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Tata Motors recently launched the Punch in India with introductory prices ranging between Rs 5.49 lakh-9.39 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). These prices are, however, only valid till December 31, 2021. The company has already commenced deliveries of the Punch and what’s interesting to note is that all pre-launch bookings are being delivered to customers without any waiting period.
- Enough stock to meet pre-launch bookings
- Highest pre-launch bookings received so far among Tata cars
- Waiting period may rise in the near future as bookings increase
Tata Punch: deliveries on track with no waiting period
Speaking during the Q&A session, following the price announcement of the Punch, Shailesh Chandra, president, passenger vehicles business unit, said that deliveries of the Punch will begin with immediate effect. Tata Motors had already commenced production of the Punch in September and the company says they have enough stock to deliver vehicles against all pre-launch bookings. “As of now, at the time of delivery, we have sufficient vehicles to start with,” said Chandra.
Although the exact booking number was not disclosed, Chandra said that “the Punch has attracted the highest pre-launch bookings which we have ever experienced in the entire portfolio of products that we have.” Bookings for the Punch had officially opened a couple of weeks ago, on October 4.
Anticipating a strong response, Tata has prioritised the Punch by allocating strong production volumes for the coming months and has also taken several internal measures to mitigate the impact of the global semiconductor crisis. “We have taken 4-5 measures like closely coordinating with the semiconductor suppliers themselves, minimising use of specialised chips and go for more standard chips, approaching the stockist for direct access to some semiconductors and we have also been looking into some design changes to optimise the use of semiconductors,” said Chandra.
That said, the company is still gauging bookings for the Punch post the price announcement. Chandra said, “We will come to know within the next 30 days what’s the extent of bookings and that will be a right time to really assess the waiting period.” He further added, “There definitely will be a waiting period given the bookings we have already received, and what we might receive in the next one or two weeks.”
Dealers tell us that for specific variants and exterior paint shade options that are not in stock, customers are being given a tentative waiting period for two weeks in some cities.
Tata Punch: engines, trims and custom packs
Under the hood, the Tata Punch is powered by a sole 86hp, 113Nm, 1.2-litre, three-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine. It comes mated to either a 5-speed manual or an AMT automatic gearbox. The Punch also features an automatic engine start-stop feature and has an ARAI-rated fuel economy figure of 18.97kpl for the manual and 18.82kpl for the automatic variants.
The Punch is available in eight trims – Pure, Pure(O), Adventure, Adventure (O), Accomplished, Accomplished (O), Creative and Creative (O) – where (O) denotes optional custom packages. The Pure and Adventure trims are offered with a Rhythm pack, while the Accomplished and Creative can be had with a Dazzle and IRA pack, respectively.
Tata Punch: pricing and rivals
Priced between Rs 5.49 lakh-9.39 lakh, the Punch rivals the likes of Maruti Suzuki Ignis (Rs 5.10 lakh-7.47 lakh) and Mahindra KUV100 (Rs 6.06 lakh-7.72 lakh). While the Punch is competitively priced at the lower end, top-spec variants are considerably more expensive than its rivals’. The Punch will thus also see competition from compact SUVs such as the Nissan Magnite (Rs 5.71 lakh-9.89 lakh) and Renault Kiger (Rs 5.64 lakh-10.09 lakh), which are marginally bigger, have more engine-gearbox options and are similarly specced, if not more.
*All Prices, ex-showroom, Delhi.
Also See:
Tata Punch scores 5 star GNCAP safety rating
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