Tata Harrier Bookings Open At Rs 30,000; Launch Early Next Year

The Tata Harrier has been making headlines ever since it debuted in its concept form at the 2018 Auto Expo. This time around, it’s because Tata has officially started accepting bookings of the Harrier for a token amount of Rs 30,000. With the launch scheduled for next year, most likely in January, there’s still three months for the SUV to go on sale. Starting the bookings this early will help Tata estimate the demand for the Harrier, which will enable the company to streamline production. The Harrier will rival the likes of the Jeep Compass and the Mahindra XUV500, and will be priced close to the Rs 17 lakh mark.

At the expo, Tata had promised us that the production version would look very similar to the stunning H5X concept. And from the looks of the teaser videos and spy pictures, we can say with some certainty that the key design elements have been retained. The wide front grille, the headlining DRLs, low mounted headlamps and a tall bonnet are all there. From the side, the SUV gets a rising shoulder line towards which, along with the kink in the roof, gives it a very sporty character. Another aspect of the concept that we loved was the tail section with the sharply raked windscreen and the connected tail lamps. Although the production-spec SUV seems to sport conventional yet sleek LED tail lamps, the windscreen design has been retained. The wheels look like they could be 17- or 18-inch five-spoke units sitting under large squared-off wheel arches.

The Harrier will feature a premium cabin with a large floating touchscreen display. The centre console gets a very clean layout and the drive mode selector position too is the same as in the concept, i.e. just ahead of the gear lever on a floating platform. The Harrier will also feature a big MID display between two analogue dials in the instrument cluster.

The Harrier will be a five-seat SUV derived from the Land Rover Discovery Sport’s platform, which Tata likes to call the Omega Arc. Powering the SUV will be a 2.0-litre diesel engine which Tata calls ‘Kryotec’. This unit is more or less a re-engineered Multijet 2.0-litre diesel sourced from FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automotive). This engine can also be found under the bonnet of the Jeep Compass and produces 173PS of power and 350Nm of torque. In the Harrier, we expect the engine to be tuned to produce around  150PS.

With three months to launch and the SUV not yet revealed officially, would you consider booking it? Let us know in the comments below.