While the Tata Bolt and Zest are all set to rock the Indian auto market, Tata Motors has been silently working on the Indica replacement and the new hatchback is codenamed Kite for now (project Kite consists of two cars, the other is a sedan which replaces the Indigo). The Tata Kite will be positioned between the Nano and Bolt and it will be replacing the ageing Indica which has become too long in the tooth now. The hatchback will feature a tallboy design and Tata engineers are aiming at providing the maximum possible practicality and space.
Looking at the spy pictures, it is very difficult to make out various styling elements of the vehicle. Also, since this just a prototype, the actual production variant may come with some changes. The Kite will mainly compete with the Ford Figo and Maruti Celerio. Powering the vehicle will be a 3-cylinder 900cc downsized version of the Revotron engine. The diesel variants might come out at a later date and the oil-burner will be a 3-cylinder DICOR unit. We can surely expect Tata Motors to plonk in a CNG kit on the petrol variants of the Kite.
The Tata Kite will be manufactured at Tata’s plant in Sanand which has an annual production capacity of 2.5 lakh units. Since the Nano doesn’t sell in good numbers, it is likely that most of the production capacity will be utilised by the Kite itself. While the Bolt and Zest are highly anticipated to change Tata’s current image, it will be the Kite that will carry the change forward. The Kite will also compete with other hatchbacks like the Maruti WagonR, Hyundai i10 and Chevrolet Beat. The Tata Kite will be launched at the end of 2015, post the launch of the Nexon SUV.
Pictures Source – IndianAutosBlog.com