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Back in 2010 when the Indian auto industry just offered hatchbacks, sedans and UVs, Tata Motors was the first to introduce a whole new segment called a Crossover. Yes it means a vehicle that gives you the comfort and luxury of a premium sedan alongside the big SUV like stance. Back then TaMo was only known for their value offerings like the Indicas and Indigos and suddenly when Tata launched the premium offering - the Aria in 4X4 avatar only & a sticker price of around 20L, eyebrows were raised everywhere. High pricing meant that it saw limited buyers and what made things worse for Tata is the fact that the initial batch of Arias had lot of niggles including major mechanical failures leading to breakdowns. TaMo did not lose hope on the product and they constantly put in efforts to revive the Aria brand by introducing a lower spec 4X2 model range and price corrections but from a premium buyer's perspective, the brand Aria was nothing but written off!! Many of us who are familiar with product lifecycle management know what developing a platform is. Since the Aria was not based on any of the other existing offerings from Tata, the car was developed from scratch. Everything from the hydro formed chassis to the double wishbone and multi-link suspension was new. It also saw many first in segment features like all wheel disc brakes with ABS+EBD, dual mass flywheel standard across all variants. The top spec models came equipped with 6 airbags, ESP, seatbelt pre-tensioners, cruise control, automatic projector headlamps & wipers to name a few. Though not an excuse a product based on an all new platform is always something that will have an issue or two. Nevertheless the lower variants of the Aria with fewer electronics and gadgetry had no such reliability issues and my review is based on driving the Aria Pure 4X2 model for about 60,000kms over the last 3 years. The Aria is a solid package for someone who is looking for a spacious 7 seater SUV as their daily drive. The car though big and bulky in external appearance is actually surprisingly easy to drive in traffic. The floor is not overtly high as in the Xylos and the Fortuners. It is perfectly positioned and getting in and out does not require a footstep accessory even for someone who is say 5'2 tall. The engine is nice and strong with healthy power and torque figures and is well complemented by the 5 speed manual gearbox that has perfectly spaced ratios. 100kmph in 5th gear is achieved at around 2000rpm and that translates into great cruising abilities without compromising on the fuel efficiency. One can easily expect upto 12kmpl in the city and upto 15kmpl on the highways when driven sedately. A full tank gives a range of about 550kms on the highway. Braking is really commendable with discs all around and the 235 section 16" tyres give the car great stability during cruising and also braking. Ride quality is amazing and it can tackle most of the bad roads with ease. Body roll is definitely evident and cornering at speeds is something that you should not be doing with this vehicle. High speed stability is good and one can do speeds of upto 120 with good confidence and anything above the vehicle does not feel comfortable - XUV is the clear winner in this segment when it comes to high speed manners. Ground clearance of 200mm ensures that it is near impossible to bottom the car on any of the speed breakers but one needs to be careful when it comes to tacking large pot holes as the front and rear bumpers are positioned very low giving it low approach and departure angles hence are susceptible to damage. The audio system that comes with the car is more than decent and is of great quality for a regular non audio geek but the speakers tend to give up under high bass output audio files. The dual AC unit does a good job of keeping the cabin cool even at over 40 degrees outside temperature and with two blowers and vents for all 3 rows, the passengers have nothing to complain about. On the looks front, the car is no looker but from certain angles ? especially the front, it has a very imposing stance. When it comes to space, the first two rows are great and can seat 5 people in good comfort whereas the 3rd row seats are best suited for someone below the 5?6?? mark. The bolstering on the sides for all the seats is not up to the mark and do not do a good job of hugging the body during cornering etc. The headlamps though good in terms of design lacks brightness on the low beam. This is mainly due to the use of projectors. Even a 100W bulb does a poor job of illuminating the road and one ends up using the more powerful high beam for all the night driving requirements. Service interval is once in a year or 15,000km whichever is earlier and the overall cost of ownership is really good in its segment. Service bills each time have been around the 8K mark including parts and labor. Over the last 3 years and 60,000kms the car has been a solid performer with absolutely no issues pertaining to mechanicals or even the electronics. It has been that kind of a car where I can say I just fill it and drive it. The car has not failed to make me smile every time I park it after returning from a highway run. I have been able to drive for >1000kms in a day without feeling stressed or fatigued. Having said the above, there are many aspects that need improvement. Design of the dash is something I felt can be improved to liberate more room on the inside. The fuel tank does not have proper venting and lots of air gets trapped during the tanking process. The fuel gauge is one of the worst I have come across off late. It is very vague and slight tilt on the car during parking can make a big difference in the fuel reading and this means the range or DTE also is very erratic. The middle row 60% split seat does not tumble as it collides with the AC vent behind the handbrake lever. Serious design flaw! Overall I am extremely satisfied with my choice of picking up the Aria and am looking forward for many more miles of happy ownership. Kudos to Tata Motors for coming up with this wonderful offering!

