Tata rolls out a new cut-price version of its flagship crossover to take on the Innova, again.
Last year, when Tata Motors launched the 4x2 version of the Aria crossover, the officials had told us that they had no intentions of entering the fleet operator segment with their flagship model. After all, the dominant presence of the Indica and the Indigo in the fleet car segment has backfired on the fortunes of the Vista and the Manza and therefore Tata has tried its level best to protect its poster-boy from this dreaded segment. However, it looks like the Tata is left with no option but to woo fleet operators now towards the Aria, as the crossover is unable to rake up numbers in the luxury segment. The result is a new cut-price variant of the Aria that is priced exactly similar to the base model of the Tata Safari Storme and aims to take on the Innova yet again.
Christened as the Aria Pure LX 4x2, the new variant is robbed off key features like airbags, dual-mass flywheel and ABS with EBD. At least the latter should have been left on, considering the enormous size of the vehicle. Thankfully, you still have disc brakes on all the four wheels. The interiors get a vinyl treatment for the seats and lose out on features like the audio system (including the steering mounted controls and the LCD screen), chrome garnish, roof mounted storage compartments etc. You still get the rear A/C vents and keyless entry. Last year, Tata had brought down the price of the Aria to Rs 9.99 lakh as a limited period scheme and the price point did help them in selling a considerable number of units. With the new cut-price variant, Tata might be able to garner some numbers for the Aria – but what good it does to the crossover’s image is something that remains to be seen.
Post a Comment