India exclusive: Narain Karthikeyan spotted testing Tata Kite hatchback

India’s first F1 driver and well-known racer Narain Karthikeyan was spotted behind the wheel of a camouflaged Tata Kite in Lonavala.  The car appears to be a production ready model as it is sporting fully functional projector headlights, alloy wheels and proper bumpers. This also indicates that the testing for the car is in its final stages.

We have seen the Kite hatchback and its compact sedan sibling testing at various stages over the last year or so but this is the first time that we are seeing the ex-F1 racer behind the wheel or for that matter being involved in the development process. The car was seen testing alongside diesel and petrol version of the Hyundai Grandi10 as well as Maruti Suzuki Celerio diesel.

His presence behind the wheel indicates that the Mumbai-based automaker is using his expertise to develop/test and fine tune the ride and handling of their new budget offerings.

Not much is known about the Tata Kite or its compact sedan sibling but we can be sure that it shares much of its underpinnings with the Zest and Bolt but is likely to get smaller engines and definitely at least one variant with an automated manual transmission. 

Tata Kite hatchback upcoming car

Tata Kite compact sedan upcoming car