After 2 lacklustre years, Tata Motors to relaunch Aria

Two years after introducing its crossover utility vehicle Aria, Tata Motors is planning a relaunch.  The company is in the process of making some changes to the vehicle and expects the new version to hit the roads over the course of the next year.

Sales of Aria never picked up due to issues of quality and pricing.

“Aria is misunderstood. It’s a great idea, a car that offers space as well as comfort. Like it happens to other manufacturers, some products are a bit ahead of time and therefore misunderstood,” said Karl-Heinz Servos, project director, joint projects, Engineering Research Centre at Tata Motors.

When launched in 2010, Aria was compared with Toyota Innova, the multipurpose benchmark.

Despite growing demand for SUVs, Aria did not get the reception the company sought. Tata Motors admits to having quality issues with the car, which are being addressed now. “Also, it was priced a bit high.  Not because it was not worth it but because of competition. It was also compared too much with the Innova -- including on the price front, which was not correct, and made a difference,” sources said.

“It’s a solid car. First it needs a few image corrections. We will do something quick which will change the perception. We need to relaunch the ca. If it continues the way it is currently, then it is not good for the company,” said Servos.

Once a strong player in the SUV space, Tata Motors has been losing market share in the segment.

Tata Motors is now working on a new range of SUVs and MPVs in all segments.