Tata has finally launched the Punch in India, with introductory prices starting at INR 5.49 lakh. The Punch is a micro-SUV that will sit below the Nexon sub-compact SUV in the company’s lineup.

On the outside, the Punch comes with R16 diamond-cut alloy wheels, projector headlamps & LED Daytime Running Lights (DRLs), signature LED Tail Lamps, and dual-tone roof options that come in two colors- black and white. The Punch will be available in 4 different variants – Pure, Adventure, Accomplished and Creative, to cater to a different set of customers.

The Punch comes well-appointed with many segment-first features like a seven-inch touchscreen with iRA connectivity suite, seven-inch TFT display for the semi-digital instrument cluster, rain-sensing wipers, automatic AC, and push-button start/stop, etc.

The Punch has also become the latest recipient of the 5-star rating (16.453) for adult occupant protection and 4-star rating (40.891) for child occupant protection from Global NCAP. It comes with dual airbags, ABS with EBD and corner safety control, and child seat ISOFIX anchor points. The Punch also gets a new feature called ‘Brake Sway Control’, which detects the tendency of instability during abrupt braking before the ABS kicks in to avoid vehicle swaying from the driving path.

The Tata Punch is powered by a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine that produces 86hp and 113Nm of torque. It can be had with either a 5-speed manual or an AMT automatic gearbox.   While this engine already does duty on the Tiago, Tigor, and Altroz, in the Punch, it additionally features an automatic engine start/stop functionality to aid fuel efficiency. This results in an ARAI claimed fuel economy figure of 18.97kpl for the manual and 18.82kpl for the automatic variants. The AMT gearbox on the Punch also features traction modes like some bigger Tata SUVs. Tata Motors says the Punch will do 0-60kph in 6.5 seconds and 0-100kph in 16.5 seconds.

The Tata Punch rivals high-riding hatchbacks like the Suzuki Ignis and the Mahindra KUV100 NXT, with higher variants also expected to see competition from the Renault Kiger and Nissan Magnite compact SUVs.