Five things you need to know about the Tata Altroz

Continuing the aggressive onslaught in various categories across the Indian car market with all new generation products, Tata is all set to launch the much-awaited Altroz premium hatchback in India. The premium hatchback, which was first showcased back in Auto Expo 2018 as the concept 45X, was previewed for the first time in its production-ready form in the Geneva Motor Show in 2019.

Following are the five key points to be considered for the much-awaited Tata Altroz:-

IMPACT 2.0 design language

Tata Motors created quite a few ripples in the Indian automobile designing scene when it introduced all new generation models like Hexa, Tiago, Tigor and Nexon under its IMPACT design philosophy. And then came the Tata Harrier, which levelled up the game ever further with the revamped version of the same design philosophy, giving it the name IMPACT 2.0.

It is the result of IMAPCT 2.0 which has made the Tata Harrier one of the most striking looking SUVs India has ever since, something which Tata hopes for the Altroz as well, when it comes to hatchbacks. It is this IMPACT 2.0 design philosophy which blessed the new generation Tata cars with strong proportions, pronounced wheel arches, ‘humanity line’ at front with unique headlamp design and clutter free interiors, which give them an edge over their competitors. In addition, the Altroz will have a couple of unique bits like vertical turn indicators mounted on the edges of front doors and rear door handles recessed in C-pillar.

ALFA-arc platform

Tata Motors is following the suite of other car makers by making a common platform which is flexible across various body styles. For compact cars, Tata will be debuting the ALFA-arc platform with the Altroz, which will be followed by a micro SUV based on the H2X concept showcased at Geneva Motor Show.

Tata has already claimed that the new Agile Light Flexible Advanced (ALFA) arc platform will have a scalable architecture, which can accommodate multiple body styles and will retain Tata’s well known aspect of providing segment best rear seat room and boot space in the cabin.

Key features

Gone is the past when cars from Tata Motors were not as generously equipped as their rivals, as the Harrier and Nexon have already shown that the new generation Tata vehicles are no short on comfort, convenience and safety features. Following the suite, the new Tata Altroz will be loaded with sufficient amount of kit to match the proficiency of its competitors.

On the outside, the Tata Altroz will carry on the current trends with bits like projector headlamps, fog lamps and daytime running LEDs in a separate housing, 16-inch machined alloy wheels and LED inserts in the tail lamps. Like the Harrier, the Altroz will also feature dual tone paint jobs as well as piano black treatment running across the boot lid engulfing the tail lamps.

Matching its peers, the Tata Altroz will have a pretty good equipment list on the inside as well with an all black upholstery, with features like a seven-inch floating type touchscreen infotainment system with reverse camera, Android Auto and Apple Carplay, push button start with keyless entry, steering mounted audio, bluetooth and cruise control, automatic climate control, auto foldable outside rear view mirrors, rain sensing wipers, tilt and telescopic adjustable steering, automatic headlamps and rear AC vents. Also, it will be the first car in its segment to feature a part-digital instrument console (as seen in the Tata Harrier) and a separate button for Google Assistant in the infotainment system.

Tata has already made quite a good stature with the Nexon when it comes to the aspect of safety, something which is highly likely to be carried forward in the Altroz as well. The list of standard safety features will comprise of dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors, speed alert system and seat belt reminders for front seats.

Engines and transmissions

Tata will have a total of three engine options which will ply under the hood of the new Altroz, out of which two are petrol powered and one is diesel mill. The base variant of the petrol Altroz will be powered by a naturally aspirated 1.2-litre three cylinder petrol engine from the Tigor compact sedan, which produces 85 PS of power and 114 Nm of torque.

All the other petrol variants, apart from the base one, will source from the same 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine from the Nexon. However, here in the Altroz, the engine will be detuned, resulting in different output numbers – 102 PS of power and 140 Nm of torque.
The sole oil burner for the Tata Altroz is the 1.5-litre four cylinder diesel engine from the Nexon, which too will be detuned to deliver 90 PS, almost 20 PS lesser than what this engine achieves in the Nexon.

All these three engines will be paired to the same 5-speed manual gearbox from the Tigor, rather than the 6-speed manual gearbox from the Nexon. Apart from this, a 5-speed AMT from the Tigor might also be offered as optional. And as expected, to meet the deadlines, all these powertrains will be BS-VI ready right from the word ‘go’ in the Altroz.

Launch timeline and pricing

Pitted as a rival to the likes of Maruti Baleno, Hyundai i20, Honda Jazz, Volkswagen Polo and Toyota Glanza, the Tata Altroz is all set to be revealed in India in January 2020. Given Tata’s aggressive pricing strategy in the past, which have been undercutting the rivals, expect the Altroz to have pricing ranges of INR 5.5-7 lakh for the petrol variants and INR 6.5-8 lakh for the diesel ones.