First sight: production-ready Tata Sierra
CDN gets a first look at the Tata Sierra, which although is still in concept guise has entered a design freeze and should be in production by 2025
Tata has revealed pre-production images of its Sierra SUV following the initial concept presented back in 2021. Martin Uhlarik, VP and global head of design, tells us that the show car is the result of a global design competition between Tata’s three studios, (Coventry, Turin and Pune, India) and that it is now in the ‘design freeze’ stage ahead of production in 2025.
Like many brands, Tata had reached back into its heritage with this one and rekindled an old nameplate from the ‘90s. When it first launched, the original Sierra was considered a ground-breaking design for the Indian market, with a distinctive gloss black rear roof section that combined with the rear windows to create an L-shape in the bodywork.
This has clearly inspired the new Sierra, which has a similar effect created by the C-pillar and rear glass. That boxy frame of the original has also carried through — a pleasing divergence from the coupé-on-stilts trend – with a square-jawed front end and upright front grille. This was clearly about traditional SUV proportions, and the team went to the length of producing both scale and full-size clay models during the development process.
The brand has certainly been heading in a different direction over the last few years with a number of increasingly premium-looking concepts rolled out. A new, mature design language is taking shape, emphasised by clean body surfacing, razor-thin light signatures and a real emphasis on interior quality. The CMF team seems to have gone above and beyond, with a slot in the rear armrest hosting a small plant that stretches up towards the ambient strip light above it (spy a mini terrarium up front in the IP, too).
The materials are varied throughout and sport a thick open weave in some cases, almost giving the effect of corduroy (at least to this writer’s eyes). If ever there was a symbol for the trend for premium interiors moving away from leather and tacky metallics, this is it.
The development of ‘Impact Design 3.0’ can clearly be seen across recent launches. The EVision concept of 2018, a sleek four-door sedan with a pronounced wrap-around shoulder line, was a sign of things to come, laying the groundwork for the Curvv crossover concept and more recently the Avinya concept. Sketches in the gallery below reveal how the design of the Sierra gradually evolved.
The core tenets of Tata’s Impact design language can be seen with the Sierra, which carries a similar approach to the bodywork as other earlier concepts. It is not quite a folded-paper approach, but is certainly angular and sculptural. The prominent shoulder line is highlighted in certain lights, as is the rear spoiler that seems to float on the roof thanks to the aforementioned L-shape section at the back.
Gloss black trim surrounds the lower quarter of the car, flowing from the front mask, side sills and wheel arches through to the rear, broken up by a contrast diffuser. This is a popular approach to larger cars, a trick of the eye that reduces its proportions and creates more of a sporty, athletic look. The light signature is distinctive and spans the width of the car at both the front and rear.
