Design Development: Tata H5X & 45X

“We currently have six platforms in Tata Motors, and we are going to bring that down to two. With these two new architectures, design was very much involved from day one, in defining these to the proportions we would get going forward. We didn’t necessarily have that role in the previous generation of products,” says Pratap Bose, Tata head of global design.

These first two concepts – to be swiftly followed by a third, unveiled at the Geneva motor show – preview models to be offered on each of these platforms. The 45X hatchback is the first car on the ‘Alfa arc’ (Agile Light Flexible Advanced architecture), engineered for cars from around 3.8m to 4.3m long; the H5X SUV is based on the ‘Omega arc’ (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Architecture), developed from the Land Rover ‘D8’ platform underpinning the current Discovery Sport.

H5X and 45X – unveiled together at the Delhi Auto Expo in February 2018 – were developed concurrently in a three-year design programme. “We start all our projects together. That means all three studios [Turin, Italy; Coventry, UK; and Pune, India] participate in the sketch programme, the initial phase of ideation, and then we choose different studios based on capacity and how we are placed,” says Pratap Bose. After this initial phase, the H5X was tasked to Tata’s studio in Turin, and the 45X to Coventry.

Exterior

For the H5X, the Tata team worked with JLR to create a Tata-specific architecture strongly determined by the interior demands, says Bose, and it thus has its own unique proportions and packaging. “The requirements, especially for the second row of seats, are different in India, so we adapted the platform and ‘top hat’. So our headroom, leg room and shoulder room are a little more generous than in a Disco Sport. Cars in India are not necessarily owner-driven, as in Europe, so the second row is extremely critical – most cars are bought and sold on the physical parameters of the second row. So we tried to optimise every single millimetre we could find.”

The lower part of the two-piece tailgate folds down to form a deck or seat. “SUVs are a lifestyle product, and people are getting out more and more for recreation in India,” says Bose. “We just thought it’s a little place for a couple of kids to sit, or for you to enjoy the view.” The sketches show proposals as to how the boot space could be configured behind the rear bulkhead.

The side steps also fold down to aid access in and out of the cabin. “Lots of women in India wear saris, and people tend to live in larger families with elderly people,” says Bose, “so we said ‘what can we do to the side step? There’s always a side step which is stuck on: can we integrate that in a nicer way so it becomes part of the design?’ It actually becomes the rocker panel or the side body protector, and then when you open the doors it deploys; it comes into play only when you need it, and it hides away as a bodyside protector.”

Both cars show the evolution of Tata’s Impact Design philosophy, first seen in 2016, moving into its next stage. “For the first wave, we had three design DNA elements,” says Bose. “There’s the ‘humanity line’ that underpins the grille, on the face of the car, and then on the side view, we had a diamond-shaped DLO, and then at the rear there’s a line which comes across from the Tata logo and goes all the way around the car; we call that the ‘slingshot line’, it really pushed the car forward in that sort of athletic way. And those three elements are part of Impact 2.0 as well, but they’re sharper, slightly bolder, and the execution is more three-dimensional. We can do that because the kind of dimensions and proportions we’ve got now allow us to push those elements a little further.”

Interior

The involvement in defining the architecture was particularly important for the interior in terms of supporting future HMI and tech features, says Bose, given India’s young, aspirational and highly-connected consumers. “What happened with previous architectures, in many cars, the screen is embedded in the main IP moulding, so you’re pretty much stuck with where you can go. We didn’t want this, because in India, HMI, connectivity, infotainment, screen sizes – they’re all very, very strong selling points. It’s really growing, people seeing the car as a total extension of the connected life. So we’ve disassociated the screen from the main IP surface: this allows us to offer a range of screen sizes, including screens which will emerge in the future.”

Proposal sketches for the H5X interior show parallel concepts for different screen sizes and layouts. “The price of screens is falling on a daily basis, and while we might not go on day one with a screen that goes across the IP, we want to protect the interior design so the day that we can introduce that at our price points and positioning, we can do it. So we really pushed it [the cockpit architecture] to the furthest limit of what we could achieve – that is the difference we have been able to make by being involved early in the architecture.”

Early sketches also explore treatments for the IP cowl, vents and soforth, and suggest a rich dark wood trim applied in a board-like effect across the IP top and on the floor; later sketches show a distinctive graphic pattern applied to the seat upholstery, flooring and other elements. “We call it the tri-arrow, and it’s part of our Indian influence,” says Bose. “There’s a lot of use of geometric patterns in our architecture, especially in Indian Mughal architecture from the 16th and 17th centuries, and we want to reflect that in a contemporary way. It also reflects the three businesses in Tata Motors, the passenger car, commercial vehicle and defence divisions. It’s on the roof as well, and when the sunlight filters through it can cast a very interesting dynamic shadow. It’s just a little subconscious nod to India.”

