Tata Xenon facelift with AT and Ford Ranger spotted

Thank you to BHPian Tushky for sharing these spy shots with other enthusiasts!

A couple of test mules of the Tata Xenon have been spotted, along with a mildly camouflaged Ford Ranger pickup. The Xenon spotted is a facelifted model. It gets a new front grille, and is equipped with an automatic transmission. On the other hand, the Ranger is a global pre-facelift version.

From the looks of it, Tata Motors appears to be benchmarking the Xenon facelift against the Ford Ranger. We say this because other Tata Vehicles, including buses and light commercial vehicles like the Magic Iris with testing number plates, can be seen in the background. The vehicles appear to be a part of Tata's test fleet.

The Ranger in the spy shots is an older model, which was globally replaced with a newer version last year. There is very low possibility of Ford testing a discontinued model on Indian roads. Additionally, all test mules have Maharashtra (MH) number plates. Tata Motors has a plant in Chakan, near Pune, and thus we have seen various vehicles from the Indian automaker testing with MH plates. Ford test mules generally wear TN plates as its plant is located in Chennai. All these points suggest that the Ranger is being used as a benchmarking vehicle for the Xenon.

There might also be a possibility of Tata testing and benchmarking the Xenon for the international markets, where it has received a satisfactory response. It remains to be seen whether the Xenon AT makes it to the Indian market, or is kept exclusively for exports.