Tata Bolt-The Bold new hatchback

After having experienced half a dozen Tata vehicles in past few years, including Tata Nano in 2010,  Tata Grande and Tata Aria in 2011, Tata Indica Vista D90 in Jan 2013, Tata Nano twist in Feb 2014, Landrover Freelander 2 in September 2014, not to mention few rented trips in Safaris, I am looking forward to the new Tata Bolt Launch.

2014 ended on a fairly high note for Tata motors, as Zest proved to be very successful, running into long waiting periods. In 2015, Bolt is looking to replicate Zest’s success in the hatchback segment.

I have not driven the Bolt yet. This post is based only on observing the car at a trade show in Chennai.

Bolt has similar shape of Vista but styling is well thought through. Without losing fundamentals of Vista, Bolt presents a bold front facia, coupled with projector headlamps, chrome, nice front grille and so on. Most of the body panels seem to be new.

Bolt brings many segment first features and offers class leading benefits. Let us check few of them:

1 Eco, Sport and City modes: No other budget car comes with these modes. Bolt’s custom modes let driver select his/her preference and let the car do the rest. Sport unleashes maximum power possible and Eco ensures most fuel efficient drive. City mode is sort of compromise on both, for optimal city driving.

2 Advanced Safety features. Car makers in India often compromise on safety so as to keep the prices low. Thankfuly that is not the case with Bolt. Top end Bolt will have dual airbags, ABS by Bosch and the new name- corner stability control. Corner stability control reportedly steps in when driver brakes suddenly while cutting a corner at high speeds. In such cases the inner wheels can receive tremendous force causing stability issues. CSC attempts to reduce this excessive force on inner wheels and help them operate normally.

3. Auto transmission: While it is very easy to find a petrol car with automatic transmission, there’re hardly any cheap diesel cars with auto gears. All manufacturers seem to assume that diesel customers don’t want the convenience of auto. Tata motors broke that barrier by launching an automatic in Zest. For under 8 lakhs a diesel compact sedan with automatic is now possible. The same is very likely to be offered in Bolt diesel as well, probably not on day one.

4. Its famed Revotron 1.2L petrol engine, though seems similar to competition in specs, offers more torque with turbo, generating close to 90 PS. Made in house by the Tata motors, Revotron is capable of taking on modern competition. Diesel unit is the time tested 1.3 unit sourced from Fiat, standard 75PS. Not sure at this stage if a 90PS version will be on offer.

5 Multiple simple but effective features all over the car: Do you know Bolt comes with follow me home headlamps? (they stay on for a short duration even after you switch them off- this provides enough illumination for you to get out of the car and reach your doorstep in an otherwise dark surroundings.

Bolt is the tallest car in its segment. 

The turn indicators are now moved on to the rear view mirrors. (Vista D90, Manza etc had them in the A pillar, which saved cost but wasn't very popular). Similarly the long tail lamps have been done away with to house a new design tail lamp assembly. Black C pillar looks nice. 

Meanwhile, Tata has been also working a lot on refining customer experience. Compared to 2 years ago, most of the dealerships now offer much better experience. Sales folks are much better trained and after sales experience is also made much better.

Tata Bolt booking is already open- you can book a Bolt for about Rs 5000 only. Though variant can't be selected as yet, petrol/diesel and colour can be specified. Price is expected to be in the range of 4-7 lakhs. Bolt deliveries will commence by end of this month, where it is expected to be launched nationwide. My best wishes to Bolt and Tata.