PTI: Tata Motors, struggling with its passenger car business for many years now, on Wednesday launched the much-awaited SUV, the Hexa, positioning it as a lifestyle off-roader with an attractive pricing of Indian Rs. 12.08 lakh and upwards.

Given the introductory pricing that goes up to Indian Rs 17.43 lakhs for the top-end automatic version, the all new Hexa, which has been in the making for the past two years, is set to give a tough fight to the likes of the industry leader Innova, Mahindra XUV 500, Maruti’s Ertgia among others.

The Hexa, mounted on 2.2 liter diesel engine and being produced from Tata Motors’ flagship Pune plant, comes in six variants – three each in manual and automatic options and offers an ARAI-certified fuel efficiency of 14.4 kmpl.

Launching the seven-seater mean machine, Tata Motors Managing Director and Chief Executive Guenter Butschek described the Hexa as the flagship model.

The Hexa is the fourth model and the first all new SUV under its revival plan tagged as HorizonNext strategy launched around five years ago.

Based on Tata Motors’ ‘Impact Design’ philosophy which uses elements created across Tata Motors Design studios in Britain, Italy and India, the Hexa is the second model from this platform after the highly successful compact car Tiago launched last April.

Explaining the rationale behind positioning the Hexa as a lifestyle SUV, Mayank Pareek, Tata Motors President for passenger cars business unit, told PTI, “We want to break the clutter. There are so many vehicles in the market that claim to be SUVs/UVs. With the Hexa we want to give both the feel of an SUV and the comfort and style of a sedan.”

Butschek said the company will be discounting its another SUV Aria with the launch of the Hexa, but affirmed his confidence in the Safari, saying it is notching up over 12,000 units a year. He also pointed to the popularity of the SUV to the 3000 units order from the Army recently.

Powered by advanced next-gen 2.2-liter Varicor 400 diesel engine the Hexa offers 156 PS engine coupled with 6 speed G-85 transmission for smooth power and torque delivery.

It is also available in automatic transmission variant offering the first-in-segment ‘Super Drive Modes’ for enhanced ride comfort and stability over different terrains.

The Hexa also comes with 10 speakers exclusively developed by Harman with the from ConnectNext infotainment system.

Indian auto sales see biggest drop in 16 years

MUMBAI (Reuters): India’s automobile sales saw their biggest monthly fall in 16 years in December after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ban on high-value banknotes sparked a severe cash shortage that dented demand for big-ticket items such as cars.

Automobile sales fell 18.66% in December to 1.2 million units, the biggest monthly drop since the same month in 2000, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers showed on Wednesday.

Auto sales have seen an especially big drop in rural areas and regions where cash transactions are typically prevalent. Large two wheeler manufacturers have also seen a big impact due to their high exposure to rural markets, the data showed.

Two-wheeler sales fell 22% in December from the previous month, one of the biggest falls on record, to 910,235 units, while domestic passenger car sales saw a 8.14% drop to 158,617 units.

The data is in line with other indicators showing Modi’s shock action – aimed at cracking down on tax dodgers and counterfeiters – has hit the economy hard. Earlier this month, a survey found Indian factory activity plunged into contraction in December.

Further hitting demand were uncertainties about a new unified national tax rate India is gearing up to unveil later this year, while some consumers were likely also waiting to see whether the government would announce special incentives at its annual budget on February 1.

Abdul Majeed, partner at Price Waterhouse, said automakers would face “a challenging quarter.”

“People tend to hold off on purchase of vehicles till uncertainty is resolved,” he said.