Launched on October 18, 2021, the compact SUV has punched above its weight and has become Tata Motors’ second best-seller after the Nexon. And there’s a CNG variant coming along.
12 May 2023 | 16440 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
Tata Motors today rolled out the 200,000th Punch compact SUV from its Pune plant. The 200,000-unit production milestone comes just 20 months after the carmaker launched the Punch in October 2021. The rapid pace of production is a result of accelerated demand for the youngest model in Tata Motors’ ‘New ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Tata Motors today rolled out the 200,000th Punch compact SUV from its Pune plant. The 200,000-unit production milestone comes just 20 months after the carmaker launched the Punch in October 2021. The rapid pace of production is a result of accelerated demand for the youngest model in Tata Motors’ ‘New Forever’ range.
From launch through to end-March FY2023, the Punch has clocked total wholesales of 186,535 units in the domestic market. Add April 2023’s estimated wholesales of 10,930 units and what you get is a total of 197,465 units, which is 2,535 units shy of the 200,000 sales milestone (see data table below).
Considering the Punch has averaged monthly sales of 11,249 units in the four-month January-April 2023 period, the popular compact SUV should surpass the 200,000 sales mark within the first fortnight of May 2023.
The Punch’s FY2023 wholesales of 133,819 units were a robust 153 percent YoY growth (FY2022: 52,716), powering the Punch to fourth rank in India’s Top 30 utility vehicles last fiscal, one rank above its CY2022 performance (129,895 units).
That’s solid performance for any new model, even if it is among those riding the surging wave of demand for compact SUVs in India. Proof of the Punch’s sales power came within the first few months of launch itself and it soon jumped from four-figure sales to five figures in January 2022 with 10,027 units. Since then, other than February’s 2022’s 9,592 units, the Punch has sold in excess of 10,000 units every month with the highest coming up in the festive month of September 2022: 12,251 units.
The Tata Punch has set a new benchmark in the Indian PV industry by becoming the first SUV in India to achieve the fastest 100,000 sales milestone in a span of just 10 months. What has helped power demand is the combination of a snazzy design, robust performance and best-in-class 5-star safety. Four days before its launch, on October 14, 2021, the Tata Punch aced the Global NCAP crash test with a 5-star rating (under the previous GNCAP protocol).
Punching above its weight
The Tata Punch, offered with both MT and AMT transmission options, is a petrol-only model and available in 13 variants priced from Rs 629,000 for the base Pure variant through to the top-end Creative O(AT) which has a Rs 10.46 lakh sticker (on-road Delhi).
The feature-laden SUV, which offers the agility of a hatchback with the DNA of an SUV, comes with a seven-inch touchscreen system, digital instrument cluster, auto AC, automatic headlights, connected car tech, and cruise control.
Powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine, it delivers fuel efficiency of 18.82kpl in Manual and 18.97kpl in AMT. Furthermore, it also comes with Tata’s iRA connected car technology, which offers over 25 features.
Production and in turn sales of the Punch should get new traction when Tata Motors launches the CNG and EV variants. The carmaker unveiled the Punch CNG at Auto Expo 2023 in January, making it the fourth model (after the Tigor, Tiago and Altroz) in Tata Motors’ line-up to get a factory-fitted CNG kit.
The CNG version of the Punch will be powered by a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder engine, mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. This engine develops 86hp and 113Nm of torque in petrol mode, and in CNG spec develops 77hp and 97Nm of peak torque. The Punch will also get Tata’s new dual-cylinder technology for the CNG tanks.
An electric version of the Punch has also been spotted testing recently. The Punch EV will get disc brakes on all four wheels, which is expected to trickle down to the ICE-powered Punch as well in the future. Inside, the Punch EV can be seen with a drive selector and electronic parking from the Nexon EV Max along with the current 7.0-inch touchscreen. The Punch EV is expected to debut by October 2023, during the festive season.
Tata Motors, which is hugely benefiting from its multi-powertrain strategy that is helping maximise sales of its existing product lines, is likely to further expand the Punch portfolio with an electric avatar. That should serve to add even more punch to the Punch’s sales in the competitive Indian marketplace.