Tata Motor’s forthcoming contender in the sub-four metre segment, the Zest, has been spotted again. As before, the test mule sported heavy camouflage, with a redesigned front fascia, though the headlamps and tail lamp sections were unmasked. The smoked projector headlamp units and the alloy wheels indicate that the mule was a high-end variant.
The Tata Zest is the Mumbai-based manufacturer’s compact sedan based on the same platform as the Vista and Manza. The car was unveiled just before the 2014 Auto Expo, though there are a few cosmetic differences between the display model and the testing mules. The front of the mule sports a redesigned fascia with the honeycomb design being replaced with a chromed grille with two horizontal slats.
The Tata Zest will be offered with both petrol and diesel units. The petrol variant will house the new 1.2-litre Revotron engine which produces 84bhp and 140Nm of torque. The diesel variants will continue to employ the Fiat-sourced a 1.3-litre Quadrajet engine, producing 74bhp and 190Nm of torque. It will be available with a five-speed manual gearbox with Tata also considering the AMT transmission in some variants.
Tata had revealed all the details of the Zest and the Bolt hatchback when it had unveiled the cars last month before the 2014 Auto Expo. Despite the cars being production-ready, both the Zest and the Bolt hatchback have been spotted testing quite a few times now which indicates at a possibility that Tata might still be undecided over some of the cars’ components. Tata has worked hard to develop these cars and looking at them, we can say that the efforts have paid off. Being a Tata, we can expect the Bolt to be priced very competitively in the segment to go up against the new Hyundai Xcent, Honda Amaze, Maruti Swift Dzire and the upcoming Ford Figo sedan. The car is expected to be launched by June this year.
Source: MotorBeam
