Tata has been heightening its ceilings when it comes to features and powertrains and is now expected to break another, possibly by the end of the year itself! This roof is expected to be a diesel engine paired with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox, which is the first in the segment. This has been evinced via the Nexon’s configurator, which shows that this pairing will be available in the top-spec Fearless+ S trim.
The diesel + DCT pairing recently debuted in the ICE Curvv that was unveiled on 7 August with a price announcement set for 2 September. This is Tata’s 1.5-litre diesel producing 113bhp/260Nm and comes mated to a seven-speed DCT or DCA as Tata has termed it. Tata says the engine is all-new but the output is unchanged and you can also have it with a six-speed MT.
Earlier this year, Tata started the ceiling-breaking journey by launching its Tiago and Tigor CNG AMT, while it broke the next one by unveiling the Curvv coupe SUV, a first in the segment. Now, this diesel DCT option for the Nexon will shake up the segment and give both the Mahindra XUV 3XO and the Kia Sonet a run for their money.
Its bigger purpose will be to give the Nexon a more worthy transmission when going up against the torque converters of both Mahindra and Kia. Since its launch, the Nexon has been offered an AMT for its diesel engine in terms of a two-pedal set-up. We expect an additional Rs. 50,000 over the cost of the current diesel AT but we don’t expect Tata to discontinue the diesel AMT either and instead is likely to relegate it to the lower-spec diesel AT variants.