Tata Hexa crossover (Aria facelift) spotted testing again in India, launch expected before 2015-end

Tata Motors is in the process of perfecting the Aria facelift. The last time the vehicle was caught testing in heavy camouflage was on 26 August.

A fresh batch of pictures of the Tata Hexa in camouflage was snapped in Pune, this time by Team-BHP members. The rear of the MPV makes it clear that the vehicle will sport similar silhouette of the Aria.

The Hexa will get a flat bonnet with honeycomb grille at the front. The vehicle will come with wider air dam, ORVM integrated with turn mirrors and LED tail lamps. The off-road appeal will be accentuated with body cladding and skid plates.

The new crossover will measure 4,764 mm in length, 1,895 mm width and 1,780 mm height with a wheelbase of 2,850 mm. The MPV is expected to pack 2.2 litre four-cylinder VARICOR diesel engine, which is re-tuned to generate 154bhp of power and 400Nm of torque either with 6-speed automatic transmission or 6-speed manual transmission.

The Hexa will come with six captain seats. Inside the cabin, the model is expected to get leather seats, LED illumination and 6 airbags, including side and curtain.

Tata launched the Aria on 5 January, 2010. The MPV had many segment first features such as projector-beam xenon headlamps and electric adjustable and power-folding ORVMs. However, the crossover failed to trigger customer demand widely due to high price and unavailability of 4x2 models. Subsequently, Tata reduced the price, but that was not enough to find takers.

Tata is now expected to price the Hexa competitively so as to pit it against the Toyota Innova and the Renault Lodgy.