 "With new launch, Tata Motors takes on ICE vehicles in mid-size SUV segment")
Tata Motors is taking on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the mid-SUV segment like the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos with its aggressively-priced electric Curvv SUV Coupe, which will be available from Rs 17.49 lakh onwards.
The car will come in two battery sizes — 45 kwh and 55 kwh —and offer a range of 502 km to 585 km.Tata Motors claims that the battery can get up to 150 km worth of charge in just 15 minutes, and 10-80 per cent charge in 40 minutes.
The Curvv electric vehicle (EV) takes on the MG ZS EV directly.
However, prices of the Curvv overlap with the Tata Nexon EV (Rs 14.49-19.49 lakh) and the Mahindra XUV400 (Rs 15.49-17.69 lakh).
It is also competitively priced against ICE models like Hyundai Creta (Rs 11-20 lakh) and Kia Seltos (Rs 10.9-20.37 lakh).
On September 2, the company will unveil pricing of the ICE version of the Curvv.
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At present, the mid-SUV segment clocks around 680,000 units a year and contributes nearly a third of the overall SUV volumes.
“While the industry is seeing a flattish growth, mid-sized SUVs are growing very strong, above 20 per cent or so,” said Shailesh Chandra, managing director (MD), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.
Chandra also said that the relative slowdown in the first four months of the financial year in the EV space has been due to the fleet segment (which saw an impact of the FAME 2 subsidy withdrawal). The personal segment EV sales remain stable, he said. Chandra felt that the fleet segment will rebound in the coming months as people are postponing their purchase plan in anticipation of the FAME III scheme.
“Whatever becomes popular in the premium SUV segment also becomes popular in the mass segment. India has a very good aesthetic sense. It will be able to pick up this trend (Coupe) fast, as people now also travel a lot globally.
There is a lot of noise around Coupe as a bodystyle,” Chandra said.
He does not think that Curvv will eat into Nexon’s share as 60 per cent of customers of Nexon are first-time buyers.
In Curvv, he expects 60-70 per cent of buyers to be ‘upgraders’ from a current sub-4 metre car. “There will be some cannibalisation as it is an adjacent segment,” he said.
Overall, SUVs as a category have grown from 20 per cent share of the passenger vehicle market about five years back to more than 50 per cent now.
Along with this, there has been a lot of fragmentation as well —sub-compact SUVs (3.8 metres in length), compact SUVs (up to 3.99 metres), mid-SUVs (about 4.3 metres) and high-SUV (4.5-4.6 metres). Finally, there are also the larger SUVs which go beyond that.
Mid-SUVs are emerging as the largest category within SUVs, commanding a market share of over 33 per cent.
Sub-compact SUVs have a 20 per cent share in overall SUV segment, and the compact segment will have around 25 per cent.
The remaining are with high-SUVs and beyond.
Tata Motors did not have a presence in the mid-SUV segment so far.
Numbers show that this segment is growing faster than the rest of the sub-categories.
In FY24, sub-compact SUVs more than doubled (110 per cent growth), while mid-SUVs grew by 41 per cent or so in sales.
Compact and high-SUV sales were slightly down.
In Q1 FY25, sub-compact SUV sales continued to grow strong — 75 per cent, while mid-SUVs clocked a 20 per cent growth.
Unveils new vehicle architecture ATLAS
With the Curvv, Tata Motors unveiled a new vehicle architecture — Adaptive Tech Forward Lifestyle Architecture (ATLAS).
This new platform will underpin the future ICE-powered as well as EVs in the Tata stable in the 3.9 to 4.6 metres’ category.
It supports multiple body styles, including SUVs, Coupe SUVs, sedans and hatchbacks.
“This platform has the ability to take on different powertrains — CNG, diesel, petrol, EV — different wheel bases and different body styles. Some cars which are on the older platform will eventually move to this ATLAS platform when their new generation vehicles come,” Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility said. This new platform may expand Tata’s addressable market from 51-53 per cent to 62-63 per cent. The company sees around 66 per cent of its total sales from SUVs.