Tata Motors looked set for a turnaround with the launch of the Tata Zest last year. This aggressively priced compact sedan sent customers flocking to Tata showrooms, many of them, for the first time. Its sibling the Bolt hatchback, launched last month, was expected to carry forward the momentum kicked off by the Zest with equally aggressive pricing, but that’s not been quite the case. Whilst the base Bolt petrol XE has been priced at an affordable Rs. 4.44 lakh, the price rise through the variants is pretty steep, with the ranging-topping Bolt XT diesel costing a hefty Rs 6.99 lakh which is around Rs 32,000 more than the Grand i10 diesel Asta (O).
Dealers have confirmed that although showrooms are seeing an increased number of enquiries, conversions to actual sales have been on the lower side, thanks mainly to the not-so-aggressive pricing, especially for the higher variants.
According to some dealers, apart from interest in the standard variant and equipment levels on offer, many prospective buyers are enquiring about safety features on the Bolt. Other than the top XT trim (petrol: Rs 6.05 lakh, diesel: Rs 6.99 lakh), its only the XMS variant (petrol: Rs 5.40 lakh, diesel: Rs 6.34 lakh) that gets dual front airbags and ABS.
The Bolt Revotron petrol XMS variant is turning out to be the most popular pick of the range as it best balances price and equipment. In fact, the Bolt XMS (petrol Rs 5.40 lakh, diesel Rs 6.34 lakh) is pretty well-equipped and gets all the necessary features and fitments, including the essential safety equipment such as front airbags and ABS. The top-spec Bolt, the fully-loaded XT (petrol Rs 6.05 lakh, diesel Rs 6.99 lakh), however, isn’t gaining much traction in the market. Although it comes loaded with all features of the XMS and also gets alloy wheels, projector headlamps and a touchscreen infotainment system, customers still are not willing to shell out an extra Rs 61,000 for the diesel Bolt XT and Rs 65,000 for the petrol Bolt XT (ex-showroom) which stretches to nearly a lakh, on-road. It looks like customers are still hesitating to pay a premium for a Tata car, regardless of how good and well-equipped it is. Not for the moment at least.