Tata Nexon : spacious, sporty and smooth

How best to describe Tata's Nexon? In simple terms, it's a subcompact crossover SUV. But it is much more than that.

Tata had successfully worked their way to achieve their goal of Tata 2.0; the aim of becoming a modern and aspirational carmaker. After the Tiago, the Hexa and the Tigor, Tata Motors introduced their first ever compact SUV, the Nexon.

The Nexon has hard competition with the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, the Honda WR-V, the Ford Ecosport and the Mahindra TUV300.

Turning back the dials of the clock, The Nexon made its debut as a prototype exhibited back in 2014 at the New Delhi Motor Show. The final model was presented in 2016 as Tata's first crossover SUV.

The Nexon is based on the revised Tata X1 platform debuted in 1998 with the Indica model and adopted by other Indian car brands. It uses independent MacPherson dual-path strut with coil spring front suspensions and rear twist-beam with coil spring and shock absorber.

Despite being presented in February 2016, production at the Fiat India Ranjangaon plant started in July of 2017 and sales in India started from September of the same year. As of December 2018, Tata Motors has not exported the car outside India. Having said that, a few of them has sighted in the streets of Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet.

In 2018, the Nexon was subjected to crash tests by the Global NCAP obtaining the result of 5 stars; the first Indian-made car to achieve this rating.

A new all-electric version of the Nexon is in development and is expected to be unveiled sometime around 2020. The Nexon EV will use components from Tata Motors' new electric vehicle technology brand Ziptron.

Exterior

The Nexon is Tata's first sub-four metre SUV, visually built around the design cues of the Zest and Bolt while retaining the dimensional strengths of the present segment contenders like the EcoSport and TUV300. The high stance, flared wheel arches and a large imposing frill gives it the required brawn despite its curvy body lines. Keeping heavy competition in mind, Tata has left no stone unturned in making the Nexon a nice package. Unlike the conventional SUVs, the Nexon comes with curvy proportions with a raked rear enhancing the sporty character of the SUV. In addition, the Nexon gets projector headlamps, LED daytime running lights, faux skid plates, roof rails and LED taillamps and more. Tata also offers dual tone paint scheme for the top-of-the-line XZ+ variant of the Nexon and white accents along the foglamps. Additionally, you also get body-coloured door handles and mirrors, 16-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, side cladding with some chrome accents on the exterior.

Interior

In terms of the vehicle's interior, the Nexon offers some good quality interior which includes a nice contoured upholstery with fabric seat covers, a three-spoke steering wheel with mounted controls for audio and telephony, a floating HD display from Harman for infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with up to 8 speakers and more. Other features include multiple cubby holes and cup holders, umbrella holder in the front door (really!!!), glove box with utility moulding, a central console with front armrest and sliding tambour door, 60/40 split rear seats and more. The Nexon also gets multi-drive mode - Eco, City, and Sport, manual or auto climate control. Dual airbags and ABS with EBD come as standard across all variants while parking sensors, rear parking camera and more are also offered in the higher variants.

Engine

The vehicle is powered by two new turbocharged petrol and diesel engines. The new 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged Revotron petrol motor makes 108bhp and 170Nm of peak torque. On the other hand, the new 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, joining the Revotorq family, churns out the same 108bhp but develops 260Nm of peak torque.

The Nexon changes direction with confidence and the car's suspension also absorbs bumps and potholes with ease. It rides quite flat at speed too, thus making it a good long-distance vehicle. So, if you are planning on buying an automobile for the long journey with lots of baggage and fellow travellers to accompany you, give it a try. Price ranges between Tk 24-25lakh depending on variants.