Tata Kite 5 compact sedan to go into production at Sanand plant soon

Tata's much-awaited compact sedan, code-named Kite 5, is on the right track for its launch in the country. The sedan, which is based on the Tiago hatchback, is expected to enter production soon at the company's Sanad plant in Gujarat.

Tata makes the Tiago at Sanand in Gujarat, which also rolls out the Nano. The facility currently functions in two shifts to meet the demand for the Tiago. The company is producing around 500 units of the Tiago per month. Tata Tiago is the first non-Nano hatchback to come out from Sanand and now the company will also be utilising the facility for the Tiago hatchback.

The Kite 5 is expected to be launched in the country during the festive season this year. Tata is also said to be looking at launching the Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) variant of the Tiago around the same time. The launch of the Tiago AMT is expected to be followed by the crossover based on the Tiago, called the Tiago Aktiv.

Coming back to the Kite 5 sedan, Tata is said to be considering three names — Canvas, Dribble and Ingrid for the compact sedan. When launched, the Kite 5 will take on the likes of Maruti Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze, Volkswagen Ameo and Ford Figo Aspire.

Under the hood, the Kite 5 will come packed with a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol and 1.05-litre three-cylinder diesel motors. While the 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine will churn out 83.8bhp of power at 6,000rpm and 114Nm of torque at 3,500rpm, the all-new 1.05-litre, three-cylinder turbo-charged diesel engine will develop 69bhp of power and 140Nm of torque. Both engines will be available with multi-drive modes — Eco and City.