Q.Tata Hexa, is it really more than just an updated Tata Aria?

The Tata Hexa was showcased first at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. It is what the Tata Aria should have been in the first place. While the Tata Aria's looks didn't go down well with everybody, the Tata Hexa does look the part of an aggressive crossover. Tata's woes with the Aria were two-fold - lacklustre looks and expensive pricing at launch. Despite price corrections and updates, the Tata Aria never caught on. It has sold in pathetic numbers - sometimes as low as 5 units a month. I mean, with such sales numbers, your chances of spotting a luxury car are far higher than spotting a Tata Aria on the road. Added to that, Tata's insistence on a "family" look for the Aria ended up with the crossover looking like an oversized Indica. But all that could change with the Tata Hexa, based on its looks alone. If you were not familiar with the Tata Aria's looks, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Tata Hexa is an all new vehicle. Look closely and you will recognize it as a heavily re-skinned Tata Aria, especially when viewed in profile. However, the front and rear of the Tata Hexa are all new. In fact, it's heartening to see that not much has changed from the concept that was shown in Geneva to the actual production model. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1010[/ATTACH] Viewed from the front, the Tata Hexa looks fairly menacing. It now has proper aggressive SUV looks compared to the earlier Aria. The swept-back twin-beam projector headlamps look mean. The grille stretching right across the front, with hexagonal slats adds to that tough look. And the redesigned clam-shell type bonnet with a power bulge in the centre give this crossover some much-needed heft. The lower portion of the bumper with the air dam, fog lamps and LED daytime running lamps (in the actual production version), makes the Hexa quite a good looking vehicle. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1011[/ATTACH] The rear of the Tata Hexa is now quite pleasing. Gone are the tall tower tail-lights that made the Tata Aria look like an Indica or Indigo Marina. The new tail-lamp design on the Tata Hexa, wrapping around the boot lid horizontally, connected by a thick strip of chrome, makes the Hexa look quite like an SUV from the rear. The boomerang shaped reverse lamps and reflectors in the bumper, along with the skid plate and dual exhausts add to that tough, yet pleasing, look at the rear. The blacked out D pillars and squared off design of the boot hatch reduce visual bulk at the rear. The spare wheel, as before, is under the boot floor. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1012[/ATTACH] It's only when you look at the Tata Hexa in profile, that you will recognize the familiar Tata Aria silhouette. That too has been worked on quite a bit. If you look at the third row windows, for instance, Tata has managed to give the Hexa a floating roof effect. The last row windows are fixed shut though. The use of cladding, wrapping around the wheel arches, the 17-inch wheels and blacked out window-line give the Hexa a more pleasing look compared to the Aria. The giveaways though are the mirror stalks and the wiper design, carried over from the Aria. Dimensionally, not much as changed.