CARVERSAL

Tata Safari first made its debut in India in 1998 as a moreCompetitive, Luxurious, and practical alternative to the 2-door Tata Sierra SUVfor ₹8.25 lakhs Ex-showroom India. This SUV created a segment of its own andquickly became a status symbol for many upper-class Indians (as the price waspretty expensive).

Tata marketed it as a lifestyle vehicle that not only iscapable of performing well on city roads but can easily conquer any otheroff-terrain thrown at it. People aspirated this freedom well but in 2002Mahindra launched their Scorpio in the same 7-seater utilitarian segment at amuch lower price of ₹ 5.5 Lakhs Ex-showroom India, making Indians quicklyshift their Focus from Safari to Scorpio. Scorpio kept on eating Safari’sMarket share due to lower cost of ownership and better product mix.

Tata Did a lot to regain their market share – from launchinga much more powerful diesel option to offering a lower spec variant at almostthe same price as the Mahindra Scorpio, but till now Scorpio had strengtheneditself as the No.1 in the segment.

The sales difference between the Scorpio and Safari kept onincreasing and went on to such a point where Tata Safari Storme’s yearly saleswere less than Mahindra Scorpio’s 2-week sales (that’s crazy).

 Safari for Army

But even though our Indian consumers did not realize thereal potential of the Tata Safari, our Indian Army did and gave Tata an orderfor over 3000 Safaris in 2018 for its GS800 armed vehicle category. The Indian Armytested more than 10 vehicles for their GS800 category but only found the Tata Safari Storme fulfilling all their requirements.

But after all this and the launch of the Harrier, Tata hadto streamline their production and make Harrier their new flagship SUV and also dueto BS6 coming in place, there was no reason to invest additional money on theSafari Storme project due to the sluggish demand, so in late 2019 Tataofficially bid Farewell to the Tata Safari Storme.

But Mahindra is still making big bucks selling their22-year-old Scorpio with some minor updates here and there, and people stillare buying even though at the same price they can buy a New Generationwell-built Scorpio-n (but still their stupid minds go towards the ScorpioClassic).

So clearly there is a big demand for these iconic old-school SUVs with a big legacy among the Indian audience, so Tata has some bigpotential unutilized by not launching a revamped version of their Safari Storme with more features, Power, Safety and luxury.

2024 Tata Safari Storme Classic

To make a new updated version of the Tata Safari Storme,Tata should not touch the body lines, overall shape, and appeal of the vehiclebut should try to play with the small bits here and there to considerablymodernize their SUV.

At the front Tata can make subtle changes with new revamped LEDHeadlights with big high-beam and wide-beam functions and Tata can even go withthe split light treatment where the high beam and wide beam will be placed atthe lower parts of the bumper, and a new bigger grill with similar indents tothose found on the new Generation Harrier and Safari.

On the side, Tata need not change much and keep the iconicdesign language unchanged, but can go with a newer set of 18-inch dual tonealloys which will sharpen the looks of the vehicle and make it moreadvanced,  and the fewer changes thebetter it would feel.

 At the back, Tata needs to keep the same upright looks butwith newer LED Taillights, better more advanced-looking bumpers and that’s it,that's all we need.

On the inside the Tata Safari Storme had a decent interiorbut is not up to 2024 marks, so Tata can move forward by updating theinteriors by placing a new Dashboard with better looks, fewer controls, and abig 10-inch screen at the center. A new instrument cluster with moreinformation and visuals to make the driving experience better.

READ ALSO: Tata Safari Dark Edition Launched in India :Everything You Need To Know

2024 Tata Safari Classic Price

Before getting discontinued in 2019, Tata Safari was on salefor ₹ 10-97-16.35 Lakhs Ex-showroom India (pretty high for that time). So ifthe Tata Safari Stome makes a comeback expect prices between Rs 12-18 LakhsEx-showroom India.

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