Tata Motors officially names H5X SUV as Harrier; to be launched in Q1 2019

Harrier is being developed in collaboration with its marque British arm Jaguar Land Rover

Tata Motors on Wednesday said its much-awaited compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) will be called 'Harrier', which is being developed in collaboration with its marque British arm Jaguar Land Rover.

This five-seater monocoque SUV is engineered on the new generation platform and was unveiled at the Auto Expo 2018 as the H5X concept. The commercial launch will take place in the first quarter of 2019.

The Harrier sports sleek looks and dynamism, and offers "a glimpse of the future generation of Tata Motors vehicles in terms of styling, technology and performance capabilities," the company said in a statement.

The Harrier is the first vehicle to sport the 'Impact design 2.0' philosophy and future-ready connectivity and best-in-class infotainment.

Driven by the success of its first compact SUV, Nexon, and also new cars like the sedan Tigor and the compact car Tiago, Tata Motors has made a strong comeback since its lows.

In the market share sweepstake in June, it pushed down Mahindra to become the No. 3 automaker. Last year itself, Tata Motor had overtaken Honda Cars to become the No. 4 player.

"Its architecture is derived from the legendary Land Rover D8 architecture and is adapted to suit the Indian conditions by Tata Motors engineers," the release said.

Christening the much-anticipated SUV, Mayank Pareek, president for passenger vehicle business unit at Tata Motors, said, "With Turnaround 2.0 into play, we are geared to win sustainably in the market. We are proudly speeding towards our next market introduction 'Tata Harrier' that will take our brand value to the next level.

"We are preparing for commercial launch in the first quarter of 2019," he said.