Seeing the rising petrol & diesel prices, automakers are now looking at alternate fuel options such as CNG and electric. Maruti Suzuki has already announced to add CNG as an alternate fuel option with all of its vehicles. Similarly, Hyundai is also planning to launch new CNG-powered cars in India. Tata Motors has also announced to launch CNG versions of its existing product line-up.
Tata Motors is planning to launch CNG variants of the Tiago, Tigor, Altroz and the Nexon compact SUV. The Tigor CNG and the Tiago CNG have already been spotted testing on the Indian roads. The spotted models had sticker ‘Test BY ARAI’, and were caught with emission testing equipment. It is reported that the new Tiago CNG and Tigor CNG will be launched during festive season, before Diwali.
Both models are not likely to receive any major design changes, and will look identical to their existing IC-engine variants. In fact, the interior of the CNG cars are also expected to remain the same. The CNG cars offer lower running costs compared to petrol engine, and would target diesel engine buyers.
It is expected that the CNG version will be offered on the mid-level variants. The Tiago and the Tigor are powered by a 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine that produces 86bhp and 113Nm of torque. The CNG variant will see a marginal drop in power output while running on CNG. The factory-fitted CNG kit could also impact the boot space of Tiago and the Tigor.
The Tata Tiago CNG will be positioned against the Maruti Suzuki WagonR CNG and the Hyundai Santro CNG. On the other hand, the Tata Tigor CNG will rival the upcoming Maruti Dzire CNG and the Hyundai Aura CNG.
Tata HBX Micro SUV Launch
Tata Motors will launch the production version of the HBX micro SUV in the end of 2021, around Diwali. Based on the new ALFA modular platform, the HBX based small SUV will rival the Maruti Suzuki Ignis and the Mahindra KUV100 NXT. The small SUV is reportedly to be called the Tata Timero, and is likely to be powered by a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine with MT & AMT options.
