Tata Motors has started working on a SUV jointly in collaboration with the legendary Land Rover. The SUV has been internally codenamed Q501. It will be built on the platform of the new Discovery Sports, which had been codenamed L550. It is expected that the new SUV will compete against the existing players in the market like Mahindra XUV500 at the lower end and the Toyota Fortuner at the higher one.
The SUV from the company is expected to share structural constituents with the Land Rover. The two products though will look entirely different when the appearance is taken into consideration. Also, the engine will not be shared amongst the two. The Q501 will in all probability be powered by 2.0 Multijet II engine, which can be seen in Fiat. It is expected to generate power of 150 to 175 bhp. Also, few low-powered versions are also expected to be utilised.
The engine, however, will be quite expensive, which is one problem that the company might face during production. This is primarily because, initially, the engines will be imported. It is expected that Fiat will localise the engine sometime later at its Ranjangoan plant with a joint venture with Tata Motors. Only after this happens are the prices expected to go down.
The cost targets for Q501 have been set in quite a steep manner, which seems to be hard to achieve at the moment. The company, however, has high hopes on this model and expects to find a sweet spot in the market. Definitely, only then will I receive the boost and economies to allow localisation, thus bringing down the costs.
