 |
| Tata Safari STORM |
The Tata Merlin has been spotted yet again, in what appears to be a shoot for a commercial in Pune. This is a big giveaway that the launch of the Merlin could happen very soon and that it could be called the Safari Storm. Also, the Safari Storm will be showcased at the 2012 Indian Auto Expo by Tata Motors. The Tata Safari Storm is an upgraded Safari,and it remains to be seen whether it will be positioned above the Safari, as Tata’s answer to Mahindra’s big selling XUV500 Crossover.
The Storm will retain the 2.2 Liter DICOR engine producing 140 Bhp of peak power and 320 Nm of peak torque. Transmission duties will be handled by a reworked 5 speed manual transmission and the four wheel drive option along with the low ratio will be made available on the top end variant of the Storm. What has changed on the Safari Storm visually lies in the cosmetics and the interiors of the SUV.
A new dashboard design with plenty of faux wood for effect is what the Storm will get along with a step up in the quality of the interiors. Revised headlamps and a front end design to make the Storm look more contemporary are the main changes up front while the rear also sees cosmetic changes to distinguish the Storm from the Safari. So, it seems like the Merlin name, which was used mainly for product development will be dumped in favor of the Tata Safari Storm, or perhaps even Tata Storm.
Prospective Safari Storm buyers would hope that Tata Motors has managed to sort out all the niggles that the current Safari has as that perhaps is the only way that the Safari Storm could mount a strong challenge to the Mahindra XUV500 Crossover, whose bookings are set to reopen in January 2012.
Source: ICB
No comments:
Post a Comment