Design Decode: Tata Tigor

Modified On Mar 31, 2017 12:08 PM By Raunak for Tata Tiago 2015-2019

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The Tata Tigor is set to become the most affordable car with a coupe roofline in the world!

Watch our quick review to know about the Tigor in under 300 seconds. Scroll right down to the bottom for a more in-depth review.

Update 29/3/2017: Tata Tigor Launched at Rs 4.70 Lakh

What you do when you invent something pioneering, but still gets left behind in the tsunami of newer and better-equipped versions of it later on. You reinvent! That’s what Tata has done or has tried to do with the upcoming Tigor.

Tata Tigor

Tata was the first manufacturer to launch a sub-4m sedan – the Indigo CS – in India as soon as the tax relaxation for sub-4m cars came into existence. But post the arrival of the second-gen Swift DZire, and later on the Honda Amaze and others, the Indigo CS was lost in oblivion due to its age and lack of features.

The Indigo CS (still on sale) wasn’t exactly an odd-looking compact sedan considering it was the first offering in this space. In fact, it has always been an uphill task for automakers to integrate a boot into sub-4m dimensions. Take the current-gen DZire, for example – it looks the most disproportioned among its peers.

In 2014, Tata came up with the Zest, its second attempt in the sub-4m sedan segment. Though it was not the odd one out in terms of appearance in this segment, it wasn’t awe-inspiring either. Now that Tata is ready with yet another compact sedan, the Tigor, let us see how it has managed to evolve the design in restricted dimensions over the years.

Coupe-ish Rear Profile

Tata Tigor

Let us begin with what is the most important design aspect of the Tigor – its rear profile. All the compact sedans in India are derived from their hatchback sibling. Until the B-pillar, it’s the same story, with just subtle differences. The game begins post the B-pillar, where automakers have to incorporate a boot in a hatchback silhouette. Unlike a few of the sub-4m SUVs, there is not a single sub-4m sedan which has been designed from the ground up. These sub-4m sedans are born out of the penchant of Indian buyers towards three-box cars. It is a daunting task to get things right – cabin space, rear windscreen rake and boot integration – in a restricted length.

Tata Tigor

Unlike the rest of the compact sedans, Tata has done something different with the Tigor. They have given it a coupe-like roofline, with a very steep rake. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the roofline actually merges with the rounded, protruding lip of the boot lid, giving it a fastback-like design! And all this is happening within the actual contour lines of the boot that starts around the kink in the rear window – imparting a pseudo-boot mass which is actually not there! This design concept is present is almost all the compact sedans, but it is more exaggerated in the Tigor. On the whole, the Tigor is easily the best looking sub-4m sedan out there. See the picture below, things will get clearer.

Tata Tigor

Since it is dimensionally larger than the Tiago, it has relatively larger rear doors, which also result in easy ingress and egress.

Tata Tigor

Tiago-ish Front

Tata Tigor

(In Picture: Tata Tigor)

As mentioned above, these compact sedans borrow the front fascia from their hatch counterpart, and the Tigor no different. That said, there are subtle differences that make the Tigor stand apart from the Tiago. To start with, the Tigor gets smoked dual-barrel projector headlamps. It is a segment-first feature and, in fact, leaving the Zest aside, none of the sub-4m sedans come with projector headlamps (same is the case with its tail lamps as well; it comes with LED graphics similar to the Zest). The grille with chrome ‘humanity line’ is the trademark feature of Tata’s Impact design language, but if you look closely, the hexagonal pattern on the Tigor is different and more pronounced than what we see in the Tiago. Everything else is similar.

Tata Zica Grille

(In Picture: Tata Tiago)