Tata Motors had been working on the Honda City-rival mid-size sedan name Peregrin last year, but the car never made it to production
Tata Peregrin, the mid-size Honda City-rival that never saw the light of the day, was shelved due to some prominent reasons (Read: Focus on SUV segments). The sedan segments of the Indian car market have been shrinking due to an aggressive onslaught by the SUVs. Sales of cars from every segment has suffered due to the growing trend of SUVs, especially over the last few years. We have seen SUVs getting smaller and smaller to compete in every segment possible. Tata Motors and Mahindra have been at the forefront of developing modern SUVs themselves. That surely sounds like a good reason for shelving the Peregrin project but with the arrival of new models like the VW Virtus and Skoda Slavia, would not it have been great to have a stylish sedan from Tata Motors, too?
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Tata Peregrin Sedan Cancelled
Codenamed X452, the Tata Peregrin was supposed to be based on the same ALFA (Agile Light Flexible Architecture) platform as the Altroz. In fact, it was touted as the extended version of the premium hatchback itself. The award-winning Impact 2.0 design language was thought to be part of its DNA. Deducing from that, the front might have resembled the bold fascia of the Altroz, but the rear was rumoured to be conceptualized afresh. Some reports had also suggested that it would’ve borrowed the design cues from the E-Vision concept that was showcased at the Geneva Motor Show back in 2018.
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Specs
The Peregrin would have featured the up-tuned version of the 1.2-litre turbo petrol that does duty on the Altroz with the output of around 120 PS peak power and 170 Nm peak torque. The 1.5-litre oil burner would’ve also featured along with manual and automatic transmission options. Had it been launched earlier, Tata Motors might have been able to post a tough challenge to the likes of Hyundai Verna, Honda City, Maruti Ciaz, Skoda Slavia and the recently debuted VW Virtus. But Tata Motors decided to capitalise on the SUV market and came up with models like the Punch and versions of Nexon. The focus quickly shifted to Safari and the sedan took the back seat.
Now with the launches of Skoda Slavia and newly debuted VW Virtus, it would be fascinating to see whether Tata Motors would re-think its strategy and launch the Peregrin in the action-filled C2-segment.
