivals such as MG Hector and Jeep Compass. All these cars use the same engine in 170 Bhp-350 Nm state of tune. Tata is soon going to launch a 7-seat version of the Harrier called Cassini. It will be launched by the end of this year. A near-production edition of Tata Cassini was showcased at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show and the SUV gets a distinctive body quite different from the Harrier.