Although the Tata Harrier started off strongly, its time in the spotlight was short lived due to the arrival of MG Hector and Kia Seltos. Both rivals bring to table a novelty factor which seems to have caught the Indian customers’ fancy. Tata has been doing everything in its power to keep its flagship product in the front line. The latest move is to offer 5 year/unlimited Km extended warranty package under Pentacare banner for INR 25,000.
The extended warranty offer with unlimited Km is aimed at offering the customers a peaceful ownership experience. That is not all, Tata has started offering incentives on the Harrier for the first time since launch including INR 35,000 exchange bonus, complete finance on on-road price, INR 15,000 corporate discount, an attractive EMI plan with monthly payment of INR 24,000 and so on.
These offers and new extended warranty is aimed at MG Hector, which comes with industry first standard warranty of 5 years and unlimited kms. In addition, Hector also gets free 5 years RSA and no labour charge for service in the first 5 years of ownership.
With festive season fast approaching, we would be witnessing several new marketing initiatives to gain attention. Meanwhile, Kia and MG Motors will be working intensely on clearing their huge order backlogs. Kia Seltos has over 35,000 booking orders while MG Hector has over 39,000 bookings.
Since the launch, the Harrier has received dual-tone colour themes, optional sunroof (as an aftermarket fitment), the Dark addition and numerous minor feedback driven changes such as improved sound insulation, tweaked steering system for better feedback, fine tuned clutch and updated infotainment software. But this has not helped sales.
Sales of Tata Harrier fell to its lowest last month, to just 635 units. In comparison, MG Hector registered sales of 2,018 units. To boost sales, we could see a more powerful version of the 2.0-liter diesel motor and a 6-speed automatic transmission in the near future on Harrier. Harrier currently has the downtuned 140 PS version of the same Fiat 2 liter engine, which is also used by Hector.
Like all OEMs, Tata Motors would be hoping that the upcoming festive season would provide some much needed relief in a market that has been witnessing declining sales for almost a year.