Tata Motors today launched Tata Aria 4x2, a luxurious car with comfort of a sedan and the muscle of an SUV, for its eastern India buyers. The Tata Aria, which is already in the market in four wheel drive, has extended its new range of 4x2 vehicles with several new benchmarks in terms of design and technology. Launching the new product at a function here, Tata Motors head, utility vehicles product, Rajesh Nair told newspersons here that with the introduction of Aria 4x2, the company has upgraded its niche product combing the finesse of a luxury car and the strength of an all-terrain vehicle. Later, speaking to UNI on whether the launch was ill-timed because of the recent hike in fuel prices and drastic reduction in the demand of passenger cars in India, Mr Nair said though the overall demand of passenger cars has reduced by four to five per cent during the past couple of months because of high cost of fuel and increase in bank interest rate for car loans, the downturn effect was minimal for Tata Motors top-end cars. Though the earlier versions of Aria 4x4 were being sold at the rate of 250-300 vehicles per month, since October last, we hope Tata Aria 4x2 would be much more popular and sold in greater numbers across the country, including eastern India, he added.