Tata Zica leaked ahead of official unveil

Tata Motors recently announced that its long-awaited small hatchback, earlier know by its internal codename Kite, will be called the Zica. Slated to be revealed later this month, pictures of the final production Zica have however recently surfaced on the web. These undisguised pictures of the car show that the Zica gets Tata's new family design language, and that makes it look a bit different from other offerings from the carmaker like the Tata Bolt. It gets a vertically aligned honey comb grille up front a rounded front end and sharp looking headlamps, with black inserts. The lights and grille  don't form a single cohesive unit, but there is a flow to the nose as a result of manner in which these two are fused together. And these lines, that carry on along the beltline of the car, are well supported by the sharp crease lines on the flanks. The rear, at least from the angle the picture has been shot, however looks very Hyundai like. The large wraparound, petal-shaped tail-lamps however look attractive when looked at closely and Tata has provided quite a prominent rear spoiler above the hatch.

 The car seen in these images looks like a well equipped top-spec version. It gets alloy wheels, a few classy looking chrome bits on the grille and there's some around the fog lamps too. There are parking sensors at the rear and the hatch gets a rear wiper too. What's also visible is that this car has dual-tone interiors. It is likely to get split folding rear seats, a lower spec Harman ConnectNext infotainment system and there's likely to be ABS, EBD and dual front airbags at least for the top-spec trim.

Underpinning the Zica's chassis will be an all-new suspension. Whereas the front suspension will be quite similar to that of the Indica, the rear has been altered from the difficult to service independent setup, originally present. It will also get the latest-generation Electric Power Steering (EPS) unit that has won praise in the Tata Bolt and Tata Zest.

The Zica hatchback and sedan will be powered by two new engines. The first is the 1.05-litre diesel, that made its public debut at the 2012 Auto Expo under the hood of the Manza Hybrid Concept. The motor, is essentially a three-cylinder version of the original 1,405cc, four-cylinder diesel. The output is expected to be around 67bhp with the motor putting out 14kgm of torque.  Fuel efficiency is expected to be upwards of 25kpl in the official test cycle.

The second of the two motors is an all-new, developed in-house naturally-aspirated 1.2 petrol motor. The engine is a lightweight aluminium three-cylinder unit with four valves per cylinder, and is expected to produce around 84bhp and 11kgm of torque. The petrol motor is expected to share the ‘Revotron’ name with the 1.2 Revotron turbocharged engine, that currently powers the larger Zest and Bolt. This motor will however be a quantum leap over the 1.2 Revotron unit as far as technology is concerned. The key to the success of this new engine will however be a competitive real world fuel efficiency figure, something Tata has not recently managed recently with any of its petrols.

The Zica hatchback will be positioned at the lower end of the B-segment and will compete with the likes of the Maruti Celerio. The Indian carmaker is looking to price the new Zica siblings aggressively with the hatchback’s prices expected to start from around Rs 3.6 lakh.

 Tata Motors is expected to officially unveil the Zica hatchback in a few days and is expected to launch the car early next year.