Buoyed by the excellent response for Zest compact sedan, Tata Motors is now aiming to launch a series of all-new cars in the country under its HORIZONEXT umbrella. The company will launch the Bolt hatchback on January 20, 2015, and is preparing a couple of all new compact cars. Codenamed as Kite, the new project comprises of two cars including a compact hatchback and the compact sedan. The Kite hatchback which will likely be called as Tata Tiago will be launched this year, while the entry level sedan launch likely by year end or early next year. Our sourced revealed that the hatchback is likely to be launched in the second quarter of this year, and will replace the Indica. It is based on the modified Indica platform, and the vehicle has already been spotted several times on Indian roads.
It is expected that the Tata Kite hatchback will be more appealing than the Indica hatchback and is equipped with decent features. The exterior components will be shared with the Bolt hatchback, but the styling will be different. Inside the cabin, the hatchback is likely to get a new dashboard which will be better than the one found on the Indica. The spyshots available on interweb suggests that the car will get rectangular shaped air condition vents and smaller instrument cluster.
Just like the Bolt, the new Kite hatch will be offered in both petrol and diesel guise. The petrol version will get the naturally aspirated 1.2-litre engine while the oil burner is the new 1.05-litre three-cylinder unit that is good for 64bhp and 142Nm of torque. A five-speed manual gearbox would be offered as standard, while an automated manual gearbox will come as an optional.
