Could source its AT unit from General Motors.
Indian Autos Blog reader, Mr. Shubham Nitin Ghute, snapped the Tata Aria Automatic on test on the Pune-Satara highway recently. An automatic variant on Tata's flagship has been a long time coming, with Tata having shown production-ready concept at the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS 2014) and the Geneva Motor Show in 2013.
The variant spotted here is based on the top-end Pride 4x4 model, indicating that Tata could position the Aria AT as a premium offering. Tata couldn't ask for a better time to launch the Aria AT, as rival Mahindra plans on introducing an automatic variant on the XUV500 shortly.
The Aria AT, or Aria A-Tronic, shown at last year's IIMS was powered by the same 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel engine seen on the manual variant. However, at 156 PS and 400 Nm, the Aria A-Tronic sees an increase in power and torque compared to the Aria manual which makes 150 PS and 320 Nm.
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The A-Tronic featured a 6-speed automatic transmission, though Tata didn't announce further details on this unit. Some reports indicate that Tata could source the automatic transmission from General Motors.
Competitor: Mahindra XUV500 AT (upcoming launch)
Expected Price: INR 16.5 lakhs, ex-Showroom
Launch date: Likely this year
