Tata 45X premium hatchback concept: Fresh pictures reveal more about the Maruti baleno rival

When Tata Motors showcased the 45X premium hatchback concept at the Auto Expo, it was behind a glass wall. So, these fresh set of pictures go a long way in giving us details of the edgy new car from Tata. The 45X is meant to be Tata Motor’s Maruti Baleno challenger.

Testing of the car has been on for many months now, and the car will be launched in the second half of 2019. The interiors of the premium hatchback concept were not revealed at the Expo but the newly released pictures give us an idea of what Tata’s thinking in terms of its latest car.

There are a lot of futuristic touches on the car, and most of it may not make it to the production version. The steering wheel looks inspired by Playstation and a four seat premium hatchback is not practical enough for Indian conditions. All these bits are expected to be changed in the production model.

What we also know is that the 45X will be based on a brand new platform called AMP. An acronym for Advanced Modular Platform, AMP will enable parts sharing between different Tata cars. Tata hopes to build a sedan, MPV and even a compact SUV on this shared platform.

For now, the 45X will borrow petrol and diesel engines from the Tiago. However, it’s expected to have higher outputs due to the use of a variable geometry turbocharger, both on the petrol and diesel models. The car is also expected to have manual gearboxes, again borrowed from the Tiago.

However, a brand new twin clutch automatic gearbox could also be offered at a later date. Tata is in the process of engineering such a gearbox for the automatic variants of the 45X. Eventually, more Tata cars are expected to benefit from this gearbox.