Tata Motors — The Only Mainstream SUV Maker With No 4WD In Portfolio — Opinion

The following table lists out the number of SUVs (or SUV-like cars) in a manufacturer’s Indian portfolio along with the number of SUVs with 4WD:

*SUV here is meant to represent cars that are trying to capitalise on the SUV body style craze

Now, let’s look at each manufacturer one by one.

Mahindra — 4/8 SUVs With 4WD (50% Coverage)

Mahindra have the largest number of 4WD cars in their portfolio and Jeep are the only mass market carmaker matching them in this regard. And if you factor in the Scorpio Classic and the Bolero, both of which earlier had a 4WD option, then the count goes up to 6 vehicles for a 75% coverage.

They are cashing in on this SUV craze with the largest number of SUVs on offer. The Thar perfectly sets the stage for the rest of their SUVs to borrow the rugged, go-anywhere personality. Then, having an option of 4WD in 4 of their vehicles makes it worth a look for buyers who absolutely need that capability.

Maruti Suzuki — 2/7 SUVs With 4WD (29% Coverage)

Maruti Suzuki are the next in line with 7 SUVs. The Jimny is their halo off-roader but even the Grand Vitara has the option of 4WD with a manual transmission. We’re pretty confident that it is a made-to-order kind of a variant with very limited production because of the scarce demand. But, having that option in the variant lineup helps the Vitara earn that SUV tag. This further spills into their lineup and it’s supposed to help them sell more vehicles with this SUV styling.

While you may laugh at someone expecting 4WD capabilities from a small car like the Ignis, it’s worth noting the Ignis does get the 4WD option in some international markets. So, it has more of those SUV genes in it than other mini SUVs like the Punch, Exter and the now-discontinued KUV100.

Hyundai — 1/5 SUVs With 4WD (20% Coverage)

After the addition of the Exter, Hyundai have 5 SUVs in their Indian portfolio. Only one of these has the option of 4WD. Even though they don’t sell the Tucson in large volumes, having it around gives the other SUVs in their portfolio that SUV character. After all, that’s what the buyers are buying into. And for a leading SUVs seller, the cost of having the Tucson in India is worth it, even if its numbers don’t add up to justify that investment.

MG — 1/5 SUVs With 4WD (20% Coverage)

Counting the Hector and Hector Plus as 2 separate SUVs and similarly, considering Astor and ZS as 2 distinct SUVs, we end up with 5 SUVs in MG’s portfolio. While the number of vehicles with 4WD option still remains 1 — exclusive to Gloster — the others still at least have a true SUV to look up to. The 20% overall coverage of 4WD in MG’s SUV portfolio is the same as that of Hyundai.

Toyota — 4/5 SUVs With 4WD (80% Coverage)

Toyota have 5 SUVs (or SUV-like vehicles) in India and 4 of them have the option of 4WD. Even if you ignore the ultra luxury Land Cruiser, they have a 75% coverage of 4WD in their SUV portfolio. In fact, the only car without 4WD is something most people would call an MPV as it borrows the Innova name plate. But, if Maruti Suzuki can dare to call the XL6 an SUV, then the Hycross certainly deserves the SUV tag in my books.

Jeep — 4/4 SUVs With 4WD (100% Coverage)

True to their SUV DNA, Jeep are the only SUV manufacturer offering the option of 4WD with every vehicle they sell in India. 4 out of 4 — 100% 4WD coverage and a perfect score. The commitment to making SUVs doesn’t reflect as strongly as in Jeep’s India portfolio.

Kia — 1/2 SUVs With 4WD (50% Coverage)

Now, Kia are a tricky one. They have 2 SUVs and 1 electric car in the portfolio with 4WD but it’s not an SUV. Their halo product, the imported EV6 electric, has rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options. So, I’d say, they’re still doing much better than the carmakers selling SUVs without showing any expertise with 4WD in India.