Tata Aria was launched way back in early 2010 was created quite a stir, but it never seen its lime light. It was over shadowed by Innova from the very first day and from 2011 XUV 500 supressed the Aria further down. However, it has its successor now The HEXA. TATA's New BOMBARDIER How the new stag is: By looks, Congrats!! Tata on your design language. Tata always play safe, when it comes to design. Up to now Tata only has two design theme, the convex curves for hatchbacks and sedans and straight lines for SUVs. However the HEXA looks will strikes you even with just a glimpse. If Storme takes references from LR's design. The HEXA will be a heavily inspired one and it's apparent. In a word, it works well. The level of attention to detail in Hexa was never seen in any other Tata products before. The only view that reminds its predecessor is from front. The headlamps assembly are identically same as that of Aria. However the heavily sculpted front bumper and trapezoidal grille sets it apart. Blacked out double barrel projector headlamp is neatly profiled but it misses out the integrated DRL's. The restyled front bumper with skid plates, enormous side cladding and 19' inch diamond cut wheels enhance its sporty appeal. The side profile where Hexa stood its ground, the sheer size of the car gives it a sturdy presence on tarmac. Overall design has been very European than ever before for example the door handles gets a chrome strip rather than a complete chrome casing. The chrome piping that starts at the A-Pillar and wraps itself at the rear was a neat touch. A good point for Tata over there. The side cladding breaks the mass of the car and makes it more SUV than MUV which it's based. The D-pillar is one of the best looking in the business with floating roof look. The side badging and the door mounted OVRM's gives it a premium touch. At the rear which gets integrated spoiler, elegantly profiled tail lamps, corrugated tail gate scuff plates and beautifully shaped reflectors takes Tata to the next level. The chrome detailed double pipe exhaust system and race cars inspired diffuser at the lower portion of the bumper all this says that it was designed by JLR's parent company. Feel from inside: The money that goes for the exterior design is from the interiors. The steering and infotainment is directly uplifted from Tiago and the shifting unit is from Safari storme. The lettering on the dials is sized down to appear premium. The TFT display between the dials provides rudimentary information about the cars condition. Push start button is saved for facelift version. It gets LR's style driving modes Auto, Comfort, Dynamic and Rough road. When it comes to Tata products, irrespective of the category it should have some incorrigible mistakes. In case Hexa it's wiper blades. How hard it can be to hide those wiper blades from drivers view. Typically Tata The squared out glass housing makes the cabin airy and brings ample amount of light into it. The heavy A-pillar may obstruct the side view. It may not have a wow! Factor but at the same time a practical and a comfortable place to be. The connectivity options are on bar with the rivals. Seating hierarchy: Hexa is expected to launch with both 7 and 8 seats variants. While the 8 seater will gets a bench in the second row and seven seater will get a captain seats. In front seats as a Tata's SUV you will find a commanding position with a clear view all around yourself. Talking about the second row, which is the business portion of this car. The second rows gets its own B-Pillar mounted AC vents and also the central one placed at the bottom. The iPad and AUX can be connected from the second row itself. The bolstering of the seats are generous and expected to provide a plush and comfort ride in long distance travel. It can be moved to free the room and can be tumbled for accessing the third row. In third row, the adults have to seats in slightly knees up position. However for two adults, it will be comfortable for short trips. It also has individual AC bowler units. Power for the mammoth: It shares the diesel mill from its siblings the Storme 2.2L Varicor 400. It develops 154 bhp and 400Nm of torque delivers through wheels by 6 speed MT and it get the job done for a highway cruiser. However in Hexa it may squeezed for extra power and torque. Tata is work hard to keep the NVH levels in check. The vehicle dynamics can be discovered once we get our hands on wheels. Proportions: It measures 4764mm long, 1895mm wide and 1780mm tall with a wheelbase of 2850mm. It knocks the door of its big brothers the Toyota Fortuner when it comes to size. The groud clearance is expected to be on bar with safari. Verdicts: Taking a car that didn't went quite well in its first avatar and works hard on a heavily revamped version of it that is Tata's current market strategy. Tata has learned its lessons from Zest and bolt. What is Hexa then? A SUV by looks and MUV by purpose targeting the urban and semi urban sectors. At the moment its only closest rival is XUV 500. It checks all the right boxes for a crossover/SUV. It also has all the bells and whistles for a flagship Model. The core value of Tata like plush ride quality and more car per car principle been on its upsides. Where the gamble service network and longevity pulls it down. The segment leader the Innova, left the segment and went to next level, where there is no rival. It lefts the space for new segment leader. If Tata is pricing the Hexa appropriately then Hexa will be a clean swipe for Tata. Up to that, it is worth waiting. Written by, Praveen Danny +91 975522155

The first look at the car ,from the front though, resembled somewhat like a grown up MANZA. The side profile may be different, but the back, an absolute Indica Vista. In all an elongated Indica vista. The interiors look pretty decent. The first two rows are quite comfortable, but the last row is cramped , like wise to most of the cars we have around.  Aria is a featured packed car. It has all the gadgets that people would be looking for. But, there ends all the WOW factor. The buttons on the steering are so irritating that you may land up pressing one for sure while driving without notice. Their positioning is bad. The AC ducts in the front also are positioned in a bad way. They are bound to hit your legs are ur face is sure to be frozen. I still wonder why TATA design engineers land up designing in such a way, after they buying out design companies in Europe, considering Aria to be a leap in design. The plastics are pretty bad, was expecting a better one. The engine is the same from the Safari. It feels a bit sluggish, considering the TATA attitude built in it. But it performs better compared to Safari. The Alltime All Wheel Drive is pretty fun. Reached a top speed of 120, considering we couldnt get a long streach of road. The after sales service of TATA is still an issue. The features available though are good, but the Sattelite Navigation is quite irritating, may be prolonged usage would make things easier. Considering the prices and comparing with the competition, TATA's have to go along way if they have to compete with Innova, the king in that segment.