The recent updates in variants and pricing for the Tata Nexon appear to directly address both the Mahindra XUV 3XO’s entry into the market and the recent decline in Nexon sales
After three consecutive years of leading the SUV market in India, Tata Nexon experienced a decline in sales in April 2024. Determined to revitalize Nexon sales, the company is introducing new base variants for both petrol and diesel engines, along with revising prices for lower-end variants under the Smart Persona initiative.
Tata Nexon New Base Petrol Variants Rejigged
Nexon’s remarkable rise in popularity can be attributed to various factors, with safety taking precedence. However, in recent times, Nexon’s sales have experienced a slight dip, allowing its sibling, Punch, to claim the title of best-selling SUV. With the introduction of a new rival in the form of the Mahindra XUV 3XO, Tata is now focused on damage control, initiating the launch of new base variants for both petrol and diesel engines.
Called, Smart (O), this new base petrol variant of Nexon starts at a lower price point of Rs. 7.99 lakh (ex-sh). It is not sure whether this sits below the previous base Smart Petrol 5MT variant or replaces it entirely. For reference, Smart Petrol 5MT was priced at Rs. 8.15 lakh (ex-sh).
That’s not it. Tata has slashed the price of Smart+ Petrol 5MT variant by Rs. 31,000. Smart+ Petrol 5MT used to cost Rs. 9.2 lakh (ex-sh) and the new price is Rs. 8.89 lakh (ex-sh). Surprisingly, Tata has added reverse camera feature with Smart+ Petrol 5MT despite the prices slashed. The biggest price-slashing exercise is with Smart+ S Petrol 5MT variant. Up until now, Smart+ S Petrol 5MT used to cost Rs. 9.8 lakh (ex-sh). Now, it costs Rs. 9.39 lakh (ex-sh), down by around Rs. 41,000.
New Base Diesel Variants
More appreciable aspect of this update to Nexon is that the company is now offering diesel engines right from the base Smart trim. Or Persona, as they call it. Up until now, diesel engines were only accessible from Pure Persona onwards. So, the most affordable diesel variant with Nexon was Pure Diesel 6MT priced at Rs. 11.10 lakh (ex-sh).
With this update, Nexon gets a diesel engine for Rs. 1.1 lakh cheaper (ex-sh) than it did before. Thanks to the new Smart+ Diesel 6MT variant priced at Rs. 9.99 lakh (ex-sh) and Smart+ S Diesel 6MT priced at Rs. 10.59 lakh (ex-sh).
New base Diesel variant (Smart+ Diesel 6MT) gets features like a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment screen by Harman with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, four speakers, reverse camera, shark fin antenna, steering mounted controls, all four power windows and electrically adjustable ORVMs. Not bad!
Smart+ S Diesel 6MT adds auto headlights, a single-pane electric sunroof with voice activation and rain sensing windscreen wipers. Where powertrains are concerned, there are no changes. Base Smart Persona still misses out on automatic variants, which is expected in this segment. The recently launched Mahindra XUV 3XO seems to have a major effect in this update too.
Also read – Mahindra XUV 3XO first-drive review