Tata Punch, Tiago, Tigor CNG Cars Spied While Testing in Nilgiri Mountains

After a long waiting period, the Tata Motors would be stepping into CNG segment in the passenger vehicle market of India. The homegrown carmaker would be introducing factory-fitted CNG kits for its entry-level models such as Punch, Tiago and Tigor. The Test mules of these models having CNG kits have been spotted while testing on the roads on varied occasions.

The petrol as well as diesel prices have been soaring, the car manufacturers have been forced to check for alternative fuel sources and the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) being one of them. The Tata Motors would be launching its CNG iterations of the Micro hatch Tiago as well as subcompact sedan Tigor in India, in the coming month. The CNG Punch would take place after that.

Tata Motors in CNG place

Presently, the CNG segment in India is dominated by Maruti Suzuki, while the Hyundai is the only other notable player. After launching the Tiago CNG and Tigor CNG, the Tata motors would aim towards further expansion of its footprint in the CNG space along with CNG fitted models like Altroz and Nexon. The ongoing pandemic of Covid-19 as well as the global shortage in semiconductor ships in order to further delay launch of both these models.

Below video is shared by one of the automotive enthusiast, Jagdish, here you can watch the camouflaged test mules of Punch, Tiago and Tigor, all them tested in the hilly region of Nilgiri mountains, Tamil Nadu.

Tata Punch, Tiago, Tigor CNG Cars Spied Testing In Nilgiri Mountains (rushlane.com)

The CNG equipped Variants of both Tiago as well as a Tigor would be available for bookings at the dealerships level. In fact, the unofficial booking for the both CNG cars has reportedly commenced since October, this year. We are expecting the Tata Motors to formally open the bookings for Tiago CNG as well as Tigor CNG in the near coming weeks, ahead of their launch in the month of January. Punch CNG would open later.

Same engine, different fuel

Tiago as well as Tigor are powered by the similar 1.2 litre naturally aspirated petrol unit which tends to push out 85 bhp and 113 Nm of peak torque in their regular models. When it comes to CNG guise, the similar engine is expected to produce about 70 horse of power as well as 90 Nm of peak torque. The transmission duties would be carried out by a 5-speed manual gearbox, the out put figures tend to drop, it would benefit having much better fuel efficiency nearing to 30 km/kg.

Apart from the updated powertrain, we find no other noteworthy updates are expected to made for these both, cars. Even visually, we find both CNG models would be almost identical to their petrol-powered counterparts, except for the CNG logo slamed somewhere at the rear. In addition, Tata Motors would also provide option to receive the CNG kits fitted at the dealerships.