Tata Bolt Review : Exterior Design

 
The Bolt designers have kept the overall profile and stance of the new hatchback similar to earlier models from the Tata stable. Some believe this has been done deliberately to maintain the identity of the car as a Tata product.

Whatever may be the case, the truth is that all the components including the interior-exterior panels, powertrain and underpinnings have been thoroughly re-engineered to make Bolt, in effect, an almost brand new product. So we will try to review the exterior design of Tata Bolt without bringing Vista into picture but for those who want to pit Bolt against Vista, here is our comparison.

Tata Bolt Front Profile Review
Front is dominated by smoked headlamp housings which forms a nice background for the segment first low beam halogen projectors.

Tata Bolt Headlamp Pictorial Review

There is a neat chrome-look ring around the projector bulb giving it an eye like effect. Also there are large boomerang shaped chrome elements at the top and bottom of the lamp which looks like LEDs though these are just reflectors.

Tata Bolt Front Grill Pictorial Review

The smiley-face grill has a stretched honeycomb pattern and gets Tata emblem in the middle, chrome stripe on the top, and the bottom gets outlined by piano black surrounds only unlike Zest which get a layer of chrome as well.

Tata Bolt Bonnet Pictorial Review

The bonnet rises at both ends before falling to seamlessly merge with side fenders and comes with a V-shaped crease at the center creating an impression of a power bulge in the middle. Above the bonnet, there is a black plastic cladding that houses the two spray nozzles of windshield washer.

Tata Bolt Front Bumper Foglight Pictorial Review

Front bumper looks big with wide air intake being sculpted in an inverted smile shape. It also houses the fog lamp console with chrome inserts unlike the DRLs in Zest on the bottom edge to balance out the chrome in the headlamps. Overall it adds to the agile look of the front.

Tata Bolt Antenna Pictorial Review

For reasons best known to Tata, the Bolt comes with an extra-long radio antenna on the front which does not really gel with the overall aesthetic of the design. The Zest wears its antenna at the rear which looks to be a more appropriate place.

Tata Bolt Side Profile Review
Bolt’s side profile is similar to the Vista (oops..) but thanks to the blackened B and C pillars creating a floating roof effect along with the prominent shoulder & character lines and a relatively small gap in the wheel arches adding up to give the new hatchback a fresh and trendy look.

Tata Bolt Side/Silhouette Pictorial Review

The C pillar gets a matt black finish with graphic design on it that has been made possible by applying vinyl wrap instead of using the usual body paint or plastic cladding like in new Hyundai i20. Overall Bolt’s side profile looks clean with no plastic strips or claddings anywhere.

Tata Bolt Rear Profile Review
Rear looks modest in comparison to the relatively stylish front-end. But still the design is unlike any of the previous generation Tata cars.

Tata Bolt Rear Pictorial Review

Gone are the Christmas tree like vertical tail lamps, rightfully replaced with fresh looking flame-shaped units that gel very well with the overall proportion of the car. But unlike Zest they are non LED. To maintain design uniformity, a glossy black plastic panel has been added between the C pillar and the rear windscreen and a small body colour insert is present just above the tail lights.

Tata Bolt Rear Bumper Foglight Pictorial Review

Just like the front, the back bumper also looks fat but the black plastic cladding at the bottom succeeds in hiding the visual bulkiness and comes with a fog lamp mounted in the center. Going with the general trend, Tata has not provided a handle or recess to lift the tailgate up. So one needs to hold on to the chrome garnish above the number plate while opening the hatch, which does not feels very convenient.

Tata Bolt Rear Wiper Washer Pictorial Review

Sporty looking rear spoiler houses the stop lamp and is neatly attached to the roof. The back windscreen gets its own wiper with a washer spray nozzle integrated on it. Also the exhaust pipe is designed to hide behind the rear bumper. The combined effect of all these elements result in a very neat looking back-end for Bolt.

Final Words : Tata Bolt Exterior Review
The Bolt design is said to be a result of best ideas from Tata‘s design studios at India, UK and Italy. This effort definitely shows on the overall exterior design along with fit & finish of the Bolt, which is way ahead of Tata’s past cars. Panel gaps are tight and consistently spaced; the integration of the various new elements looks clean, no apparent cost cutting is visible anywhere and unlike its competitors, Bolt manages to looks mature and sporty at the same time.

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Tata Plans Expansion, 100 New Trucks-Cars By 2018

Tata Motors Raising Funds

Tata Motors is planning to raise Rs 7,500 crores by 2018 through a rights issue to invest in new commercial and passenger vehicles planned for launch over the next three years. Money need to be raised since Tata Motor's other source of income - the dividend payouts from Jaguar Land Rover profits are no longer accessible as the UK subsidiary is planning its own expansion.

