Gravitas/H7X SUV
The previously teased H7X has finally been named. The upcoming seven-seater from Tata motors is called the Gravitas and will be launched at the 2020 Auto expo, to be held in February. Last seen in 2019, it was introduced as a concept following the same ideology as the Harrier. It looks longer and bigger than the Harrier, as a seven-seater should when being compared with an SUV.
Body, Styling and Dimensions
To be exact, the Gravitas is sixty-three millimetres longer and eighty millimetres taller than the Harrier. The latest addition to Tata’s big-car portfolio is 4,661mm long, and 1,786mm tall. While the two share the same wheelbase at 2,741mm and are of exactly the same width at 1,894mm, the Gravitas looks more voluminous than the Harrier because of its well-calculated proportions and increased height. It gets a longer rear-overhang and its roofline steps upward a little, to make enough headroom for the third-row passengers. Though the tail-gate slightly resembles that of the Harrier, the Gravitas gets larger rear quarter-glass to provide for an airy and spacious feel in the last seat. The Gravitas will get freshly-designed diamond cut alloys, as another distinguishing feature from the smaller SUV.
Despite the styling and visual appeal, the most unique feature on the Gravitas is its third row of seats. The second row comes with a simple “flip-and-fold” mechanism to allow ease of access for passengers into the third row. In reality, the access is not very comfortable for regular-sized people and the legroom is a little less than what could be called spacious. As a possible compensation for this, Tata has included dedicated air-conditioning blower vents and controls for the last row. In addition, the seat gets adjustable head-rests and three-point seatbelts to make it feel like an authentic seven-seater.
Powertrain
The Gravitas will be powered by a BSVI compliant, more powerful version of the Harrier’s 2.0-litre diesel motor. The engine is built to produce a hundred and seventy horsepower and three hundred and fifty Newton-metres of peak torque. It gets the option of being mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed torque-converting automatic gearbox sourced from Hyundai. Like its lighter sibling, the Gravitas will have a front powered axle and will get driving-mode options for getting off the tarmac and into the dirt.
Pricing and Launch
The company has made the official announcement of the name and the 2020 Auto Expo launch just last week. Pricing would be competitive even for its own sibling, the Harrier. At just rupees one lakh more the Harrier’s price, the Gravitas is expected to cost between INR 15 and INR 18 lakhs on road. One can assume that the same colour range will be offered in the Gravitas as its five-seater sibling. It is expected to go on sale immediately after the expo in the month of February. The Gravitas has been placed to compete with the likes of the Mahindra XUV500 and the six-seater variant of the MG Hector, which is also scheduled to be launched in the coming year. The next generation facelift of Mahindra’s XUV500 will also be joining the list of new launches in the year 2020. It will be quite the competitive year for the Indian automotive market with a number of new cars in various segments from a lot of different manufacturers.
Altroz Premium Hatchback
In addition to the Gravitas, India’s largest four-wheeler manufacturer has also introduced their premium hatchback- the Altroz. The official launch will be taking place much before the 2020 Auto Expo, as the car is set to go on sale by January, in the coming year.
Like the Gravitas, the Altroz was also showcased as a concept at the 2018 Auto Expo, and its production variant was introduced in Geneva this year.
Engine and Transmission
It will be powered by BSVI compliant petrol and diesel engines. Though their spec-sheets have not been disclosed yet, one can expect 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol and a 1.5-litre turbocharged diesel.
There’s a three-cylinder plain-petrol variant in the base model which is expected to deliver eighty-five horsepower. The fore-mentioned turbo-petrol is likely to produce something north of a hundred horsepower, and the diesel unit with a turbocharger is expected to produce a little over ninety horsepower. Although manual-transmission is the only option likely to be offered, the company is planning an automatic gear-shift option for the top variant of the Altroz. The Altroz will share about seventy per cent of its components with the Tata H2X concept car revealed last year.
Interior and other features
The premium variant will also get a big seven-inch touch-screen infotainment system with apple car play and android app-support. The car gets dual-tone upholstery with a very sporty looking flat-bottom steering wheel. The interiors are completely wrapped in leather, including the steering. There are blue ambient lighting and body-coloured bezels around the blower vents which are aimed at adding to the sporty appeal of the car.
Other features include a digital instrument cluster, climate control, cruise control, and 12V DC charging points. Safety features to include dual airbags, reverse parking camera, and ABS with EBD.
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