The Honda Amaze finished fourth, moving a position down with the Tata Zest coming in third by a marginal difference and the Hyundai Xcent maintaining the second position. The Maruti DZire continues to rule the segment by a huge margin.
Tata Motor’s five year long hiatus has finally started to pay off with its newest product, the Zest compact sedan that was launched earlier this year. Compared to the Honda Amaze that clocked 3482 units in October this year, the Tata Zest did marginally better registering 3524 units of sales during the same period, catapulting the car to third position in the segment. In comparison, segment leader the Maruti DZire remains unnerved and clocked 17,950 units during the last month, while second-in-command the Hyundai Xcent registered 4629 units of sales across the country.
Having struggled to find momentum in the passenger car market over the past few years, the success of the Tata Zest will be a huge motivator for the Indian auto giant. The success of the Zest also puts up a good word for the upcoming Bolt hatchback that will be competing against the Maruti Swift, Hyundai Grand i10, Fiat Punto Evo, Volkswagen Polo and the likes in the segment. What has certainly worked in Tata’s favour is the very attractive pricing that the Zest was launched with. The automaker managed to undercut every car maker in sight, while offering a plethora of features including several segment firsts inside the cabin.
Launched in August this year, the Zest compact sedan is offered with the 1.2-litre Revotron petrol engine and the 1.3-litre diesel engine doing duties under the hood. Based on a heavily re-engineered Indica platform, Tata has loaded the compact sedan with several features including 3 driving modes on the petrol, electrically assisted steering system, Harman infotainment system as well as advanced connectivity options including smartphone integration. The Zest is also the most affordable diesel automatic in the country equipped with an Automated Manual Transmission (AMT). Prices for the Zest start at Rs. 4.65 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi).
