Tata Altroz teased ahead January 2020 launch

Tata has teased its upcoming Altroz in a short video ahead of its debut next month. The teaser reveals little, besides revealing the production hatchback’s profile, which allows us a glimpse at the car’s belt-line and portions of the light clusters.

First showcased as the 45X concept at Auto Expo 2018, Tata showed a closer to production iteration of the premium hatchback at the 2019 Geneva motor show, and revealed a few key details about the model.

As is evident from the numerous spy images, the hatchback retains the concept’s sharp looks, with sleek sweptback headlamps flanking the grille up front, a prominent belt-line, large wheels and a rising window line. Round the back too, the design is expected to be much the same as the car that was on display in Geneva, with the tailgate getting a blacked-out element just below the rear windscreen that houses the tail-lamps.

In terms of size, Tata said that the model at the Geneva motor show measured 3,988mm in length, 1,754mm in width and 1,505mm in height, with a 2,501mm-long wheelbase. Boot space was claimed to be 341 litres.

Inside, the Altroz will feature a large, central free-standing touchscreen atop the dashboard, along with a new steering design, a part-digital instrument cluster – comprising an analogue speedometer and digital RPM guage – along with highlights around the AC vents. A previous leaked teaser for the car also confirmed ambient lighting will be offered on some variants.

Under the hood, the Altroz is expected to get three engine options – two petrols and one diesel. The 85hp, 1.2-litre, naturally aspirated petrol engine from the Tiago, along with a detuned version of the Nexon’s 1.2-litre turbo-petrol motor calibrated to put out 102hp are expected. A 90hp version of the 1.5-litre diesel (which powers the Nexon) is also expected. While a 5-speed manual is expected to be the only gearbox at the time of launch, automatic options are expected at a later date.

Although Tata had planned to launch the Altroz in 2019, the carmaker decided to delay the launch in order to provide BS6-compliant engines from the time of its launch.

When it arrives the Altroz will rival the likes of the Maruti Baleno Toyota Glanza, Honda Jazz and the soon to be replaced Hyundai i20.