Where powertrains are concerned, Tata Punch continues to be offered with the same 1.2L NA Petrol and Petrol+CNG options to choose from
One of India’s leading car manufacturers, Tata Motors, has been killing it in the segment below sub 4m SUVs. We’re talking about the segment where Tata dominates with Punch, rivalling the likes of Hyundai Exter and Citroen C3. Now, Tata has done a major variant rejig with Punch where this popular SUV loses two of its trim levels in both Petrol and CNG options.
Tata Punch Variants Rejig
If we take a look at Tata Motors’ sales breakup, Punch emerges as the company’s best-selling vehicle with 13,711 units (Punch ICE and Punch EV) sold in the month of September 2024. So, any fettling with their best-selling vehicle like Punch is a huge deal. That too, around the festive season.
We say this because the variants that Tata Motors de-listed (likely discontinued), are based on Adventure persona, which is a one-above-base persona over Pure. Under the Adventure persona, we used to get Adventure, Adventure Rhythm, Adventure S and Adventure+ S trim levels.
At the fag end of October 2024, around the festive season, Tata Motors officially de-listed Adventure trim and Adventure Rhythm trim from its lineup. This likely discontinuation of Punch’s Adventure and Adventure Rhythm trims applies to both petrol-only and Petrol+CNG bi-fuel variants.
Both manual and AMT gearbox options have been discontinued as well. Adventure trim used to start at Rs 7 lakh (Ex-sh) (Adventure Petrol MT). Now, buyers looking to purchase something above base Pure persona, have to spend Rs 7.6 lakh (Ex-sh) for Adventure S trim with a single-pane sunroof.
Punch Adventure AMT used to start at Rs 7.6 lakh (Ex-sh), now with the de-listing of aforementioned variants, Adventure S AMT starts from Rs 8.2 lakh (Ex-sh). Where CNG variants are concerned, Punch Adventure iCNG used to start from Rs 7.95 lakh (Ex-sh). Now, buyers have to go with Adventure S iCNG for Rs 8.55 lakh (Ex-sh).
Rest of the lineup stays similar
This step from Tata Motors could mean two things. One, the company is more actively pushing buyers to opt for sunroof-equipped variants in the mid-tier and one-above-base personas. Two, buyers are gravitating more towards sunroof-equipped variants, taking a toll on manufacturers to keep on producing non-sunroof-equipped variants.
Either way, sunroof has become the talk of the automotive town and we’re not sure if it is a good thing for India, where a majority of the landscape is hot and sunny. Other than these changes, Punch seems to be the same as before.
