I'm a beginner driver and about to buy my first car. I'm confused between Altroz and Punch, and also confused between petrol and CNG. My daily commute is 55km, 90% highway for one year; later, short trips with family. Budget is ₹9 lakh OTR maximum. Also, does Altroz Pure diesel make sense for my use case?

Autocar India

•1d

The new Tata Punch is a solid choice in the Rs 8 lakh budget; however, it is quite narrow, which means seating three in the back seat can be a bit tight. The Maruti Suzuki Baleno is better in this regard, with a slightly wider and more comfortable rear seat, but do visit both showrooms and experience them yourself. Both cars are comparable in terms of performance and efficiency, but the Baleno’s four-cylinder engine is more refined than the Punch’s three-cylinder unit.Apart from the different body style and slightly raised suspension, the Maruti Suzuki Fronx is essentially the same as the Baleno. Therefore, the main reason to upgrade to the Fronx is if you need the higher ground clearance or want the turbo-petrol engine, which is not available on the Baleno.Regarding the Tata Nexon, to get a reasonably well-equipped variant, you will need to stretch your budget to around Rs 10 lakh and opt for the Pure Plus petrol variant. For the additional money, you get an SUV body style, a roomier cabin with a better rear seat than the aforementioned options, and a turbo-petrol engine with much stronger performance. If it isn’t too much of a financial burden, it is worth stretching to get the Nexon. But if you want to stick to your budget, the Baleno remains a good choice.

Tata Punch

Maruti Suzuki Baleno

Maruti Suzuki Fronx

Tata Nexon

Autocar India

•33m

With the kind of traffic we see in cities like Hyderabad, an automatic will be far more convenient and stress-free to drive on a daily basis. Since you are looking at the Kia Seltos HTK variant, this would be the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol with the IVT/CVT gearbox, which is known to be smooth and easy to use.On the topic of mileage, yes, the automatic will have a slight drop of around 1 to 1.5 kmpl in real-world conditions compared to the manual. However, if your running is not very high, this difference won’t impact your overall running cost significantly.In terms of reliability and long-term ownership, modern CVT/IVT gearboxes have improved a lot over the years. They are quite reliable and do not typically require high maintenance if serviced as per schedule. So concerns about performance dropping over time or major issues are not really something to worry about.

Kia Seltos

Autocar India

•19h

The Tata Punch CNG-AMT is available in four variants - Pure +, Adventure, Adventure S and Accomplished + S. While a 360-degree camera is part of the package from the Adventure trim onwards, cruise control is, sadly, not offered on any version of the Punch CNG-AMT. Cruise control is part of the package on the Punch NA petrol MT, NA petrol AMT and CNG MT.

Tata Punch