Tata Harrier goes on sale from today with prices starting at Rs 12.69 lakh

Tata Motors' Harrier is all set to go on sale from Wednesday. With prices starting from Rs 12.69 lakh to Rs 16.25 lakh, the five-seater SUV will compete with the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Creta and the Mahindra XUV500. 

With competitive pricing, the Harrier takes on the rivals head-on. While the Compass is priced at Rs 15.40 lakh to Rs 22.90 lakh, the Creta prices start at Rs 9.60 lakh, going up to Rs 15.64 lakh, and the XUV 500 is priced from Rs 12.65 lakh to Rs 19 lakh.

"The Harrier is a gamechanger for Tata Motors," said Guenter Butschek, chief executive and managing director at the firm, adding that it will take the brand perception of Tata Motors a notch higher.

Tata Motors launch the new SUV Harrier in Mumbai (Photo by Kamlesh Pednekar)

"The Harrier is a category-defining model," said Mayank Pareek, president, passenger vehicle business unit at Tata Motors, adding that the company has got a better-than-expected response and is already sitting on a backlog of orders for three months. Tata Motors commenced bookings for the model from 15 October 2018. 

With the Harrier, Tata Motors is looking for significant gains in India's competitive utility vehicle market where its share in the first nine months of the current financial year stands at 10.84 per cent over a year ago period, according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). 

Mayank pareek, president-passenger vehicle business unit, Tata motors and Guenter Butschek, CEO and MD, Tata Motors launch the new SUV Harrier in Mumbai (Photo by Kamlesh Pednekar)

SUVs account for 27 per cent share in the 2.5 million passenger vehicle market in India. Of this, close to 20 per cent is contributed by compact SUVs, said Pareek, pointing out that a shortening product life cycle means there is a lot of room for segmentation in the SUV market.

Powered by the 2.0-litre turbocharged diesel from Fiat Chrysler Automobile India, the model has a six-speed manual gearbox. While there’s no four-wheel drive, the Harrier does get ESP-based ‘Terrain Response’ modes — normal, wet and rough road.