Interior –
Tata Gravitas
The JLR influence is very much visible in the Gravitas’ cabin. Leather wrapping on the handles and touch points along with the subtle touches of silver here and there that uplift the feel of the interior. The infotainment system’s widescreen aspect is appreciated, and so is the digital gauge cluster that is intuitive to operate.
The dashboard is unchanged, so much so that the picture used above is from the Harrier. The leather has been swapped from brown to dark turquoise, at least in all the models shown to us till now. These models also lacked a sunroof, which Tata have said they will add in the production model. Legroom and knee room are good but the floor is not as flat as the Hector’s and that eats into the middle passenger’s legroom.
The third row is as expected in both cars, kids will be happy, but not adults except for short distances. Rear occupants will also be happy with the fact that they get dedicated AC vents and USB ports. Tata will offer the Gravitas with 6 or 7 seat options. When folded up, the seats leave no space for luggage, but it is expected with all cars with third-row seats in this segment.
The only shortcoming of the interior of the Gravitas is the steering wheel. The centre material could have been better. But apart from that everything feels very premium and well finished. Tata had really pushed themselves with build quality with the Harrier, and it’s safe to say that we can expect the same with the Gravitas.
MG Hector Plus
The dashboard of the MG Hector Plus is unchanged, which means that it is dominated by the infotainment system. The orientation is vertical, reminiscent of the Volvo cars of the recent days, but the obvious shortcoming of having this system is the lack of buttons. While some may prefer the clean look it offers, using it while driving may not be easy. The upholstery exhibited in the 2020 Auto Expo was Tan, which is new for the Hector Plus.
The panoramic sunroof really provides an airy feel inside the interior and has also caused quite the headache for Tata. The gauge cluster display is integrated better in this vehicle when compared to the Harrier. Assuming the materials of the interior used are the same, which is quite safe to assume, the quality is pretty good, but the Harrier/Gravitas is a bit better in this regard.
One element I am not sure of is the placement of the traction control button. A car of this size attracts a lot of family buyers. Keeping the traction-off button on the passenger side could lead to an accidental deactivation of traction control, which is not desired at all for a car of this size. Videos of the car on the show floor show that this has not been changed.
Conclusion
Overall, the MG on the inside is loaded with gizmos and Harrier on the inside is simply laid out. While the feature set of the Gravitas is not as far back, small convenience features like a powered tail gate are not present. But it’s too early to make conclusions, as we haven’t seen the final version which will be launched and it could have some feature changes.
