• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

S. Muralidhar

A RECENT piece of news that the City Council of Paris is proposing a ban on the use of sports utility vehicles on its streets made interesting reading.

An official of the French capital's Left-wing government is supposed to have described these vehicles as a `caricature of a car' and that they are made for a family on vacation, but usually have only one person in them.

The objective of the proposed ban, of course, is to de-congest the stylish, but often narrow Paris streets and also to reduce vehicular emissions.

India's policy-makers are not labouring with such issues, despite the ever-increasing load of vehicles on the woefully inadequate road infrastructure even in the metros. Of course, it is also another point altogether that the vehicle population in India is no where near that in Europe and the US or that we still need better quality people carriers for inter-city transport.

And so, to add to the list of sports utilities (SUVs) and multi-utility vehicles (MUVs) already on our roads comes the Chevrolet Tavera that will attempt to address the needs of both the upmarket individual car buyer and those of the economy and reliability conscious fleet owner.

The third vehicle to sport the bow-tie logo of General Motors India (GMI), the Chevrolet Tavera had a fairly successful run as the Isuzu Panther in the Indonesian market and as the Hi-Lander in the Philippines.

These Isuzu-badged vehicles slug it out and in some markets beat the Toyota Kijang, a.k.a. Toyota Qualis, in terms of volumes.

Exterior

The Chevrolet Tavera is clearly not an SUV and it is not a family van either. Its design is somewhere in-between and is probably an attempt to pander to the tastes of both, the individual, family car buyer and the fleet owner looking for a large, but comfortable people's carrier.

With that objective, GMI calls it a multi-utility vehicle and offers six variants with the same engine but different trim levels at a range of price points.

For the untrained eye (if we can call it that), at first glance, the Tavera is almost like a bigger version of the Maruti Suzuki Versa, except for the longer bonnet and the larger wheels.

The shorter roof, the sharp sloping bonnet and the long wheelbase makes the Tavera seem to have more car/family van genes than of a utility vehicle.

But that is part of the gamble that GMI is taking with this new Chevy vehicle. The company is hoping that unlike the existing MUVs (read the Qualis) the Tavera's more contemporary, almost car-like styling will be an attraction among the more discerning, family UV buyers.

The Tavera design is also meant to offer a more elegant, yet utilitarian set up by retaining the underpinnings of a ladder chassis and leaf-spring suspension construction.

The vehicle's car-like features include the fluid lines that define the Tavera's exterior and make it visually seem more compact than the Toyota Qualis, while it is actually longer and wider than the latter.

Clear-lens headlamp and tail-lamp clusters, which are now an industry-standard, also lend the Tavera more `car-character'.

But the small radiator grille, though it gels with the overall design, does not give the Tavera the benefit of a visually larger frontal appearance. Pre-formed panels and wheel arches that run around the vehicle in the upper-end variants give the Tavera a more elegant, yet rugged look.

But the step-up ladder chassis that this MUV is built on makes the floor of the vehicle rise gradually towards the rear and, as such, the seating position also gets raised at the second and third rows.

As a result, ingress and egress from the Tavera's second and third seat rows is quite a climb, without the assistance of side steps. Aluminium side steps are standard fitment only in the top-end, SS variant.

The exterior styling of the Tavera has an element of contemporariness compared to the more `boxy' and dated (but very functional) design of the Toyota Qualis.

But that still does not make Tavera the looker in the budget SUV/MUV class. The Mahindra Scorpio will surely walk away with that honour, despite its age in the market. The Scorpio owner will also get a more dominating street presence.

Interior

The interior of the Tavera is a bit of a let down for the buyer who is essentially looking for a luxury passenger car that can accommodate his extended family.

The seating is comfortable in the higher trim variants and the dashboard plastic and door panels with fabric inserts look better finished and more elegant than the tacky interior finish in the lower trim variants.

But, then, that appears to be in keeping with GMI's plans to push the lower trim variant as a value-for-money option for the fleet owner. That also explains the bench seats in the entry-level variant, which also does not feature an air-conditioner. But even the LT-2 variant's (one shy of the top-end) interior is very spartan.

Though the two higher trim variants — LT-2 and SS, which will be targeted mainly at the individual car buyer — have a few innovative touches in terms of storage space, one will still miss the cubbyholes and other floor-mounted storage options. The large emptiness surrounding the gear-shift stick and between the two bucket seats in the front would also be visually unattractive for the car buyer.

