Tata has launched the new Tiago mid-sized hatchback at prices starting from Rs 3.20 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the base petrol variant.

The Tiago is available in five variants - XB, XE, XM, XT and the top-spec XZ. Even if one compares the variants to lower rung variants of rivals, the Tiago comfortably undercuts them. What’s also impressive is while the price is low, the value is quite high too with the top-spec Tiago offering goodies such as airbags, cooled glovebox, and a Harman-sourced infotainment system with USB, Bluetooth and aux connectivity. The base variant misses out on air conditioning but it does get power steering 

Tata is obviously going for the kill in a bid to achieve the sales volumes it desperately needs. The Bolt had the potential to bring in sales, but was launched at a price too high and was essentially a major revision of the Vista. The Tiago, however, has been priced extremely competitively and Tata has ensured that it is virtually all new. Although the base floorpan comes from the Indica, the Tiago shares nothing else with the model.

The Tiago also marks the debut of two new in-house developed engines – a 1.2-litre three-cylinder naturally aspirated Revotron petrol engine that develops 85hp and 114Nm of torque, and a 1.05-litre three-cylinder Revotorq diesel unit capable of developing 70hp and 139Nm of torque. Both engines offer a choice of drive modes – a segment first – and come paired with a five-speed manual gearbox. The petrol motor gets an ARAI fuel efficiency figure of 23.84kpl while the diesel is rated at 27.28kpl.

A hallmark of Tata, the Tiago too gets a good amount of space on the inside, along with a generous 240-litre boot and numerous storage spaces scattered across the cabin. A dual-tone dashboard with colour-coordinated inserts is available as an option.

Also on offer is a safety pack for the XE, XM and XT trims at an additional cost of Rs 18,000. The pack sees the addition of dual front airbags, seatbelt with pretensioners, driver seatbelt reminder and height adjust for the driver's seat.

The Tiago rivals the likes of the Maruti Celerio and the Hyundai i10, both of which are well-established players in the competitive mid-size hatchback segment.

The much delayed Tiago was earlier known as the Zica, but was renamed following the outbreak of a similar-named virus.

Tata Tiago review