Bose points to the mix of textiles: “We wanted to challenge the preconception in India, and in many parts of the world, that leather directly signifies luxury. We brought in fabric and leather, juxtaposed against each other: you’ve seen that a lot in travel goods, bringing in that feeling warmth, of tactility, just different textures as you’re sitting in the car and your hand runs over a material.” He adds: “You can’t escape the kind of role technology plays in the interior of a car, but I never wanted that to overpower the interior. It shouldn’t only be about these big screens, I didn’t want that to be the only story. So it was also about bringing in an element of warmth, using the materials, the finishes, the forms, the shapes, to really give a sense of comfort, of cutting yourself off [from the outside world] if you want to, especially in the second row.”

A grey textile is applied to the door cards, and the gloss black of the touch-controls and screens, alongside the more matte silver of the metallic elements, set off the rich brown of the upholstery and the minimally-treated, natural-looking wood. However, the wooden floor and dash-top seen in the earlier sketches did not make it through to the final H5X show car.

The rear seats recline, and the front passenger seat can fold to form a foot-rest. The centre console and its touch-controls slide, and the backs of the front seats host screens. Bose describes the H5X as being ’75-80 percent’ true to the upcoming production model.

The interior of the 45X is “slightly more conceptual, because it is a little further away in our cycle plan,” says Bose. “The production car will be a little smaller, because of the segment it’s going into in India, but the design language and the design elements are all there in this car.” However, this hatchback is aimed at a younger clientele, as their first or second car, “so in terms of colour, language and material, we need to speak to them differently.” Interior sketches show a much stronger and bolder graphic treatment, and a more open, stripped-back interior architecture with sculpted bucket seats. “Very strong forms, and a very furniture design approach as well, a feeling of lightness and a feeling of space,” notes Bose. “I wanted a contemporary, light interior: those are the words I say, then the designers really translate that into forms and shapes.”

The 45X cockpit is also more driver-centric than the H5X’s. “We see that a lot of the younger demographic enjoy their cars, they enjoy driving, they enjoy sitting in the front seat,” says Bose, “and so there’s that shift happening too in India on a very rapid scale.” However, its lack of pedals also make a statement about the possibility of autonomy, as well as creating a clear, open space in the front footwell.

The dash takes a two-level structure. “It’s almost a floating wing going across, and then through another gap to the front cowl as well,” says Bose. “So that’s slightly conceptual, but that would be an effect that we would try and achieve in a real car – more visually, of course – to bring to the sense of lightness, of elegance.” The lower screen contains controls for HVAC and infotainment. “Sometimes when you take knobs and switches and buttons away, it can cause a little bit of anxiety, so we said if we’re doing that, at least have the location of these controls in an area where people would expect,” explains Bose. “There’s still a hard-wiring of the brain to look to that area, physically, to control some of these functions, an expectation of where they should be. And [we didn’t want] to distract the driver, looking around just to change the audio volume or the temperature of the air con. So we kept the location quite traditional, but the interface is new.”

Inspiration images besides the 45X theme sketch show some of the textures and effects that fed into the design: etched shapes and the filtering of light through geometric structures, and the technical surface of an audio speaker. As in the H5X, the tri-arrow graphic is applied, expressing these ideas. Graphic ideas and geometric shapes are also shared between the exterior and interior GUIs – in projected greetings to the driver, communications with a digital assistant, or as decorative signatures within the headlights, for example.

“We needed a fresh, more contemporary design treatment, and therefore you see that in the colours,” says Bose. “You don’t usually use that gold or blue, but this younger demographic really wants to challenge convention – the use of cream and black on the interior, they just find boring.” The white sections of the door, with the tri-arrow graphic, are a 3D-moulded leather, applied again over the dash-top.

The knurled controls for the windows and seats are inspired by high-end audio equipment, and like the roller switches in the steering wheel, add a tactile, haptic element to the user experience to complement the digital interfaces. A further technical – and graphic – touch is seen in the vents, positioned on the seat-backs for the benefit of rear-seat passengers. “That’s the Coanda vent, very much like on a Dyson fan,” says Bose. “We thought, what’s a nicer way of doing a vent for the rear seat?”

Though these cars have been conceived primarily with the rapidly-growing Indian market in mind as a first priority, unsurprisingly Tata is eyeing overseas sales as well. Bose points out: “These are completely global products in terms of design and engineering, all the standards at the level of architecture in terms of safety norms, ADAS, being future-proofed.”

Dimensions & Details

Tata H5X

Vehicle type: Concept SUV

Global head of design: Pratap Bose

Head of design, Italian studio: Cosimo Amadei

Chief interior designer: Ermanno Seluitella

Chief colour and trim designer: Kyeong Hee Shim

Dimensions

Length 4575mm

Width 1960mm

Height 1686mm

Wheelbase 2740mm

Tata 45X

Vehicle type: Concept supermini

Global head of design: Pratap Bose

Head of design, UK studio: Martin Uhlarik

Chief interior designer: Aurelien Doisy

Chief colour and trim designer: Kyeong Hee Shim

Dimensions

Length 4253mm

Width 1850mm

Height 1451mm

Wheelbase 2630mm