You read it first on MotorBeam. Tata Motors’ most troubled child, the Aria was supposed to receive a facelift sometime back. The Aria facelift was first showcased at the Geneva Motor Show in March last year and was expected to be launched in India at the 2014 Auto Expo. Forget facelift, Tata Motors did not even showcase the Aria at the biennial event, surprising. We got in touch with our sources at Tata Motors who revealed to us that the company has given up on the current Aria as in spite of repeated efforts to sell it, they haven’t managed to get any volumes.
In such a scenario, it’s best to move on and we appreciate Tata Motors for doing the same unlike Nissan which still thinks it can sell the Evalia in the Indian market. Tata Motors has gone back to the drawing board and is working on the next generation Aria which is due for launch next year. Our sources inform us that the design of the next generation Tata Aria will be inspired from the Range Rover (headlights and tail lights are very similar to the Range Rover) and the crossover will borrow heavy styling cues from Land Rover’s flagship vehicle. This is sure to make the new Aria very attractive and the vehicle will also get a new name.
The Tata Aria is a very good car and the design is the only part which lets it down. When it comes to interiors, features, performance and dynamics, the Aria is very competent and Tata Motors also has a 6-speed automatic transmission which they have sourced from General Motors. Powering the second generation Tata Aria will be the same 2.2-litre DICOR diesel engine but with higher output, producing 155 PS of power and 400 Nm of torque. Expect the new Aria to be more feature loaded with connectivity being vastly improved.
