Shortly before noon on a pleasant Monday, race driver Narain Karthikeyan drove down the ramp in a Venetian Red coloured hatchback Bolt. From the other side, Tim Leverton, Head of Engineering, Tata Motors, with Ranjit Yadav, President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, sitting beside him drove in a Signature Buzz Blue sedan Zest, marking Tata Motors's new journey in the passenger car market.
These two cars pitted against hatchbacks like Maruti's Swift and entry-level sedans like Honda Amaze will hit the market in the second half of 2014.
Yadav said the company would continue to make the Indica and Indigo. The two new cars would fill a gap in the company's portfolio and complement the existing midels.
The Bolt and Zest are built on an existing platform in which are made the Indica Vista and Indigo Manza, but everything else about them was new.
They would meet current safety regulations in the country. The cars would be produced at the Pune plant. The prices would be announced closer to the launch date.