At the beginning of the year 2020, Tata launched its most awaited hot hatchback, the Tata Altroz which debuted with the new ALFA-ARC (Agile Light Flexible Advanced – Architecture) platform. In the Indian market, the Tata Altroz rivals other premium hatchbacks such as the Honda Jazz, Hyundai i20, Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Toyota Glanza and Volkswagen Polo, out of which only the new 2020 Hyundai i20 is offered with a BS6 diesel powertrain competing thoroughly against the Altroz which also comes with a BS6 4-cylinder diesel engine option.
The Tata Altroz slots above the Global NCAP 4-star rated Tata Tiago hatchback and has been garnered with the coveted full 5-star safety rating at the Global NCAP crash tests under the SaferCarsForIndia initiative. AS standard, the Tata Altroz is offered with seat belt reminder, seat belt pre-tensioners, driver and passenger front airbags, ISOFIX child restraint seat anchorage system and ABS.
The Tata Altroz is powered by a BS6 emission-compliant 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged diesel Revotorq motor that produces 90 PS of power and 200 Nm of torque matched to a 5-speed manual transmission. The premium hatchback is also available with a BS6 emission-compliant 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated three-cylinder Revotron petrol engine that makes 86 PS of power and 113 Nm of torque matched to a manual 5-speed gearbox unit. The brand currently does not offer the Altroz with an automatic transmission, but recently spied pictures lead us to believe that the brand is working on a new dual-clutch automatic version which is likely to be powered by a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged direct injection petrol motor.
The Tata Altroz features the Impact 2.0 design philosophy and comes with sweptback headlamp units that incorporate the mesh radiator grille, projector headlamp units, chunky bumper integrated fog lamps, a wide air dam with a splitter effect, muscular wheel arches, raised bonnet lines, blacked-out roof and B-pillar, gloss black DLO area, charecter lines on the door, a prominent shoulder line that starts from the front window corner and meets the hip, wraparound tail lamps etc. On the inside, the Altroz features equipment such as a floating infotainment system, semi-digital instrumentation, control mounted steering wheel, contoured seats with textured upholstery, rear AC vents and a multilayered dashboard fascia.
The Tata Altroz is priced starting at INR 5.44 lakh ex-showroom for the entry-level petrol version but the diesel-powered Altroz is priced starting at INR 6.99 lakh onwards, ex-showroom, Delhi.