Interview with Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited

You know, Sierra is an iconic car. It was launched 35 years back. It was ahead of its time. It was the dream of many Gen X, which was a very odd buy — the unique design as well as the roominess and the glasshouse that the Sierra offered in those times. So there had always been this request from many of such customers to revive and bring back the Sierra. That was how things got triggered. But we also saw that the mid-SUV segment in the country was really flourishing in terms of high growth rate — it was growing big in size, nearly 45,000 cars get sold in a month. So we said, why not bring Sierra in its reimagined form, in its new avatar, so that it is not only relevant to that Gen X but more relevant to the Gen Y and Gen Z, the new generation customer. But we had the responsibility of ensuring that the DNA of original Sierra is kept intact. And therefore, in the exterior design, you will see that the silhouette has been kept upright, boxy, wrap-around glass — all have been retained. The whole sofa kind of a seating, a living room kind of an experience has also been taken forward as a concept, as an idea. And therefore you see the roominess, use of material, color, and all are top-notch. Also, the tech stack is very, very well connected and in sync with what a Gen Y or Gen Z would require. So whether you talk about 5G connectivity, triple screen infotainment, AR HUD, Dolby — a host of features, you know, which they will be able to relate to. So that's how the conceptualization of Sierra has been — to package it as a premium mid-SUV, retaining and resembling it with the same original Sierra, but bringing in a very modern avatar which really connects with the new-age buyers also.

We have to see the response, but I am seeing that at least in the reviews so far — right from the time we started the teasers, and the time when we launched the brand film and the brand day that we had, and a lot of reviews were given by various social media influencers — a massive response. I think people are really excited to see this kind of a car coming in the mid-size SUV with so many features, such plush interiors. So I think the response has been great. Today we have announced the price. I have not seen the response yet, but what I have heard from some of the colleagues is that the response is very good. It is seen as very aggressive. So I think with the combination of the premiumness and the wow factor that we have given in this car, with the aggressive pricing, I think it should do well.

Yeah, so you know, you would have already seen in the presentation all the predictable ones are already there. From an active safety perspective, we have given Level 2 Plus ADAS, which is of about 22 features and so on. But all the six airbags and all what you know, all those features are already given. You saw two real crash situations that we have shown to Sierra — you know, hitting them at an offset face, head-on. So that also we have shown that we have kept the safety levels very high, as is the DNA of any Tata car.

So Curvv EV, you can expect in the next financial year — in the first half of the next financial year itself.