There is a huge scope of improvement on the Tata Safari Storme, more so when one compares it with its immediate rivals. The pictures make the facelift to the popular SUV seem half hearted.
When you have a product which has a huge fan following, you tend to get casual about it and so seems to be the case with Tata Motors. In the time other manufacturers (even Indian manufacturers for that matter) take to roll out an all new generation model, the company struggles to bring out a facelift. Case in point is the Safari, one of our favourite cars here at MotorBeam and thus the anger level soars higher when we see the half-hearted approach from Tata Motors for it.
The Tata Safari has huge potential but the company just won’t give it the equipment it deserves. This is sad because its arch rival, the Mahindra Scorpio has gone a big step up in its latest avatar, getting features which make the Safari a generation old already. Fresh pics of the facelifted model which were snapped at a dealer stock yard reveal the features or rather the lack of it on the updated Safari Storme. Here are the list of changes –
- Beige dashboard with wood inserts has now become black/grey dashboard with silver inserts
- Power socket shifted from behind the gear lever to under the audio system
- Clock between the centre AC vents has been removed
- Blaupunkt audio system has been replaced by a Harman audio system (no touch screen but finally gets Bluetooth audio streaming)
- New 3-spoke steering wheel from the Zest with integrated audio controls (no longer on the right stalk)
- New gear lever, there is no 6-speed gearbox
- Foldable key from the Bolt and Zest
- New front grille along with a new front bumper
- There are no leather seats, not even as an option; there are no front facing seats in the third row either
- The Safari Storme still doesn’t get climate control AC in spite of the Bolt and Zest having it
- The instrument cluster is the same unit from the old Safari (is 10-years old now), no multi-information display
- Improvements to quality have been done, some weight reduction also likely
- Improvements to the body stiffness for improved handling
- Tweaked engines with improved low-end response, power bumped up by 10 PS
- Four colours – black, white, brown and silver
- The silver finish on the centre console doesn’t look good and we find the interiors of the old Safari Storme better.
The car pictured here seems to be the VX trim as there is a lid on the top of the dashboard which was missing on the earlier spy shots of the lower trim. Tata Motors will launch the ‘GenX Nano’ early next month while the Safari Storme facelift will hit showrooms later in May. Expect a marginal price hike on the new model with all discounts being stopped temporarily till the initial hype for the Indian SUV subsides.
Want to know what is wrong with the Tata Safari Storme and how the company can improve it? Read The Tata Safari Long Term Review
Pictures Source – Team-BHP.com