Tavera's three higher trim variants also come with dual air-conditioners, as in the higher trim variants of the Qualis.

The only difference that GMI has scored with in the Tavera is that the roof-mounted air-conditioning console comes with opposed vents to simultaneously spread cool air to both the second and third rows. This makes it more effective and quickly cools the interiors. However, the roof-mounted air-conditioner's fan is noisy.

The dashboard and instrument cluster in the Tavera is neatly laid-out and has a few firsts to its credit. However, though the knobs and switches feel rugged, they are puny, and do not gel with the Tavera's overall design theme. They do not give the Tavera's interiors the look of a luxury car, not that the competition's vehicles in this class offer any better.

Engine and performance

Clearly, the Tavera's biggest plus point is its 2.5-litre Isuzu diesel engine. The 2,499cc, four cylinder, direct injected, turbo-charged JA-1L Isuzu diesel burner comes up with a decent 80PS of maximum power at 3,900 rpm.

But, more importantly, the Isuzu engine and the soft turbo-charger combo enable the vehicle to come up with a sprightly performance with the turbo kicking in at very low engine rpm levels.

The Tavera's engine, the same tried and tested one in the Isuzu Panther, comes up with a class-leading maximum torque of 19 kgm at a low 1,800 rpm. The engine is thus very responsive.

Ultimately, the low-end torque goes on to reduce the need to shift into lower gears in city traffic and adds to the vehicle's fuel efficiency. GMI claims that the Tavera is at least ten per cent more fuel efficient than the competition.

In comparison, the Qualis' 2,446cc 1-RZ E diesel engine comes up with a max output of 75PS at 4,200 rpm and a maximum torque of 15.4 kgm at 2,400 rpm. The Qualis also feels a bit sluggish in the lower rpm range and in the first two gears.

However, at higher speeds and into the higher gears, there is hardly any difference between the two vehicles.

Handling and suspension

Dimensionally, the Tavera is longer and wider, but shorter than the Qualis. The Chevy vehicle's wheelbase is also longer, but despite these bigger dimensions, its kerb weight is only on average about 65 kg more than the Qualis.

In the Tavera, the shorter height of the vehicle, the ladder chassis and the more precise re-circulating ball and nut steering system (instead of the more common rack and pinion set-up) gives it a slight edge in handling.

The power-steering response is good and the sharp sloping bonnet gives the driver more confidence in city traffic. But reversing into a parking slot is a bit of a problem as the view is compromised a bit due to the high mounted position of the rear windscreen.

The suspension set-up in the Tavera features independent torsion bar springs in the front. This gives a good ride and improves its shock absorption abilities, while simultaneously limiting nose-dive during sudden braking. The rear features leaf-springs with `front-back' dampers that are designed to improve stability. The Tavera's rear overhang is also lesser than its immediate competitor the Qualis.

So, while ride quality in the third row will be better, the rear leaf spring suspension set-up limits the level of improvement.

Tough market

Despite a lot of brownie points that GM has scored with the Tavera, it is not going to be easy to market this product. It is quite obvious that it is squarely positioned to take on the Qualis.

And to that extent, despite what GM has to say about the vehicle's focus largely being individual car buyers, the Tavera will have to look for numbers to come from the taxi and fleet owner segment.

For GMI breaking into the fleet and taxi segment will be a tough fight. The Toyota brand is extremely strong in this segment. Reliability, service quality and running costs being paramount, the decision to buy a particular vehicle is often taken by the average fleet owner after he gets feedback about the ownership experience from existing owners.

Establishing the Tavera's reliability will take time. No wonder then that GM has decided to offer a 5-year, 1.5-lakh km warranty on the Tavera's engine and a two-year 50,000 km overall warranty. Price positioning of the Tavera is neck-and-neck with that of the Qualis.

Despite the better riding posture in the Chevy compared to the Qualis, there are only a few visible differences in the interiors of the two vehicles. Owners in this segment are usually less taken in by ergonomics and a better paint job.

The point also is how many individual car buyers out there are looking for a stylish MUV and not a stylish SUV? How many fleet owners want to buy a more well-appointed MUV to replace their box on wheels, especially if their current vehicle is already very reliable and nearly as comfortable? Most of all, are MUVs more relevant than a roomy sedan for the Indian nuclear family?

The Tavera's performance in the market should come up with some answers to those questions. It will get even more interesting if Toyota decides to replace the Qualis with its current Thai version — the Sport Rider.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Investment Quiz

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line