Tata Sumo Gold gets a facelift

Faced with dwindling sales, Tata Motors has lined up a slew of refreshed models for the Indian car market. Essentially, these facelifts are tweaked versions of Tata Motors's existing line of passenger cars. While full model changes will happen over the next few years, the facelifts are aimed at keeping the car buyer interested in Tata products. One such car model is the facelifted Sumo Gold, an MUV that is Tata Motors's mainstay in the people mover category. 

While the Mahindra Bolero MUV and its derivatives manage monthly numbers of about 10,000 units, the Tata Sumo continues to play catch up, selling just a fifth of the Bolero's numbers. To wean buyers away from the Bolero camp, Tata Motors has readied up a facelifted version of the Sumo Gold. With 19 new features, the Sumo Gold GX is pitted straight at the Mahindra Bolero ZLX. This is evident from the marketing material from Tata Motors, highlighting the various advantages of the Sumo Gold over the Bolero. 

The Sumo Gold GX variant gets a facelift on the outside with various cosmetic bits and pieces coming together in a bid to create some more appeal in what is essentially a two decade old MUV. On the visual front, the Sumo Gold GX gets new features such as blacked out B and C pillars, a mascot on the tail gate, body graphics, wheel covers and two new colours: Blazing Red and Twilight Gray. On the whole, it would take a discerning eye to spot out the changes to the facelifted Sumo Gold's exteriors.

On the inside, the MUV gets roof mounted air conditioning, a factory fitted stereo player with USB and Bluetooth support, a center console with wood trim, one-touch driver-side power window and a mobile phone holder on the dashboard. A prominent change on the mechanical front concerns the hydraulic clutch, whose size has increased by 20 mm, to 260 mm. While these are the initial details, more could be revealed during the actual launch that will happen later today.

On the engine and gearbox front, things seem to be unchanged. The 3 liter CR4 turbo diesel motor, good for 84 Bhp-250 Nm is mated to a five speed manual gearbox as standard. The other engine on offer is a BS3 version of the 3 liter turbo diesel engine, which comes in non-common rail guise. The 3 liter TCIC engine produces 68 Bhp-223 Nm. The images in this story are courtesy a leaked Tata Motors dealer learning kit, as seen on MotorBeam. 

Update: The Tata Sumo Gold facelift starts at 5.83 lakh rupees, ex-showroom Delhi.