Tata Tigor price: What to expect

Tata has finally named the Kite5 compact sedan and it is called the Tigor. To be pronounced as ‘Tee-Gor’ the car is as interesting as the name. And that is because, the Tata Tigor carves out a new sub-segment in the compact car space. Based on the Tata Tiago, which is premium A-segment hatchback and sits below the B-segment hatches like the Bolt, the Tigor will sit a segment below the regular compact sedans of today.

We have seen the Tata Tiago up close and also over the long term and we all like the car for its space, practicality and even the performance and handling characteristics. Since the Tigor will carry forward all of these and get more space, making it an interesting proposition. Adding the good looks to the equation makes it more desirable too. So then, it boils down to the pricing.

The market trend tells us that all the hatchback based compact sedans are priced around Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000 more than the hatchback. If the Tigor tows the line, we can expect the compact sedan to start well under Rs 4 lakh for the base petrol car, ex-showroom Delhi. For that amount of money, the Tigor would certainly be a steal. To put things into perspective, even the Celerio hatchback starts at over Rs 4 lakh.

Even if we take the top-spec diesel, the Tiago is priced at Rs 5.78 lakh. Even if the Tigor top-spec diesel manual is priced Rs 70,000 more, at about Rs 6.5 lakh, it is still way cheaper than the regular compact sedans. For example, the highest selling compact sedan, the Maruti Swift Dzire, top-spec diesel manual carries a price tag of Rs 8.07 lakh, a lakh and a half more than what the top-spec Tigor should ideally cost you. That is a lot of money to save for a similar proposition.

Even if the Tigor gets the AMT gearbox with the diesel mill (which ideally it should), it will cost you round about Rs 50-60 thousand more, taking it closer to Rs 7 lakh, which is still a lakh and half cheaper than the Swift Dzire AMT. At that price tag, the Tigor will also be cheaper than the Maruti Swift ZDi, and you will get a boot certainly bigger than the Swift and an AMT as well.

Like the Indigo CS, the Tata Tigor might spawn a new segment which might bring the sedan segment back to its glory days. For the entry-level car buyers, if the Tigor starts below Rs 4 lakh and tops out at about Rs 6.5 lakh for the diesel manual, it certainly would be a force to reckon with.