Keeping an eye on enhancing sales of passenger car business units, Tata Motors introduced “Zest”, a 4-meter compact sedan on August 12, 2014, which follows Aria that was launched four years ago.
Zest has been priced in the range of Rs 4.64-5.99 lakh in India for the petrol variant and runs on the Revetron petrol engine- the new one coming from Tata.
The diesel variants are priced between Rs 5.64 and 6.99 lakh, and that includes the automated manual transmission (AMT), making it the first one to offer in this segment.
Checkout the complete features and specification on Tata Zest website here.
Talking of competition, Zest will have a tough time competing with Dzire from Maruti Suzuki and Amaze from Honda Cars India. Also in the running for the same segment is Hyundai Motor India’s Accent.
Tata is looking at Zest with large hopes, given that the company has been seeing losses in the passenger vehicle (PV) business. Much of decline in sales is contributed to the fierce competition and limited competition.
As compared to last year, the sales of passenger vehicles have come down by 35.96%, between the months of April and July, according to reports and data by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
Market experts strongly believe that Tata Motors have to do their bit and face the challenges in the segment, given that manufacturers like Maruti and Honda are already minting good sales.
Zest is expected to do well for the segment of customers who are looking for swapping hatchbacks for sedans in the right price. However, Tata Motors needs to make the right moves with the dealers to ensure the momentum for sales is maintained.
Industry insiders have already predicted a growth of 20% for the sedan segment for the year, with expected sales to be around 3.3 lakh units.
Tata Motors also plans to launch two new models every year after Zest till 2020.