Tata Motors revs up Altroz’s premium appeal, inside and out

Tata Motors, which had launched the Altroz hatchback in January 2020, has given a thorough and much-awaited makeover to the premium hatchback. The aim is to significantly enhance the model's appeal in a competitive segment which is also witnessing the impact of the sustained consumer shift towards SUVs over the past couple of years.

While the Altroz got off to a good start at launch and sold 60,379 units in FY2021 by drawing customers with its eye-catching design, spacious cabin, sorted driving dynamics, and a reassuring 5-star crash safety rating, demand slowed down towards the three-year mark with year-on-year sales declining 7% to 57,819 units in FY2023. The Altroz's total sales between January 2020 and March 2025 stood at 294,252 units, with the stylish hatchback facing increased competition, particularly from sub-four-metre compact SUVs that are now making buyers cross-shop between them and hatchbacks in the same price range.

The Kia Sonet, Maruti Fronx, Hyundai Venue, Mahindra XUV 3XO and the more recently launched Skoda Kylaq are some of the compact SUVs that premium hatchbacks of the likes of the Tata Altroz, Hyundai i20 and Maruti Baleno are currently competing with in the marketplace.

MY2025 Tata Altroz looks good even when standing still. Pic: Tata Motors/X

New Altroz bristles with changes aplenty
Cognisant of the slowing demand for the Altroz, Tata Motors has tried to enhance the car’s appeal in its latest avatar which receives more premium updates on the outside, interior, and also gets a host of modern features. All these changes come together to make the Altroz a strong proposition in the premium hatchback segment.

To begin with, the company's design team led by Global Design Head Martin Uhlarik, has made some subtle yet impactful changes to the exterior to make the Altroz look refreshing as well as instantly recognisable.

Although it is a mid-model lifecycle management exercise which usually involves changes to elements like the bumpers, headlamps, tail-lamps, and instrument panel that involve plastic injection moulding, Tata Motors has also updated some sheet metal parts like the front fenders, doors, as well as hood, making the Altroz facelift a more comprehensive attempt at revitalising the model’s market potential and prolonging its lifecycle.

Upfront, the car now gets an all-new bumper with a revised air dam design and fog lamp positioning, in line with Tata’s SUV design language seen on the Nexon and Punch. The headlamps which are now of the LED variety, also sport integrated day-time running lamps or DRLs.

On the sides, Tata Motors has revised the front fenders to relocate the side indicator lamps from the fenders to the ORVMs. The updated Altroz also receives a new set of 16-inch alloy wheels that are designed to maximise aerodynamic efficiency. The front doors also get flush-sitting, pop-out door handles, which have called for a rework of the stamped front door panels.

The facelifted Tata Altroz switches to an all-LED connected tail lamp setup at the rear, which also receives a redesigned bumper. On the inside, the updated Tata Altroz gets a thoroughly redesigned instrument panel, dashboard, and centre console, along with updated seats that now house a uniquely added thigh support cushioning that protrudes out and enhances the seat comfort by several notches.

New 10.25-inch Harman infotainment system offers slick UI and high-definition graphics. It comes paired with an 8-speaker setup to provide excellent audio output.

Modern tech infusion
In keeping with the times, Tata Motors has refreshed the updated Altroz with technology features such as a 360-degree camera that relays its feed on a high-definition 10.25-inch infotainment system sourced from Harman. The car also gets a 10-inch digital instrument cluster, blind-spot indicator, TPMS, multi-colour ambient lighting, and wireless phone charger.

While there is a 65W USB Type-C charging port positioned below the touch-sensitive automatic climate control unit on the central console, the wireless phone charger with inbuilt phone-cooling mechanism solved its purpose quite well on this reporter’s drive experience of the car in Bengaluru.

Moreover, the eight-speaker sound system tuned by Harman, along with a smooth UI for the touchscreen, makes the new Altroz’s in-car entertainment experience one of the best in the cars available in the Rs 10-15 lakh price bracket in India.

Although Tata Motors has missed offering ADAS, electronic parking brake, and seat ventilation in the updated Altroz, the car benefits from ESP and hill-hold assist functionalities that work appropriately in real-world conditions to offer an added safety net alongside the newly-introduced standard six airbags.

Unique diesel powertrain
The Tata Altroz is the only offering in the hatchback segment in India to get a diesel engine option – that too with a less complex Lean-NOx Trap or LNT system to meet the stringent BS-VI emission norms. Tata Motors’ 1.5-litre, four-cylinder ‘Revotorq’ engine comes devoid of a diesel particulate filter as well as a selective catalyst reduction (SCR) treatment system to meet the NOx and PM standards under the prevalent emission norms in the country.

As a result, the diesel Altroz which develops 90hp and 200Nm, is a trump card in Tata’s portfolio to draw buyers looking at an engaging, yet efficient hatchback that promises plenty in terms of driveability, performance, and fuel economy. Mated to a sole five-speed manual transmission, the Altroz diesel will appeal to heavy-mileage customers who frequent highways and resonate with a diesel car’s long range on a single tank full of fuel. However, the updated Altroz does not feature an idle start-stop system in any of the variants on offer.

On the other hand, Tata Motors continues to offer a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder ‘Revotron’ petrol engine that comes with a five-speed manual or a six-speed dual-clutch automatic (DCA) transmission option. With the updated Altroz, the company has also introduced a five-speed AMT option on the petrol version to entice customers on a budget to switch to two-pedal driving convenience. Tata Motors also offers a petrol-CNG bi-fuel option in the refreshed Altroz that gets a patented twin-cylinder layout for the CNG storage tanks placed in the boot and offering a combined gas-storage capacity of 10kg.

With the facelifted Altroz, Tata Motors has aimed to iron out the shortcomings of the outgoing car like the higher levels of NVH, and has improved upon those areas by engineering efforts such as introducing foam insulation between the fenders and chassis, as well as by virtue of uprated door beadings and wheel inner claddings. Despite operating in a much challenging market scenario where SUV is the flavour of the game, the refreshed Altroz positions itself as a polished premium hatchback that delivers on the fronts of safety, comfort, space, modern features, and driving engagement.

With the engineering innovations such as the twin-cylinder CNG setup that aims to offer more boot space, protruding seat extensions providing additional under-thigh support, and a diesel mill that still offers reliable performance without bringing the maintenance complexity of modern-day emission technology, the Altroz sits as a strong product in the Tata Motors passenger vehicle portfolio.

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