Tata Zest Spotted Testing as Launch Nears

Tata's upcoming Zest sedan was caught testing yet again in the country, this time in Koregaon Park, Pune.

Tata Zest which is expected to make its debut in the country's sedan market around this festive season is touted as India's first sedan with Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) technologies. In the latest set of spy pics, which has been posted by the folks at RushLane, the prototype of Zest was spotted wearing camouflage and thus not revealing much detail.

As we already know, under the hood, Zest will be packing diesel and petrol engines. Talking of the diesel model, it will come with a 1.3 litre Quadrajet motor, which can generate 90 PS power at 4000 rpm and 200 Nm torque at 1,750-3,000 rpm. The petrol version of the Zest will be powered by a 1.2 litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged Revotron engine under the hood, which can churn out a power of 85 PS at 5,000 rpm and a peak torque of 140 Nm 1,750-3,000 rpm.

Showcased first at the Delhi Auto Expo 2014 alongside the Tata's new hatchback Bolt, Zest is likely to make its entry to the Indian shores by August. This would be the right time considering the festive season ahead. Zest is expected to be manufactured at Tata's Ranjangaon facility alongside Tata Manza and is likely to fall in the ₹6 lakh-₹8 lakh price range.

Besides Zest, Indian auto lovers are also expecting the launch of Tata Bolt in the country. Bolt, the new hatchback offering from Tata will be offered in both petrol and diesel engine options. While the petrol model of Bolt will come with 1.2 liter Revotron turbo petrol engine which can churn out a power of 84 bhp at 5,000 rpm and a torque of 140 Nm of 1,750-3,500 rpm, the diesel version of the car will pack 1.3 liter Multijet diesel motor. The petrol version of Bolt will get three driving modes – City, Eco and Sport.

In India, the car will be competing with Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai i10, i20, Honda Jazz, Chevrolet Beat and Volkswagen Polo and is likely to be priced in ₹7 lakh brackets.