Tata Tiago records sales of over 50,000 units in India

The Tiago is, perhaps, the second most important product for Tata Motors' passenger vehicle business. The first was the Indica, with which the OEM started its journey in the passenger vehicle industry.

 

The Tiago seems to be performing its role of resurrecting the Tata car brand quite well. As per our sister publication Autocar Professional’s analysis, the hatchback's wholesale numbers have crossed the 50,000 unit mark in the domestic market since the car’s launch on April 6, 2016. Until end-January 2017, the number stood at 47,235 units. 

 

Internal calculations show that the Tiago, which has clocked a monthly sales average of 3,936 units, hit this milestone in February.

 

While 50,000 units is not a big number in a huge market like India, for Tata Motors it definitely is an important one. The Tiago has given a new fillip to overall sales; the company has increased its passenger car market share to 6.41 percent (1,11,500 units) from 5.44 percent (91,648 units) in the April 2015-January 2016 period. 

 

Of the Tiago's sales, around 80 percent are for the petrol version, reflecting the overall shift towards petrol cars in the Indian market. With the just-launched AMT version, priced at Rs 5.73 lakh, Tata Motors looks at contributing to, and leveraging, the trend of automatic/automatic-like cars. 

 

The manufacturer started the car's shipment to dealers in February last year to build inventory before the model's official launch on April 6, 2016. 

 

Available in five trims, priced aggressively between Rs 3.39 lakh and Rs 5 lakh (introductory pricing), the Tiago comfortably undercut its rivals like the Maruti Celerio, Chevrolet Beat and the Hyundai i10. In fact, the diesel variant of the Tiago is also the cheapest diesel hatchback in the country, alongside its sibling Tata Indica. 

 

Well-sorted pricing, improved quality levels and an impressive features list saw demand surge for the Tiago. By August 2016, the car had over 30,000 bookings and a three- to four-month waiting period, compelling the company to add a second shift at its Sanand plant to ramp up production.

 

The Tiago has, until now, averaged monthly sales of 3,936 units. September 2016 was the Tiago’s best month with 6,008 units going home to new buyers.

 

 

The Tiago marked the reinvention of Tata Motors across the design, packaging, performance and fuel efficiency parameters. Pretty much everything, other than the base floorpan which was borrowed from the Indica, has been developed from ground up.

 

The Tiago was also the debut vehicle for Tata’s new 'Impact' design language. As Pratap Bose, Tata Motors’ head of design said at the launch, the car’s design language is based on the impression formed on prospective customers within the first 20 seconds of viewing a car. 'Impact' design cars, Tata says, will feature appealing cabin-to-body ratios, best-in-class size, driver-centric layouts and cleverly designed in-cabin storage spaces

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Tata Motors also developed new three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, called Revotron and Revotorq, which were introduced in the Tiago. The 1.2-litre Revotron petrol engine is a lightweight, all-aluminium, four-valve, DOHC setup with variable cam timing for the intake valves. The Revotorq is the three-cylinder 1.05-litre turbo-diesel with a cast iron block, aluminium head and four-valve, twin-cam setup. 

 

With an ARAI-rated fuel efficiency of 23.48kpl for the petrol variant and 27.28kpl for the diesel, the Tiago locks horns with the Maruti Celerio which is rated at 23.1kpl for the petrol variant and 27.6kpl for the diesel.