Tata Harrier banks on diesel engine to take SUV fight to its rivals

The Tata Harrier leads the quartet of offerings the Indian carmaker recently came storming back into the local market with. The flagship mid-sized SUV was rolled out alongside the Tata Tiago hatchback, Punch crossover and Curvv coupe-styled SUV.

After getting to sample the Tiago and Punch out around Lanseria on the first day of a recent launch drive, we drove the Curvv and Harrier on the second day of the event.

Unlike Tata’s first local entry where the Indica, Indigo and Telcoline offered competitive pricing against heritage brands, the local landscape has changed dramatically. Now there are as many as 17 Chinese players who benefits from government subsidies to aggressively undercut its opposition, while many heritage brands build its cars in India nowadays to keep production costs lower.

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A clear game plan

Tata can therefore ill afford to start a price war while its second coming is still in its infancy. And its previous products were simply not reputable enough for any sort of leverage to base its local return on.

This left the Indian carmaker with one choice. Offer what the opposition doesn’t. In the case of the Curvv, it’s very futuristic coupe-like styling. The Tata Harrier on the other hand is more conservatively styled, but it offers a diesel powertrain in a segment where oil-burners have become an anomaly.

Priced between R549 900 and R699 900, the Harrier has lots of competition from both heritage and Chinese brands in the mid-sized SUV segment. But none of the SUVs from the People’s Republic other than the GWM Tank 300 have diesel engines, while the only heritage offerings in this price bracket is the Kia Sportage LX. Oil-burners in the Hyundai Tucson or VW Tiguan stables are priced much higher.

It’s direct rival from its home market, the Mahindra XUV700, is only offered in petrol powertrains. The XUV700’s body-on-frame sibling, the Scorpio-N, is however offered with diesel engines.

Tata Harrier’s pedigree mill

The diesel engine that powers all three Harrier derivatives is the 2.0-litre Kryotec mill. It comes with some pedigree too as it’s based on Fiat’s Multijet engine which have served in models produced by Fiat, Opel, Peugeot and Citroën. Not to mention that the Harrier rides on the same platform as the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport as Tata Motors have owned the British marques since 2008.

The Harrier’s engine develops 125kW of power and 350Nm of torque sent to the front wheels via six-speed automatic transmission. Eco, City and Sport are the three driving modes to choose from, while terrain selector offers Normal, Rough and Wet settings.

Tata claims the Harrier will sip 6.6 litres of diesel per 100km. The Citizen Motoring‘s launch drive in the top-of-the-range Fearless+ was too short to put this claim to the test. But we can attest that the power delivery is smooth and the pull from the generous torque more than enough for a car this size. The gearbox was smoothish, but tends to be a bit sticky at times.

Too much hard plastics

We felt that the Harrier’s exterior styling is modern, although it doesn’t bring anything to the table we haven’t seen before.

The interior is solid and features what has become customary in this segment – two large screens. The infotainment screen is either 10.25 or 12.3-inch along with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.

We were a bit disappointed with the amount of hard plastics around the dashboard for a product parading as the brand’s flagship offering. Another oddity is the electric windows not featuring and automated up or down function.

ALSO READ: Tata Punch fails to land knockout blow in fierce compact SUV bout

Good spec set

The standard specification list is impressive and includes voice recognition, push-button start and reverse camera. Higher end models feature luxuries such as mood lighting, dual-pane panoramic sunroof, rear sun blinds, nine-speaker JBL sound system and hands-free electric tailgate.

Having scored five stars in a Global NCAP crash test, Tata regards the Harrier as the safest car in India. It comes standard with all the usual passive safety features while higher-end models feature a comprehensive list of ADAS systems.

If there is one thing South Africans love as much as bakkies it is diesel engines. Instead of trying to beat others at their own games, the Tata Harrier has taken a clever route to offer a good value alternative to the usual suspects. Only time will tell if that decision will give the Indian carmaker more staying power this time around.

Tata Harrier pricing

• Harrier 2.0 TD Pure+ AT – R549 900
• Harrier 2.0 TD Adventure+ AT – R649 900
• Harrier 2.0 TD Fearless+ AT – R699 900

*Pricing includes five-year/125 000km warranty and a five-year/75 000km service plan.