Tata Sumo Grande launched, priced at 6.6 lakh and above

The new version of the successful Tata Sumo, Sumo Grande, was launched by Tata Motors today in New Delhi on the opening day of the Auto Expo.

The Tata Sumo Grande will be priced between Rs 6.6 lakh and Rs 7.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The SUV is expected to be available in the market from February 2008 onwards.

The Sumo Grande is a lot more butch-looking than the current Sumo it replaces. Fit and finish - we will have to wait a bit more to find out about that.

"The company has been trying to bring in the contemporary aspect in styling and technology by infusing new features," said Ravi Kant, managing director, Tata Motors.

The Sumo Grande will feature the Tata Safari's successful 2.2 liter Dicor engine but it will be detuned to produce 120 bhp instead of the 140 bhp in the Safari.

The Sumo Grande still has the high stance of the Sumo - but we expect vehicle dynamics to be much improved. At this price point, the Sumo Grande is quite capable of taking the fight to the Toyota Innova and the Mahindra Scorpio.

Me, I personally always thought that the Scorpio looks like a heavily-made up grandmother in a miniskirt. The Sumo Grande looks immensely better to my tastes.