The launch of the Tata Tiago hatchback been stuck for a long time. Originally scheduled for a January debut as the Tata Zica, the launch of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio rival has once again been pushed to mid-April, from March end.
The January launch of the hatchback was put on hold for renaming, after the outbreak of the Zika virus in Latin America. After the contest for renaming the car and announcement of the Tiago badge, rumours were thick that the car will be launched on March 28. However, our sources have confirmed that it has been pushed to mid-April, probably waiting for the culmination of the “Geared for Great’ endurance drive. Both the petrol and diesel Tiagos are running nonstop since March 15 at the VRDE in Ahmednagar, with the aim of covering 50,000km.
The Tiago hatchback will be available with both petrol and diesel engine options. The petrol version will use the 1.2-litre engine producing 84bhp and 114Nm of torque while the diesel is an all-new three-cylinder 1.0-litre unit developing 69bhp and 140Nm. Both the engine use the five-speed manual transmission to power the front wheels.
The bookings for the hatchback have opened earlier this month and the Tata dealers are accepting orders for a token of Rs 10,000. We are waiting for official confirmation from Tata Motors to find out the exact launch date, but from the latest update, it doesn’t seem to be in this financial year.