After a lot of teasers, spy shots and anticipation, the HBX has finally been officially unveiled as the Tata Punch. With the Punch, Tata is claiming to have created a new segment with this go-anywhere micro-SUV. Bookings have been opened for the Punch starting today and you can book yours by paying ₹25,000/- online or any of the 1000+ Tata dealerships across 800 cities. The car is slated to be launched on 20th October.
Design
The Tata Punch has a tall SUV stance with bold design lines all around the micro-SUV. It is based on the Alpha architecture and follows Tata’s Impact design language. It gets split DRLs and headlamps like the Harrier and the Safari and the humanity grille runs across the front of the car. To keep the SUV appeal going, it gets a large front bumper with the tri-arrow design for the air intake flanked by fog lamps on either side. The side profile has butch wheel arches with cladding that extends from the front to the rear bumper. The large 16-inch alloy wheels fill up the wheel arches fairly well. The taillights leave a comet-like trail extending to the sides. The illumination in the taillights comes from tri-arrow LEDs which look rather youthful. The boot-lid sculpting will remind you of the Tata Nexon and sits above a large bumper.
Engine & Transmission
The Tata Punch will be powered by the same 1.2 L naturally aspirated Revotron petrol engine that powers the Altroz. Tuned for the Punch, the engine puts out 86 PS and 113 Nm torque. The engine can be paired to a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed AMT gearbox. Tata claims that the Punch has been extensively tested over 2 million km using more than 150 prototypes through some of the harshest terrains stretching from the hot and arid environs of Rajasthan to the high altitude and extremely cold and tough terrains of Ladakh from temperatures ranging from -10°C to +50°C and at altitudes up to 18,000 ft.
First in Segment Features
The Punch is India’s first Sub-Compact SUV, which offers the agility of a hatch with the DNA of an SUV. It is equipped with advanced AMT with a unique TractionPro Mode which enables easy driving through treacherous driving conditions. It also gets Brake Sway Control that detects the tendency of instability during abrupt braking before the ABS kicks in to avoid vehicles swaying from the driving path The Punch also gets the signature 90° opening doors like the Altroz for easy ingress-egress.
Other Features
- Auto Headlamps & Rain Sensing Wipers
- Push Button Start
- Over 25 Utility spaces
- Fully Automatic Temperature Control
- Cooled Glove Box
- 7″ Harman Infotainment system with Android Auto & Apple Carplay
- 7” TFT Instrument Cluster
- iRA Connected Car Technology with What3Words & Natural Voice tech
- Auto-Engine Start/Stop
Variants & Colours
Tata has decided to call the variants personas and the Tata Punch will be available in four of those. The base variant is called Pure followed by Adventure, Accomplished and Creative personas. The Punch will be available in 7 colour options. Calypso Red and Tornado Blue are exclusively available only in the Creative persona and will come with white dual-tone as standard. Meteor Bronze, Tropical Mist, Atomic Orange, Orcus White and Daytona Grey are the other colour options. Besides customers can choose from Rhythm and Dazzle packages to customize their Punch.
All in all, the Punch looks like a promising product and it would seem that Tata has managed to create a product that is unlike anything on the market right now. We would have to wait and see how the Punch drives and performs to know if it is an all-round micro-SUV.