Diesel variants contribute 10% of Altroz sales: Tata Motors – Car News

Tata Motors banks heavily on the Altroz facelift to boost its market share in the premium hatchback space which is currently dominated by Maruti Suzuki Baleno.

Tata Motors launched the Altroz facelift recently a couple of days ago at an introductory starting price of Rs 6.89 lakh (ex-showroom). At a time when the small car segment in India, especially hatchbacks, are fast dwindling, Tata Motors continues to show faith on the Altroz, which despite being a very good package in its pre-facelift avatar, wasn’t quite able to capture the market.

First launched in early 2020, sales of the Altroz fizzled after its initial success. In the last six months, a total 11,416 units of Tata Altroz were dispatched to dealerships across the country. Its prime rival, Maruti Suzuki Baleno, records a higher average volume than this on a monthly basis. 

Decline of entry-level hatchbacks

“I think if I look back at how the hatchback segment has moved from 50 percent of the market to now around 22 percent of the market. But within the hatchback category, what’s happened is, most of the degrowth has happened from the entry hatches,” said Vivek Srivatsa, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility during an interaction with Express Drives.

Tata Altroz is one of the safest hatchbacks on sale in India.

Srivatsa conceded that sales of entry-level hatchbacks have been heavily impacted by the new and stricter emission and safety norms. Also, consumer preferences have evolved over time. Entry hatchbacks mostly catered to people on a tight budget and hence they are usually devoid of all the modern tech and safety features that buyers seek today. So while the overall hatchback sales have come down to 22 percent of the entire passenger vehicle market, the premium hatchback space has grown from 10 percent to 32 percent.

He further added that when the Altroz was launched in 2020, 40 percent of its sales came from first-time car buyers whereas this number in 2024 rose to 70 percent. Srivastava believes that the hatchback segment in India will continue to be around 20 percent of the total PV market for the foreseeable future.

Diesel contributes 10 percent of Altroz sales

Gone are the days when Indian buyers looking for a diesel hatchback had plenty of options to consider. Tata Altroz is the only hatchback in the country presently to get a diesel engine option. So what makes Tata Motors so confident about diesel cars when the market keeps on shrinking?

Tata Altroz interiors

Srivatsa was quick to point out that diesel sales, in fact, grew last year along with EVs and CNG. On the contrary, sales of petrol cars dropped last fiscal year. He added that diesel as a fuel is cleaner with less particulate emissions than petrol in the current emission standards yet it is unnecessarily maligned. And hence, diesel variants continue to contribute 10 percent of Altroz’s sales.

Tata Altroz EV on cards?

Tata Motors showcased the Altroz EV concept at the Auto Expo 2018. Given the pattern of Tata’s current model lineup where there’s choice of ICE as well as EV, an all-electric Altroz makes perfect sense. So, is there a prospect of an Altroz EV in the future? 

Srivatsa had a guarded response saying, “Altroz had a specific role to play in the portfolio that we had envisaged, but now the scenario has changed. So we do not want to rush in with another product for the sake of it. We want to be clear on what role Altroz EV has to play in the portfolio, and then we will consider launching it. So it is in the plans, but not in line for a launch”.

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This article was first uploaded on May twenty-five, twenty twenty-five, at three minutes past seven in the evening.

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