[PAVAN KADAM]

AFAIK, The new Safari will hit Indian roads only by Mid 2013.

Till then there will be some serious competition for Innova and Tavera, with the new MUV lauch in Mid 2009

So Safari Lovers till then... Enjoy

[BurningHeart]

Originally Posted by gshanky

May be it's just me. I like the prototype better

IMVHO, it's a design disaster, as far as the integration of the front end elements go.

The hip-lines dont flow with the wind screen rake angle. Its nose-dive into the bonnet is steep and the worst is the geometry of the front windscreen is far too convex (almost like a big gum bubble about to burst!).

The bonnet reminds me of some American marquees (is that Dodge?) and the front 3/4 view (see this: Spy Photos: Tata chystá vlastní crossover. Pøíjde i do Evropy? | AUTO.CZ), resembles like a parcel delivery wan (reminiscent of Ford Transit of the UK!) and huge amounts of blank spaces between the grill and the lower air dams (if they are meant to be that!!). And it looks so plasticky, eeeks!!

And look at the overall size. Its just huge and if you couldnt drive many an Innova to work, how will this work? Length of 4.85 Meters and Wheelbase of 2.85 Meters and 3 point turns in Bangalore roads!

My God, this sucks!

BH.

[The_Warrior]

If this is the new Safari then i guess i'll have to hurry up and buy the safari which is currently being manfactured. I don't want to be stuck with an UGLY looking vehicle

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

IMVHO, it's a design disaster, as far as the integration of the front end elements go.

The hip-lines dont flow with the wind screen rake angle. Its nose-dive into the bonnet is steep and the worst is the geometry of the front windscreen is far too convex (almost like a big gum bubble about to burst!).

The bonnet reminds me of some American marquees (is that Dodge?) and the front 3/4 view (see this: Spy Photos: Tata chystá vlastní crossover. Pøíjde i do Evropy? | AUTO.CZ), resembles like a parcel delivery wan (reminiscent of Ford Transit of the UK!) and huge amounts of blank spaces between the grill and the lower air dams (if they are meant to be that!!). And it looks so plasticky, eeeks!!

And look at the overall size. Its just huge and if you couldnt drive many an Innova to work, how will this work? Length of 4.85 Meters and Wheelbase of 2.85 Meters and 3 point turns in Bangalore roads!

My God, this sucks!

BH.

I don't have any illusions. I would straight away call this and similar vehicles as miny vans as they call in the US of A. Most of the mini vans are 4 wheel drive equipped so it is nothing new if the crossover comes with 4WD.

No offense. But if you are calling this one as ugly, which among the competition is the beauty? Currently the only mini van in india is Innova. And I guess Tata Crossover compares ok with it. If the crossover comes with a better build quality and good cruising abilities with a comfortable ride, I guess it would be a success. But it would mostly depend on how it is going to be priced. If the top end variant is less than 10 lakhs that would be golden!

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

AFAIK, The new Safari will hit Indian roads only by Mid 2013.

Till then there will be some serious competition for Innova and Tavera, with the new MUV lauch in Mid 2009

So Safari Lovers till then... Enjoy

Now that Tata owns Land-rover. They should just localize and launch the Defender 110 County Wagon rather than waste money developing a new Safari. Basically the strategy should be to offer a coil sprung version of the Sumo Grand for the replacement for the low end Safari buyers and offer the defender for the High end Safari buyers.

[chaxy]

I am shocked to see these Xover pics. Why are they just trying to copy Innova? I am sure they can do a better job on a project and budget ike this to build a innovative product. Moreover the Tata guys seem to have screwed up with the Grande also. Safari which was designed in 1997-98 has much better design aesthetics than these new models that Tata is launching. The only thing that they seem to have done well in this space is developing the 2.2 Vtt engine.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by chaxy

I am shocked to see these Xover pics. Why are they just trying to copy Innova? I am sure they can do a better job on a project and budget ike this to build a innovative product. Moreover the Tata guys seem to have screwed up with the Grande also. Safari which was designed in 1997-98 has much better design aesthetics than these new models that Tata is launching. The only thing that they seem to have done well in this space is developing the 2.2 Vtt engine.

I thought the initial prototypes of xover resembled a little of Mercedes crossovers R class. But the latest test mule is more innova


Moreover, xover and indiva are two different models catering to the same / similar customer segment. Not sure where they are going with this.

[dvswift]

Originally Posted by gshanky

I thought the initial prototypes of xover resembled a little of Mercedes crossovers R class. But the latest test mule is more innova


Moreover, xover and indiva are two different models catering to the same / similar customer segment. Not sure where they are going with this.

I tend to believe that the Xover and Indiva are one and the same. The Xover tends to borrow the headlamp from the Indica Vista and the rear has the trademark vertical tail lamps of Tata (probably Grande was the only exception).

The sad aspect is that Tata are focused on making a POPULAR vehicle - so their vehicles don't stand out to have a design character. Safari is just the exception in this case. Hope they're listening.

[sajo]

Saw this body being take somewhere on the back of a lorry today morning, while on my way to the office.



Apologies for the quality of the pic, as it was taken from a moving bus, through its tinted glasses.

[gshanky]

Tatas upgraded Indigo, Mahindra came out with new Boleros. Now it is time for Ingenio and Crossover along with the face lifted Innova. It is getting very exciting!

[abhi1309]

That looks like the Indiva to me, the one displayed at the Geneva motor show few years back.

[gshanky]

I think Indiva and Crossover are two different vehicles. Indiva is supposed to be the shortest 7 seater a la Indigo CS for sedans.

But I am disappointed with the Crossover in that they could not differentiate it from looking like an Innova. I am sure it is definitely not a replacement for the Safari. It is a new segment for TATA. Minivan anyone?

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by sajo

Saw this body being take somewhere on the back of a lorry today morning, while on my way to the office. Apologies for the quality of the pic, as it was taken from a moving bus, through its tinted glasses.

Well done James Bond!

From the pic, the D pillar integration with the luggage area glass looks horrible.

[shortbread]

I think the luggage glassa area will look much better once the door frames are blackened instead of being body coloured.

Now seeing the prototype pics and the shared components like the Safari platform, engine, indica headlamps, one assumes that this will be very competitively priced like all Tatas are. Therefore perhaps along the lines of the Innova if not cheaper considering how good the Toyota still is and also the Ingenio is coming out soon as well. But if they do price it in the lets say 7 - 9 lacs range it will take on their own Sumo grande, which hasnt exactly set the sales chart on fire.

Or will the Grande's prices be dropped to create space for the Xover?

[Steeroid]

I dont know - the new Tata designs all look rather funny. It started with the stuff they started doing to the Safari to make the 2.2 look different (radically redesigned spare wheel cover!) and went overboard on the misshapen Sumo Grande that ended up looking like a really ugly Sumo wrestler. Then came the 'New' Indica which ends up looking like an overweight Indica on the roads, and now this thing.

Perhaps they're overloading the chap who designed the Ace and the Nano - its beginning to show.