The Tata Altroz will be its company’s most premium hatchback offering ever, it will go on to rival the likes of Maruti Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20
The Tata Altroz is definitely among the most awaited small cars of recent times. The 45X concept-based hatchback, which was unveiled in all its glory at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, will be positioned in the upper B-segment of our market. This simply means that the most upmarket hatchback from the homegrown carmaker would go on to rival the likes of Maruti Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20 but it will launch next year only as its planned launch delayed for second time in last 3 months.
The Tata Altroz is the second recipient of the company’s IMPACT 2.0 design theme, with the first-ever production model being the fairly successful Tata Harrier. On the outside, the Altroz looks a fair bit like the 45X concept but is a shoe size smaller. That said, it looks fairly similar but a shade or two less radical.
A couple of images from a recent sighting have given us a good look at the dashboard. From these images, it’s pretty clear that the upcoming model will have a fairly sophisticated dashboard that will make both the Maruti Baleno and Hyundai Elite i20 look dull in comparison.
While we’ll discuss the details of the interior later, what we want to highlight first is that the Tata Altroz has a rather unusual arrangement for the horn pads. Instead of the usual central location, the steering wheel has horn switches located on the sides of the steering boss. What this means is that the horn buttons are placed close to the steering-mounted controls for infotainment and telephony.
While some of you would be used to such arrangement of horn buttons, which was available on old cars like the Maruti 800 and Hindustan Ambassador, what’s unusual is that the horn buttons are placed very close to the infotainment buttons, which means the user of the Tata Altroz might find this setup a bit inconvenient.
The cabin of the Tata Altroz will be equipped with features like a floating-type infotainment unit that would support Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic climate control, semi-digital speedo cluster and a multi-function steering wheel.
Powering the Tata Altroz will be a 1.2-litre petrol engine that will be available in both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged guises, and a 1.5-litre diesel burner. Both the fuel variants are likely to be available with an optional automatic transmission.