Skoda, Volkswagen — 1/2 SUV With 4WD (50% Coverage)

I’m merging Skoda and Volkswagen into one heading as they’re not only part of the same VW Group of companies, but also because their scores are identical. They both have 2 SUVs in their Indian lineup — one for the mass market buyers and one for an elite group of buyers, who,  might I add, are an extremely sensible bunch.

This group of buyers sees VW and Skoda’s expensive cars from a different angle. They’re like affordable luxury cars without the premium badge on the nose and an accompanying inflated price tag. From their angle, they aren’t buying expensive cars from mass market brands but luxury cars without the baggage tagging along.

With that little off-topic nugget, let’s come back to the question at hand. They both have one 4WD SUV in their portfolio and one without. That’s a good 4WD coverage considering that they only have 2 SUVs each in India. The presence of the more expensive, larger SUV here lends the smaller one some of that SUV vibe.

Brands WIthout 4WD in Portfolio

Among car manufacturers that don’t have 4WD in any of their vehicles, we have Citroen (4 SUVs), Renault (2 SUVs) and Honda, Nissan, BYD with 1 SUV each.

Here, Citroen have the highest number of SUVs but no 4WD option. However, considering their limited reach in the country (in terms of sales and service outlets) and their age in the Indian market, it’s easy to digest the lack of 4WD cars. The rest of the brands have too few SUVs in their portfolio and not enough volumes to justify having a 4WD in the portfolio.

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Tata — 0/6 SUVs With 4WD (0% Coverage)

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room.

If we count the XUV300 and XUV400 as two separate vehicles, the Astor and the ZS as two separate vehicles, then the Punch-Punch EV and Nexon-Nexon EV should also be considered as distinct vehicles.

With that assumption, Tata Motors end up with a staggering 6 SUVs in their portfolio. NONE of these SUVs have the option of 4WD. They are also preparing the Curvv or Frest for launch in the near future. This is an SUV based on the Nexon’s platform and it’ll compete with the Creta, Seltos, Grand Vitara and other SUVs from the C-segment. Since the Nexon itself only has a front-wheel drive powertrain option, it’s safe to assume that the Curvv/Frest will also support only a front-wheel drivetrain with a petrol/diesel engine.

Thus, soon, they will have 7 SUVs in their portfolio and none of them will have the 4WD or AWD option. This is a startling fact about a major SUV manufacturer in India as they don’t have the 4WD in the portfolio to demonstrate their capabilities. It puts me in a difficult position when I have to refer to their products as SUVs, when literally all of them are nothing more than glorified, oversized hatchbacks.

They don’t have a halo product in the lineup with 4WD to lend the SUV vibe to the rest of their crossovers. While I don’t expect them to have a 100% coverage for 4WD like Jeep (all vehicles have 4WD option), at least having one is not an unreasonable expectation. It becomes even more difficult to digest when you look at Skoda, Volkswagen and Kia. All of these 3 carmakers have at least 1 vehicle with 4WD in their Indian portfolio even though they only have 2 SUVs in their portfolio.

Author’s Conclusion

I sometimes wonder how we went from this:

to:

One of them is about reclaiming your life. With a 4-wheel drive, you probably could do things they didn’t even show in the video. The first ad encourages you to go outdoors and get dirty.

The other one is about indulging in luxuries…which is good too but on a different plane — and — when the features work as intended. Even if they do, the ad feels like it’s pushing you towards laziness as they demonstrate the ability to open the tailgate without using your hands. Now, I wouldn’t mind this with the Harrier, which doesn’t have a reputation to live up to. But in the Safari ad, with the tagline “Reclaim your life”, it feels totally out of sync.

While the old ad only teases a small part of what the car is capable of, the new one pretty much sums up its capabilities. Even in the real world, the Safari is not capable of doing anything the Kia Sonet diesel can’t. In fact, the Sonet diesel does a few things better than the Safari while costing several lakhs less. Once you go into deeper analysis, you’ll find out that the Sonet offers more features. Moreover, the features in Kia cars have a much higher probability that they will work as intended during the ownership.

Am I the only one feeling like the Tata SUVs these days no longer represent what they used to?

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