)
Tata Motors on Thursday launched the Bolt, a hatchback, starting at Rs 4.64 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai). The company is pitting this car against segment leaders Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai Grand i10.
The Bolt, Tata Motors’ second launch in five months, is based on the platform of its compact sedan Zest. The base petrol variant of the Bolt costs Rs 36,000 less than the Zest in Mumbai.
The Bolt will be launched in 100 cities in a week and will have four trim levels and two engine options, making it a total of eight variants for the hatchback. The top-end petrol version is priced Rs 5.75 lakh while the base diesel variant comes at Rs 6.34 lakh and the top-end diesel at Rs 7.32 lakh.
A senior company executive, however, said these were introductory prices and would be revised later.
The Bolt shares most of its styling with the Zest and has the same 1.2 litre Revotron petrol engine and 1.3 litre Quadrajet diesel engine. The engines have been tuned to be more responsive for the Bolt.
Tata Motors is banking on a bunch of segment-first features to drive sales of the Bolt. The company is offering a mix of three driving modes, eco, city and sport, allowing the driver to choose the most suitable option. Further, an infotainment system with eight speakers is packed in the top-end version that also reads out text messages from a cell phone. To explain these features, Tata Motors dealers recruited 1,300 people only for the Bolt, giving them tablets for consumer assistance. Mayank Pareek, president (passenger vehicle business unit), Tata Motors, said, “We expect the Bolt to strengthen our presence in the hatchback segment. It is designed and engineered by our teams across India, the UK and Italy.”
While there were no sales projections, Tata Motors should be hoping to sell at least 4,000 Bolts every month, on a par with the Zest. Pareek had said at least 1,000 customers had booked the car since this month prior to disclosure of prices.
Tata Motors intends to launch two new car models every year until 2020. The Zest, launched in August, was the first in the volume segment after five years. Car market leader Maruti Suzuki launched 10 models in that period.
