The festive season is around the corner and you can drive home in one of these flashy new premium hatches before Diwali! VW was the first to update Polo in the segment followed by Fiat with Punto EVO. While Hyundai will launch its 'Elite' i20 on August 11 and Tata will launch the Bolt before festive season. Moreover, Swift will be coming in November but Maruti might introduce it early seeing the rising competition.
Volkswagen Polo
Facelifts are generally accompanied with visual tweaks but VW has introduced an all-new diesel heart. The highlight of the Polo launch is the 1.5 liter TDI turbo diesel engine that belts out 88.8bhp and class leading 230Nm of max torque. The sportier GT TDI variant gets 103.5bhp (105PS) and 250Nm version of this engine; that's more power and torque than even several mid-size sedans while its class leading in its segment! Petrol motors remained same. Apart from this Polo remained same with minor tweaks here and there. The major change inside is a new flat bottom steering wheel.
Fiat Punto EVO
Fiat India has already launched the Punto EVO and the price you pay for everyone staring at you is Rs. 4.55 lakh. Fiat has priced the car very economical despite it being a premium hatch. It is certainly more competitive now and boast several segment first features. The petrol trims ranges from Rs 4.55-6.55 lakh and diesel trims gets Rs 5.27-6.83 lakh while the Punto EVO Sports (only offered in diesel) costs Rs 7.19 lakh (All prices ex-showroom Delhi). Prices are neck-to-neck with the top seller in the segment – Maruti Swift. Moreover, it embraces segment first features like rear LED taillamps, rear AC vents, ambient lighting, 16-inch alloys, etc. Mechanically, it gets 1.2L/1.4L FIRE petrol and 1.3L MJD/1.3L 90HP MJD diesel.
Hyundai Elite i20
The second generation i20 adopts the Hyundai's Fluidic 2.0 design philosophy, it looks more mature and grown-up. The internet is flooded with new i20's spy shots and what it looks like the hatch is radically different from what it used to be. The hatch looks wider and longer plus it gets heavy design inspiration from Santa-Fe. Reportedly, its getting the same powerplants from the outgoing car, two petrol (1.2/1.4 litre) and one diesel (1.4L). Hyundai will certainly spice up new i20 with new features while the company will retain most of the goodies from the outgoing car which was already pretty well loaded.
Tata Bolt
After the Zest's upcoming launch on August 12, the next big thing from Tata's will be the premium hatch Bolt. The compact sedan and Bolt share the same Vista's platform but sports radical changes inside out. The hatch is also getting several segment first features like projector headlamps, 5-inch touchscreen Harman infotainment system with voice controls, Multi-mode engine drive, etc. speaking of the engines, it will get an all-new Revotron 1.2liter 88.8bhp (90PS) 140Nm turbo petrol engine and a 1.3 liter 75bhp/190 Nm diesel engine.
Source : CarDekho
