Tata Motors launches compact sedan Tigor to take on Swift Dzire

In its bid to claw back both the wallet share as well as mindshare, Tata Motors today launched its first compact sedan in a decade under the Tigor label with petrol and diesel options and with attractive pricing beginning at Rs 4.7 lakh.

The 1.2 litre petrol model in four variants comes in a price range of Rs 4.7 lakh to Rs 6.19 lakh while the 1.05 litre diesel engine mounted model again in four variants start at Rs 5.6 lakh to Rs 7.09 lakh in Delhi.

Meanwhile the company refused to comment on the Supreme court ban on sale of BS-III models from April 1 saying they are yet to study the verdict.

Managing director and chief executive Guenter Butschek, before the apex court verdict, said the company would look at exporting the stock to Africa, marketing and sales president Mayank Pareek refused to comment after the event saying they need to study the verdict.

Butschek said the company has no inventory left in the passenger car business but there are some inventory at the commercial vehicles unit. But he did not elaborate or offer the volume that will be hit.

According to an Icra report, the industry has about 74,000 units in the BS-III make and Tata Motors being the market leader will have the highest volume.

The Tigor is the second all new model launched in 2017 after the SUV Hexa in January, which Pareek said has notched over 2,000 retail deliveries. The Tigor is based on its successful Tiago hatchback platform, which was rolled out last April and has sold close to 60,000 units, according to him.

"With the Tiago, Tigor and the Hexa, we cover 51 per cent of the addressable market. But I have 49 per cent of the market unaddressed. But 'am very sure that we have made the right beginning with these models and are very much on track," Pareek told PTI after the launch.

Meant for the young and fast-paced generation, the Tigor is as much as Rs 65,000 cheaper than its immediate competition Swift Dzire from Maruti.

Butschek said the new sedan is ready for booking across the country from today.