2020 Toyota Harrier Vs Tata Harrier – What’s In The Name?

Recently, Toyota unveiled its new global compact SUV, the fourth generation Harrier. While there is o confirmation about an India launch, considering the popularity of SUVs in our market, Toyota might consider bringing the car to our country as well, with a different name of course! In India, the ‘Harrier’ nameplate belongs to Tata Motors.

2020 Toyota Harrier vs 2020 Tata Harrier

Interestingly, these two SUVs might be in direct competition with each other, should Toyota choose to bring its contender here. Let’s take a look at the specs and see how the two SUVs fare against each other.

Toyota Harrier Vs Tata Harrier – Exterior

Toyota Harrier (front angle)

Both the Harriers are handsome looking cars. The Toyota uses a sleek-looking traditional headlamp design with integrated LED DRLs. The front grille is vertically split, with a huge horizontal slat on the upper portion and smaller horizontal slats in the lower portion. There is a small air dam at the bottom with similar slats. The Tata, on the other hand, uses a vertically split headlamp design with this LED DRL strips and a honeycomb grille at the front. The air dam is quite large and flanked in the middle by the number plate holder.

Tata Harrier (front angle)

The side profile is similar for both the vehicles, although the Harrier offers chrome embellishments around the window sills and on top of the C-pillar. The rear section is also surprisingly similar for the two SUVs, with a single-piece design for the taillamps, a high boot-lid, and a high bumper.

The Toyota Harrier is the longer SUV of the two, but Tata Harrier has it beat in all other dimensions, including width, height, wheelbase, and even the ground clearance.

Toyota Harrier Vs Tata Harrier – Interior

Toyota Harrier (dashboard)

The new-generation Toyota Harrier offers a luxurious interior, with leather-lined dashboard and centre-console. The dual-tone colour scheme (black and brown) is adorned by chrome lining in a few places, which add to the luxury feel. As for the Tata Harrier, it’s interior doesn’t use the same premium material, at least not as impressive as the Toyota’s.

Tata Harrier (dashboard)

Still, Tata's interior manages to look pretty, and is one of the best in its class. The BS6 Tata Harrier gets a ‘triple-tone’ theme for the dashboard, in a manner. There is plenty of faux wood on the dash, and the rest of the cabin uses black, brown, and white, to a beautiful effect.

Toyota Harrier Vs Tata Harrier – Engine and Performance

Toyota Harrier (rear angle)

Toyota Harrier will be globally available with two engine options- a 2.0-litre petrol motor and a 2.5-litre petrol/electric hybrid powerplant, naturally aspirated, inline-4 petrol. The former is capable of churning out a maximum of 173 PS and 207 Nm, while the latter is paired to an electric motor, and the combined power output of hybrid mill is 222 PS. There is just one transmission option on offer, a CVT automatic.

Tata Harrier (rear angle)

The Tata Harrier, however, is only available with a 2.0-litre diesel engine, with 170 PS and 350 Nm on tap. It is offered with a 6-speed manual as standard, along with an optional 6-speed torque-converter automatic. A 1.5-litre turbo-petrol is also in the pipeline, with its introduction slated for early next year.

Toyota Harrier Vs Tata Harrier – Final Verdict

After a brief comparison, we can safely say that while the Toyota Harrier is an impressive car, it certainly doesn’t seem like a sure-shot winner. The engines are impressive, but the lack of a diesel option might affect its popularity, as people still prefer their SUVs to be diesel-powered. Also, the interior is a bit too premium, which might drive the cost a bit too high in our market. The Tata Harrier, although lacking in some areas, offers a brilliant bang-for-the-buck proposition. Until Toyota can beat that, we’d say the Tata is the better of the two.