Tata Harrier SUV: 7 Features We Want

Tata has officially announced that it has christened its upcoming SUV the ‘Harrier.’ And if the teaser images are anything to go by, the SUV is set to be a looker, true to the claim that aesthetically, it will be 80 per cent similar to the concept. The 5-seater SUV will rival the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Jeep Compass and the Mahindra XUV 500. Though Tata has been known to name its under-development cars after birds of prey, it is the first time a production model will bear the name of a predatory bird or jump jet. Also, judging by the relentless spy shots and release of teaser images, we can state that we will see the production model sooner than we had initially thought. 

Here are our two cents on what features we think the Harrier should get. 

Six airbags

Safety is of utmost importance in any vehicle and the Harrier should be no exception. Its rivals do offer six airbags, but on the top of the line variants only. The Creta only offers the safety feature on the SX(O) variant while the Compass gets six airbags in the Limited Option variants only, priced at Rs 21.94 lakh(2.0 diesel) and Rs 20.5 lakh (1.4 petrol) respectively. It would be great to see Tata offer 6 airbags as standard. After all, Toyota does offer seven airbags as standard on the Yaris. If not as standard then at least the middle variants onwards. This could make the car a bit expensive but will showcase Tata’s commitment to occupant safety while setting a benchmark for the segment.

Panoramic Sunroof

Indian consumers love bragging rights and nothing beats a sunroof to serve that purpose. While its rivals already offer sunroofs, the Harrier could trump them if Tata decides to go one-up witha panoramic sunroof! It would not only contribute towards some serious street cred but would also make the Harrier the only SUV in its segment to have one.

4x4 and off-road ready

The Harrier is based on the same platform that also underpins the Land Rover Discovery Sport, so it is more than capable of supporting a 4x4 drivetrain with some serious off-roading capabilities. Needless to say, we expect Tata to do justice to the LR platform and offer a 4x4 variant of the Harrier that feels as much at home off the road than on it. Differential lock, low ratio box et al.

Touchscreen infotainment system

Why do we have this here? Well, it is a no brainer that the Harrier will come with a touchscreen infotainment system. And hopefully it will be equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. We hope it works seamlessly, unlike the one on the Nexon that has a fair bit of lag between input and response time.

Front parking sensors

The Harrier will most likely be equipped with rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. But front parking sensors would be a great value addition. Especially given the size of the vehicle, front sensors will help drivers navigate tight spaces with relative ease. The Toyota Yaris offers front parking sensors as part of its features, so there’s no reason why the Harrier shouldn’t.

Adaptive cruise control

Now we venture into the slightly unrealistic territory. Yes, it would be great if Tata could offer adaptive cruise control on the Harrier. Again, it would make the car more expensive, but how cool is that. 

Transform into a robot?

Since we are in the unrealistic territory, why not? After all, the H5X concept they showed at the Expo does look like it could transform into Iron Hide at any moment. For Cybertron.