Tata Motors names its upcoming seven-seater SUV as Gravitas

Tata Motors on Tuesday said that its upcoming seven-seater SUV would be called Gravitas.

The Gravitas is the seven-seater upgraded version of the Harrier and was previously referred to as the Buzzard. It will be launched in February of 2020 which is also when Auto Expo 2020 will be held.

Touting Gravitas as a luxury SUV, Tata Motors claims it is a 'perfect balance between stature and character.' "We are elated to reveal the name of our latest SUV offering– the Tata GRAVITAS. With this, we are excited to offer to our customers, yet another state-of-the-art product," Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, said in a press release. "The GRAVITAS will up the ante in terms of luxury and performance and we are excited to launch this product to customers in February 2020."

The SUV is the second vehicle from the OMEGARC platform, after Harrier. The OMEGARC platform has been jointly developed with Jaguar Land Rover.

Tata Motors previously claimed that the upcoming SUV will have excellent control on NVH (noise, vibrations, harshness) levels and may be powered by a 2.0-litre BS 6-compliant engine.

Spy shots of the SUV while being tested on Indian roads show that it will have the same design philosophy as that of the Harrier but will be taller and wider. Each of its variants may cost around ₹1 lakh more than each corresponding variant of the Harrier.

When launched, Gravitas could lock horns with a wide range of cars - from Mahindra XUV 500, Innova Crysta and even the Jeep Compass to Fortuner from Toyota and Endeavour from Ford. If the pricing strikes a chord with Indian buyers, Gravitas may even end up challenging MG Motors' Hector and Kia Seltos which are five-seater SUVs.

Before the Gravitas though, Tata Motors is readying Altroz for a December launch. This is the company's bid to stake claim in the hatchback segment which is currently dominated by Baleno from Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai's Elite i20.