The Porsche 911 Dakar instantly stole all the limelight and headlines all over when it was introduced last year. And why not, for it is a thoroughbred sports car with the added practicality and essence of a high-riding SUV. However, you might feel surprised that the Porsche 911 Dakar was not meant to be called by the name you just read. Porsche wanted to call it the 911 Safari, but someone had an objection to it. And you guessed it right – that ‘someone’ was Tata Motors.
We all know about the Tata Safari, which has always remained a name etched in the hearts of motoring fanboys in India. With an illustrious run of the first-generation version and the second-generation model continuing the legacy in the current times, the ‘Safari’ is a nameplate which Tata Motors doesn’t want to let others play with. Tata Motors owns a trademark of the ‘Safari’ name, so when someone at the Indian carmaker’s department heard that Porsche intends to call the new rugged 911 as ‘911 Safari’, it stood up and took notice of it.
According to Thomas Krickelberg, the head of the 911 Dakar project, the new sports car was meant to be called ‘911 Safari’, for the ‘Safari’ suffix denotes the aura of off-roading with beefed-up tyres and suspension in rugged vehicles all over the world. But Tata Motors refused Porsche to name the new sportscar using the term ‘Safari’, citing the copyright infringement laws. After the denial of permission from Tata Motors, the team of Porsche 911 Dakar continued its search for a new name, and finally agreed to come to terms with the current name.
First launched in 1998
First launched in 1998, the first-generation Tata Safari served as the flagship vehicle at Tata Motors for almost two decades, until the SUV was finally discontinued in 2020, owing to the BS6 emission norms. However, Tata Motors didn’t want the ‘Safari’ nameplate to die. And thus, the name returned on an all-new flagship SUV from Tata Motors, which is essentially a seven-seater version of the Harrier.
In its modern avatar, the Tata Safari sits on a monocoque frame with a front-wheel drive layout, unlike the previous-generation model, which was based on a ladder-on-frame architecture and was offered with RWD and 4WD versions. The new Tata Safari is now available with a 2.0-litre 170 PS diesel engine, which is being offered with the choices of 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic transmission options.
Tata is also working to bring back the all-new Sierra to the Indian market. The updated modern-day Sierra will be available as an electric vehicle and also a turbo-petrol SUV in the Indian market. Tata will launch the all-new Sierra on a Gen 2 platform. It will offer an electric powertrain and a turbo-petrol engine variant. Tata has remained tight-lipped about the powertrain option until now. However, the Gen 2 platform which also underpins the Harrier EV, will offer a longer range with more space for batteries and a more powerful electric motor.
Keyword: Tata Motors blocks German sportscar maker Porsche from using the Safari name on the 911 Dakar