Tata Motors enters premium hatchback segment, rolls out Altroz

Tata Motors on Wednesday entered the premium hatchback segment with the rollout of BS-VI compliant Altroz at a starting price of Rs 5.29 lakh (ex-showroom India). Besides Altroz, Tata Motors also launched the BS-VI versions of Nexon, Tiago, and Tigor as part of its transition to the new emission standards, which are to come into effect from April 1.

The company said it was confident of having no BS-IV stock before April 1. Unveiled in December last year, Altroz, which is the industry's first BS-VI diesel-ready car, is also the first vehicle model based on the brand's Alfa platform, and the second vehicle showing the Impact 2.0 design language.

"We promised to kick-start the year with a product offensive and here we are. The future of efficient, green, sustainable mobility solutions needs to translate into reality and we have made a start by bringing the new generation of BS-VI solutions to the market," Tata Motors CEO and Managing Director Guenter Butschek said. With Altroz, Tata Motors is expanding its market coverage further, he said, adding "we have lots more in store for 2020 and we have just commenced unveiling our well-defined future product portfolio".

Stating that the uptick during the festive season did not continue in January, Butschek said as far as the inventory is concerned, "we have come to an all-time low level of stock at the end of December at less than 9,000 units in the entire system mainly with the dealers." "By Wednesday morning, only 7,000 units were left. We are pretty comfortable with this and the transition to BS-VI in the remaining two-and-a-half months is going to lead us to what we call the mission zero, which means (there will be) no stocks in the value chain of BS-IV related material (on April 1)," he said.

"So we can advance the transition by a couple of weeks," he added. The company's inventory was around 28,000 units in April, an official had earlier said.

Altroz, which will compete with the likes of Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Hyundai i20 and Honda Jazz among others, will be available in five trim levels across all 874 authorized dealerships of Tata Motors. The petrol variant of the car starts at Rs 5.29 lakh and goes up to Rs 7.69 lakh, while the diesel variant starts at Rs 6.99 lakh and goes up to Rs 9.29 lakh for the top model.

Last week, Altroz became only the second car in India to receive a 5-star safety rating for adult protection in Global NCAP crash tests. "We are elated to begin 2020 in style with our new generation of passenger cars today. These new models are beyond BS-VI and will redefine every segment they are meant for," said Mayank Pareek, President - Passenger Vehicles Business Unit (PVBU), Tata Motors.

In India, hatchbacks account for 49 percent of all cars sold in the country, and of this, the premium hatchback sub-segment accounts for 26 percent, he said. "Its share has increased from 9 percent to 26 percent over the recent years," he added.

"So for us, this is an important launch. This is one of the most premia and encouraging segments in the industry and offers us good scope to increase our market share," he said. Additionally, with the introduction of Altroz and Nexon, Tata Motors also becomes the first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to launch BS-VI ready diesel variants in their respective segments, the company said.

The new Nexon will be available in 1.2L Revotron turbocharged petrol BS-VI engine, commanding a starting price of Rs 6.95 lakh. Nexon 2020 will be offered in 6-speed manual and AMT options and is equipped with best-in-class safety features and will be the first car from Tata Motors to feature the 'iRA Tech' -- the new connected car technology, which has been designed specifically for India and caters to its unique driving conditions, the company said.

"The iRA Tech consists of technologies such as What3Words, connected safety, natural voice system, and the Tribes app," it said. Tiago 2020 will be the successor to the first generation Tiago and will be available in both manual and AMT options.

It comes with a 1.2L Revotron petrol BS-VI engine, with price starting at Rs 4.60 lakh, Tata Motors said. Tigor 2020 will be available at a starting price of Rs 5.75 lakh and will come with a 1.2L Revotron petrol BS-VI engine, the company added.