Tata Punch tasked to grow SUV market share to 10 percent

Published On Oct 05, 2021 12:40:00 PM

Tata’s all-new micro-SUV is set to launch on October 20, and bookings have already been opened.

The gloves are off. Tata Motors is looking to raise its SUV market share in India and the vehicle to throw the punch is the new Tata Punch micro-SUV, which was officially revealed on Monday. Tata is set to launch the model on October 20 and you can now book one for Rs 21,000.

• Punch to grow Tata UV market share from six to 10 percent
• It has a gross localisation of about 90-92 percent
• Will be aimed at a unique white space in the compact-SUV segment

The latest Tata in town gets SUV cues such as a butch design, 187mm unladen ground clearance and 16-inch alloy wheels – all in a rather compact footprint – with an idea to be positioned below the bigger, sub-four-metre Nexon. Powering the Punch will be an 86hp, 1.2-litre petrol engine and the micro-SUV will rival the Maruti Suzuki Ignis, Nissan Magnite and the Renault Kiger.

2021 Tata Punch: sales expectation

Having rolled out the new Punch, Tata has expanded its SUV portfolio to four models – which include the Nexon, Harrier and Safari. There’s a lot riding on this micro-SUV and it has been tasked with punching above its weight. Tata Motors currently has a 6 percent UV (utility vehicle) market share (April-August 2021) – the Punch is expected to increase their presence in the SUV sector and strengthen the company’s foothold in what is the fastest-growing passenger vehicle (PV) segment.

Speaking to our sister publication Autocar Professional, Anand Kulkarni, VP, Product Line Head, ALFA architecture and passenger EVs, Tata Motors, said: “The addressable market with the Punch is going to be the category of vehicles which are below four metres in length, including hatchbacks and other entry-level tall-boy cars. In numbers, the addressable market size is in excess of a million cars.”

“The Punch should help us do better numbers overall – we aim to hit about 10 percent UV market share by the end of this fiscal,” Kulkarni added. And there are strong tailwinds for Tata to take it there.

In September 2021, Tata Motors bucked the overall industry trend and registered a notable 21 percent year-on-year growth in sales by selling 25,730 units. This is despite being hammered down by the global semiconductor shortage, which is “a pressure cooker-like situation where everybody is constantly trying to secure production and things are very dynamic and evolving every couple of hours,” according to Kulkarni.

2021 Tata Punch: pricing the Punch properly

Pricing vehicles in an ultra-competitive segment like SUVs is a black art – get it right and the model zooms to the top of the UV chart. But if you don’t have your finger on the pulse of the value-conscious buyer, then poor sales are like a ‘punch’ in the solar plexus.

With the Tata Tiago starting at Rs 4.99 lakh, the Altroz hatchback at Rs 5.84 lakh and the game-changing Nexon crossover at Rs 7.28 lakh (all…