Tata Motors has changed the design outlook of its vehicle offerings over the years. The company that showcased the electric Sierra SUV at the Auto Expo, is working on offering consumers customised design vehicles. Martin Uhlarik, Head of Global Design, Tata Motors, spoke to businessline on the company’s design roadmap, with electrification and hydrogen cell-powered cars, AVINYA concept cars, and the incorporation of sustainable design and recycled products.
The Sierra SUV unveiled at the Auto Expo this year, is very different from other SUVs offered by Tata Motors. Going forward, will we see similar designs for other electric SUVs?
Sierra is the beginning of our next design phase. To be honest it was inspired by the original, so you can make the connection not just from a visual point of view, but also the design ethos of the original Sierra.
The design is much cleaner and very cutting-edge in terms of light technology and quality. This will be reflected in all the other products in the next couple of years, as we overhaul and renew our portfolio, and introduce new products. Sierra is the beginning of a new generation of vehicles, all of which will reflect that in different ways.
AVINYA concept has got the Green good design sustainability award. The car offers ADAS and has AI-enabled features. How was that planned? Will Tata Motors offer the same tech-upgraded features in its other electric vehicles?
The designers came up with the design in three weeks, both exterior and interior, which was a digital proposal. The design, especially the interior, looks super premium. But, when you look at it, it’s the art of minimalism. It was the fastest programme I’ve ever done from a concept development point of view. Now we’re working on the production car.
I’m sure we’ll be looking at technology that enhances the customer experience and makes the product safer and more easy and enjoyable to use.
The company is also working on hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars. What can we expect from the designs for such cars?
We’re looking at it more so in the commercial vehicle space because we see real opportunities there. But at the same time, the door is always open to any power train solution. So at the moment, the current generation of products, we are very invested in electrification.
If we decid to do a product that is hydrogen, I would look at it as a separate study.
What has transformed the design of Tata Motors’ cars?
When the company started automotive, the Sierra, the Indica, and Nano, all of them were developed from an understanding of what good design is.
I’ve worked in a couple of companies over my career and one thing I have to appreciate at Tata Motors is that design has a very important role and is a very strong department within the company. Design is about the concept, proportion, and package. We are very much involved with the platform development and with the engineering teams, just defining the overall proportion of a vehicle, how the size of it is, what the overhangs are, how tall the car is, where the wheels are, and then how you use it ergonomically.
Tata Motors is actively working to electrify its fleet. How do you see car design contributing to the electrification journey?
Electrification is the future. The Nexon EV and any of the other products that we offer, are conversion products that started life as internal combustion vehicles, and were then converted to the electric platform. We have to communicate that they’re electric from a visual point of view, whether it’s certain design cues elements, or even a colour accent, like our signature teal color.
As we migrate to born EVs, the first thing we proposed was to move the wheels as outboard as possible, minimise the overhangs and create the biggest amount of space between the wheels in the wheelbase.
As you saw with the Sierra and then with the AVINYA, the body side is becoming clean, and flush and that’s all about creating aerodynamic efficiency. Efficiency means dynamic efficiency, which means a longer range for an electric vehicle.
How have consumer preferences changed in car design over the years? With the customisation uptick, is Tata Motors working on designing personalised vehicles?
Traditionally, 15-20 years back, the mindset was one car for everybody.
But people have different tastes, aspirations, and needs. You have to create products that are more focused on a specific target audience, and then even within that product. Punch, as an example, offers a small SUV, but at the same time, we even offer it with personas that are a reflection of the customer. You can configure them in even more detail with not just the colour, but also the specifications and technology. The product is an avatar for the customer. We are now becoming very specialised.
We also have special editions like #dark.
Do you see the incorporation of sustainability in car designs coming with additional costs? How are recycled products used in the designing of the vehicles?
Sustainability is something that we are invested in. But at the same time, those are new technologies. Whenever you introduce a new technology, to start with, it is fairly expensive. It trickles down and becomes mainstream, you have to introduce that as a sort of special offering. Every product that we’re developing has to be looked at through the lens of sustainability.
We are working with several suppliers and partners on taking existing materials and re-configuring them. if you take an existing material, recycle it, and create a new application, it may have a little bit of imperfection. But, if you look at the design trends, not just the automotive, but other products as well, this sort of imperfection is appreciated by customers and adds authenticity.
Virtual Reality and emerging technologies have penetrated car design. How is it changing designing?
We can create a design digitally and have more versions of a proposal. We can do them faster and save money by not creating the physical property, until we have the final proposal. So, for instance, for the Sierra, we did create a physical model, but it was the final design selection.