I am ALTROZ The Flying Bird

After the Auto Expo 2018 Tata is doing the aggressive marketing of their products, the Harrier is one of the best examples of Tata's marketing policy. Tata has created a big hype of Harrier in India before it's launch and the results are here. Everyone is excited about this SUV whether genuine buyers or car enthusiasts. The Harrier is no doubt the masterpiece from Tata Motors. This shows that Tata is really improving the quality of their products. On the other hand, the service centers of Tata are also improving their standards, but the recent controversy between one of the YouTuber and the Malwa dealership of Tata Motors showed the bitter truth of Tata's dealerships. Well, I don't want to talk about it, as this blog is on the Tata's new product the Altroz which is ready to launch in the market very soon. 

ALTROZ It Is...

Tata once again has created the big excitement about Altroz by sharing the teaser on youtube in which they revealed the car's name by revealing a letter per day. And in response to it, many of the auto-experts and YouTubers are guessing the name.

And the name is ALTROZ which is officially declared by Tata Motors on 25th Feb 2019.

So let's get to the real business of knowing some facts and figures of new Altroz.

OVERVIEW

Altroz is going to be the Tata's first ever premium hatchback and will be the first Tata based on AlfaARC platform. The prototype showcased in auto-expo has sharp and edgy exteriors and looks futuristic.

Tata is going to debut the production spec of Altroz in 2019 Geneva Motor Show. And is expected to launch in the month of June this year. While the platform on which this car is going to build is new,  there are some features that the Altroz is going to share with other Tata cars.

The car will have tried and tested the 1.2L turbocharged petrol engine and the 1.5L diesel engine from Nexon. The car is expected to get the Harrier's half analog and half digital instrument cluster.

It is expected to get the 6-speed manual as well as automatic transmission. The automatic will be no other than India's favorite AMT unit. It might take some time to introduce the AMT in Altroz after it's launch, but the company will definitely provide it in this car, as all its rivals have an automatic version. As the statement is made about its rivals, let's see who all will be the rivals of Altroz.

RIVALS

Maruti Suzuki Baleno

Hyundai i20 Elite

Honda Jazz

PRICE

Tata is known for its aggressive pricing, most of the Tata cars have a huge difference in their pricing when compared to their rivals in the respective segments.

Altroz is expected to be priced between 5-8 Lacs.

VERDICT

Another Tata is set to create a buzz in India after Harrier. It is good to see that this Indian automaker is now focusing more on its products and delivering good quality. The Altroz will create a boom in the market no doubt. But Tata motors still have to travel a long journey to improve their dealerships attitude towards their customers and yes the after sales service too. 

Also, see this:

Tata Harrier variants: https://pistonheadautoblogs.blogspot.com/2018/12/tata-harrier-variants-revealed.html

Nexon Vs XUV-300: https://pistonheadautoblogs.blogspot.com/2019/01/nexon-vs-xuv-300-which-is-better.html

NEXON VS XUV-300 WHICH IS BETTER

Sub 4 meter compact SUV segment is going to witness some serious competition this year. A lot of new products are going to launch in this segment and one such product is the Mahindra XUV-300. XUV-300 is gaining popularity from the movement when it was revealed in the month of December. The reason behind this popularity is the looks of the SUV, the name itself as it is from the XUV family and of course the long feature list (some of which are a segment first). XUV-500 will launch in the month of February 2019.

We will be comparing it with another Indian brand, the Tata Nexon. Tata Nexon is doing a decent job in the segment and manages to out sale the segment creator, the Ford Eco-sport in some months. Nexon manages to do so due to a lot of reasons, some of them are the looks, attractive prices, and value for money package.

LOOKS

In this department, Nexon is doing a good job and gets many awards for its looks. Nexon is based on tata motor’s Impact Design 1.0 concept. It gets all the design elements in the right place which adds to its overall looks. To add in to looks Nexon gets DRLs, dual color combinations and a white ceramic line that wraps around the entire car. Nexon was also criticised for its looks, as some people perceived it as the Indica on steroids. But overall it’s a good looking car and looks is one of the factors that help Nexon to gain popularity.