In the commercial segment Tata hopes to bring 100 new products and variants including the launch of Ultra range of mid-weight trucks and further widening of Prima range of heavy duty trucks. In the mainstream passenger car space company plans to launch 2 new products every year using a new modular platform, enhance its dealership base and invest on improving after sales service facilities.

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Comparison: Tata Bolt Vs Indica Vista - 3 Mistakes

 
Bolt along with Zest is Tata’s make-or-break product. None of its hatchbacks like Indica Vista or sedans have been able to stand against the competition and the sales figure also tell the same story.

When a company faces such a critical situation it either gives up or fights back. Bolt is Tata’s fight back product. A product that Tata hopes will revive its fortunes in the automobile segment. Click here to read Tata Bolt Review

Front 3-Quarter: Tata Bolt vs Vista

Rear 3-Quarter: Tata Bolt vs Vista

Side Profile: Tata Bolt vs Indica Vista

Front: Tata Bolt vs Indica Vista

Dashboard: Tata Bolt vs Indica Vista

We expected that a car model carrying the whole burden of a company’s success would be built ground up to take it a quantum leap ahead of its predecessors. No doubt Tata has worked very hard to create a great product and to a large extent they have succeeded. But the first spontaneous reaction on seeing Bolt is ‘it looks to be a better Indica’ instead of ‘it’s better than Indica’. Bolt could have been a stronger product with a more individual identity had Tata done ’3 things’ differently. Things that would have helped them completely break away from the Indica image. We call them as “3 Mistakes”.

Mistake 1: Tata Bolt is built on the Indica Vista’s X1 platform. And yes, Tata has spent lot of time and effort to thoroughly re-engineer it before using it for Bolt (and Zest). But X1 is not a modular or a very flexible architecture. So using it as a base for the new car to ride on has vastly limited the possibilities for Tata designers to come up with a completely fresh design that would have given Bolt a radically new look. That’s the reason why we see a reflection of Vista in Bolt.

Mistake 2: Looking at the comparison photos specially the side profile, you will clearly notice that Bolt carries the same Vista glasshouse without any change. Sharing the same glasshouse means that the top half of both the cars will look the same. Glasshouse includes the windshield, rear and side windows, the pillars separating them (A, B & C) and the car's roof. So even though comprehensive sheet-metal changes have been made and new body panels added but still Bolt has that unmistakable Indica in it.

Mistake 3: The new 1.2-litre Revotron petrol engine uses only two-valves-per-cylinder instead of the usual four. This will make it difficult for the engine to breathe under hard driving. Moreover this is not a completely new motor since it is based on the 1.2 Xeta engine that was used in petrol Indica. Tata aims to attract the youth with the aggressive looks of Bolt, the same segment that never felt attracted to the Indica range of vehicles. But this engine is not sophisticated enough to deliver an enthusiastic drive and may thus become another reasons for the intended segment of customers to move to the high powered competition.

Its always easier to point out mistakes in something new than fixing them. But still in the current situation Tata can’t afford to make any mistakes as they may not get another chance if Bolt fails to do well. Tata Motors could have made a better use of this opportunity to completely redefine what they stand for. Bolt has all the ingredients to be a great success in the hatchback segment if only it doesn’t get dragged by its makers past, Indica image.

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Tata Nano Rules The Taxi Fare War

Tata Nano As Taxi

To cater the travel needs of the growing Indian budget market, the car rental firm TaxiForSure has launched their new category of taxi service with a fleet of 100 Tata Nano’s in Bengaluru. The service will cost Rs. 25 for the first 2 kilometers and Rs. 10 for every subsequent kilometer. This aggressive pricing came as a shocker to the auto rickshaw operators, who are now contemplating about revising their existing rate of Rs. 25 for the first 1.9 km and Rs. 13 for every subsequent kilometer.

Raghunandan G, co-founder and CEO, TaxiForSure, said: “Tata Nano is a well-loved consumer brand that is perfectly suited for city travel with its small footprint and zippy commute. It is also light on the pockets of our driver partners, who can now become entrepreneurs much more easily.” On being asked as to why he is targeting the traditional autorickshaw market with this new service, he explained, “we only want to provide another option to people who don’t use sedans and hatchbacks. We don’t want to pose a threat to auto drivers”.

