BRIEFING

Tata Motors’ H5X concept stole the show at the 2018 Auto Expo – and will hit the roads within a year

Tata H5X, JTP, Kia Concept SP and everything else that wowed at the Auto Expo

IMPACT DESIGN 2.0 IS TATA MOTORS' new design language and it stole the show at this year’s Auto Expo. The H5X concept by Tata Motors has been created on a brand new platform co-developed with Jaguar Land Rover. The concept previews an all-new production SUV, which will be launched in the early part of 2019. In production guise, the SUV will be available in both five and seven-seater versions, catering to the Indian affinity for the third row of seats.

The H5X is based on Tata Motors’ new OMEGA architecture, where OMEGA stands for 'Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced', which is based on a heavily localised version of the Land Rover Discovery Sport's L550 platform. The platform sharing experiment should have started a decade ago when Tata Motors acquired JLR but, as they say, better late than never and after the so-called bridge products (Nexon, Tiago and Tigor), the H5X will be the Tata vehicle on a brand-new platform. The underpinnings should endow the SUV with the sophisticated dynamics that we have come to expect thanks to SUVs like the Jeep Compass that it will directly be positioned against, not to mention giving it the off-road ability to take on the Jeep's acclaimed 4x4 prowess.

Talking about the Compass, the production variant of the H5X is expected to be powered the same 2.0-litre Multijet turbo-diesel in the Jeep, which actually reveals the business case behind FCA localising this engine in India. JLR's allaluminium Ingenium 2-litre diesel was considered too but turned out to be very expensive. A petrol variant is being planned, in all likelihood the Compass' 1.4-litre Multiair turbo-petrol but the considerable thirst of the power plant has put the brakes on a final decision (explaining why local assembly of this engine hasn't kicked off at FCA India's Ranjangaon plant).

Platform sharing aside, the design of the H5X concept has been executed entirely by the Tata Motors design team, led by Pratap Bose. In pictures, and even more so in the flesh, it is quite evident that this is a contemporary design, worthy of being showcased in a global arena. Unlike any SUV ever to have come from the Tata stables, the H5X underscores just how good Indian automotive design has become.

The concept’s bold face is characterised by slim and stylish LED headlights. There’s also a fresh, more clear-cut interpretation of Tata’s trademark ‘humanity line’ that links the headlights and grille. The flanks of the H5X are elevated quite high above the ground with the arches playing host to rather huge wheels, which we obviously won’t see in the road-going version. The roofline slopes sharply towards the rear and the blacked-out C-pillar gives it a lovely floating illusion. What’s more, with Bose confirming that the production version will be at least 80 per cent faithful to the concept, people looking to spend around twenty lakh rupees on an SUV in the near future would be well advised to pop over to a Tata Motors dealership. Who wouldn’t want a sensible Tata with a JLR soul?