Unlike Nexon, XUV-300 has the proper boxy SUV looks. XUV-300 is based on the Ssangyong Tivoli’s platform which has a global presence. Although Mahindra has done certain changes in its looks and uses some design elements from XUV-500 and hence gets the name XUV-300. Mahindra called it the cheetah-inspired design.

But we still believe that Nexon is still a good looking SUV with a crossover type design rather than old-school boxy design. Although the design is the subjective matter and depends on the individual’s choice.  

INTERIOR

Just as exteriors, Nexon's interior is also well put together rather it is one of the best tata’s interior with good material quality. It has a floating infotainment touch screen which avoids the distraction of driver from the road while operating it. The cabin is quite practical and has many usable storage spaces and decent size glove box with a tablet holder. Just like exteriors, Tata has also used various color combinations in interiors as well. The seat comfort is good like all Tata cars have.

XUV-300 will be launching in the month of February, so commenting about its interior will be quite earlier as we haven’t get the chance to feel its interior materials, but from the available pics on internet we can say that the interiors of XUV-300 is quite simple as compare to Nexon but is definitely more functional, as it has more features in it.

FEATURES

XUV-300 has a lot of features some of which like 7-airbags, factory fitted sunroof, dual zone climate control are segment first. On the other hand, Nexon also offers some of the unique features like voice commands, multiple drive modes, and 8 speaker Harman music system in attractive prices which makes Nexon value for money.

ENGINE

Nexon comes with two engine options, the 1.2L turbocharged 3-cylinder Revotron petrol engine producing 110 hp @5000rpm and 110 N-m torque @5000 rpm and a 1.5L turbocharged Revotorq diesel engine which produces 110 hp @3750 rpm.

XUV-300 will come with Diesel as well as Petrol engines. 1.5 liter D15 Diesel engine is going to be more powerful in the segment producing 123 HP of power and 300N-m of torque. 1.2-liter Petrol unit will be 2nd most powerful engine producing 120 HP  and 170 N-m torque after Ford eco sports who’s 1.0 Eco Boost engine produces 125 HP.

FINAL VERDICT

XUV-300 has a lot of features some of which like 7-airbags, factory fitted sunroof, dual zone climate control are segment first. On the other hand, Nexon also offers some of the unique features like voice commands, multiple drive modes, and 8 speaker Harman music system in attractive prices which makes Nexon value for money.

TATA nexon Indian's first 5 star rated car by NCAP

Tata motors was always famous for their robust build since they are in this business. But they were not having a relevant proof for this. People usually appreciate tata's build quality when they meet some accidents. Tata have tested their previous cars like Zest and Nano who scores 4 and zero stars respectively. The nano score Zero due to absence of safety features like airbags,ABS,pretensioners seat belts,etc. But recently tested Nexon the sub 4 meter suv has scored 5 stars in NCAP crash test for adult occupant by scoring 16.06 points out of 17 and 3 stars for child occupant by scoring 25 points out of 49. By this results the Nexon has become the first car to score 5 stars which is completely made in india.

This is the 2nd time the Nexon has been tested by NCAP, earlier when it was tested, it scored 4 stars in adult safety and 3 stars in child safety. So what really changed in the Nexon to get 5 stars now? Well, the recently tested nexon is all same as the previous one. But the only change that is there in new nexon is the introduction of co-passengers seat belt warning system and in addition to this the nexon also tested for it's side impact this time and became the first indian car to be side impact tested.

NCAP also mentioned further that the body shell is stable during both, front and side impact tests and can sustain more force. Although the 5 star rating is applicable to the Nexon models manufactured from dec 2018 and all the cars manufactured before that will be having a 4 star ratings.

That day is not far when people will ask kitna bachati hai instead of kitna deti hai🤣 thanks to tata, because I feel the customers in india should me more focused on their safety rather than mileage.