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TaxiForSure Flags Off Tata Nano Fleet

Tata Nano Leads TaxiForSure Budget Service

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Tata Nano India Review: Secret Behind Peoples Car

No single car by the Tata Motors has been talked about as much as the Tata Nano. Classified as being part of the new breed of 21st century cars the Nano symbolizes the new age philosophy of smaller, lighter and cheaper cars. The project was initiated in the year 2003 to construct a small sized car in the range of one lakh rupees i.e about $2100. This was done after considering the fact that India had a considerable number of families that were being forced to drive around on two wheelers due to the lack of finance for a four wheeler.
Hundreds of reviewers who took Nano for a ride had a different take on it. But there was a lot that all agreed on. Nano is a ultra compact but looks bigger due to its height and wide stance. Its interior is unexpectedly roomy with decent quality material used for furnishing. The car is more than capable of accommodating four adults along with few small bags in its 130 litre boot volume. Fold down the rear seat and the parcel tray fixed to it and you can reach the luggage area.

Everything seemed almost normal till now but to make the cheapest car in the world there has to be few things outside the ordinary. Looking causally at the car inside-out you can feel that there is something different in Nano. Look carefully and you can see lot of cost-cuttings. Tata Nano has about one third of the usual number of parts which is made possible due to its centralised wiring; wheels mounted with three rather than four bolts, missing left hand side wing mirror and seats moulded in one single piece. These are just few of the innovative techniques used to cut price and weight to bare minimum resulting a 600kg car versus 683kg for its nearest competitor Maruti Suzuki 800.

The Nano is powered by a tiny 624cc engine big enough to drive it to a top speed of 106kph. The all-aluminium parallel-twin petrol engine makes 35ps of power at 5250rpm and a max torque of 48Nm. The fuel consumption is claimed to be 23.5km/l while emissions are very low. Nano meets all current regulatory requirements in India including full frontal crash, head impact on steering wheel, body block impact on steering and seat belt anchorage strength.

This rear wheel driven machine is a genuine car in every sense of the word and earns the well deserved honour of being the cheapest (most affordable) means of private transportation.

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Photo Gallery: New Tata Nano Pictures.

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Spy Video: Tata Nano Caught Testing

The buzz about the upcoming $2500 Nano hatchback had kind of died down after its debut at the Delhi and Geneva Auto Show. The focus had shifted to the Indian carmaker Tata Motors takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover. But now the worlds cheapest car, Tata Nano is back in news with its spy video being uploaded on Youtube.

This is the first time that Nano has been caught on video. Till now nobody had seen any spy photo or video of this cute little hatch due to the high level of secrecy that Tata had maintained about its pet project. The video below shows the base model (black bumper) of Nano being tested on the old Bombay Pune Highway in India without any camo whatsoever.

Tata Nano coined as “The People’s Car” in India due to its rock bottom prices has a RWD all-aluminum, two-cylinder 623 cc petrol engine making 33 hp and is efficient enough to attain a fuel economy of about 55 mpg. The car is expected to hit the Indian market later this year and its delux model might have a $10 airbag (Read).

Tata is also said to be working on the world’s first compressed air car called Tata OneCat which Tata expects to be more efficient than any present hybrid car. We'll be on lookout for more about about this concept but till then checkout the Nano in action below.

Via: TopSpeed
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Spy Video: Tata Nano On the Move.

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Tata Wants $10 Airbag For Small Car Nano

The Indian car maker Tata Motors, is planning on a $10 airbag for its worlds cheapest Nano supermini. Now this seems quite logical if not realistic as a conventional airbag would almost cost 10% of the retail price of $2500 (1lakh) Nano. So to keep prices under control Tata has asked occupant safety systems supplier Autoliv IFB to develop airbags that cost only $10 each. How and when, if ever a dirt-cheap airbag gets developed remains to be seen, but one thing is certain that nobody does cost-cuttings better than Tata Mototrs.

The base variant of Nano will be a no-frill car, thats is no airbags, no air-conditioning, just a five seat skeleton car that moves. But the delux or the high-end version of Nano is expected to have two frontal air bags plus the regular air-conditioning, music system and alloy wheels, all for little more that $2500 (1lakh).

Nobody beleived Ratan Tata, chairman Tata Motors when he disclosed his intent to develop a $2500 small car. Within few years he proved his critics wrong by launching his promised budget car Nano, that will go on sale in India later this year. So when Mr Tata says he plans to get a $10 airbag, you better beleive him. Moreover, Autoliv is the worlds largest manufacturer of air bags, and given the large volumes that Nano is expected to sell, Tata and Autoliv may be able to pull off the deed. Atleast their chances are bright.

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