The Tata Zica from Tata Motors is a refreshingly designed hatchback. It is to be seen whether this product finally captures the imagination of the Indian masses. A one-time confident player in the Indian passenger car segment, Tata Motors has lost a lot of its sheen because of some very shoddy products. The Bolt and the Zest from its stable did not in particular set the company’s sales charts afire. Nevertheless, with the Zica, the company hopes its fortunes will change.

Tata Motor’s small cars (read Indica) and sedans were always a favourite with taxi operators in the country. But with the likes of Toyota Innova and Maruti Dzire and several other successful products capturing this lucrative market, Tata Motors lost a lot of its share in this crucial segment. With the Zica, they hope to regain this lost ground.

The Zica car is a smart looking car. It is based on an all-new platform. Unlike the Bolt and the Zest which had a very “Indica” look about it, this one’s a lot more contemporary in its design. An erstwhile Tata Motors dealer told Motown India that the Zica model was showcased to them several years back and it’s a bit late in the day for the company to bring out the car, especially when rivals have a lot more savvier products. Motown India cannot agree or disagree with that statement since its team was not invited by Tata Motors for a test drive in Goa.

From the pictures sent by the company, the Zica does seem to have a fresh look about it, especially with its large swept back headlamps and the mesh-type grille. The new three-dimensional ‘T’ Logo is placed in a semi vertical position on the signature hexagon grill. The overall design including the rear hatch with smart tail lamps and the smart spoiler spats give the car a contemporary look.  Not to miss are the smartly designed 14-inch alloy wheels for the top variant.

The interiors also seem bright and smart. We cannot comment on the quality of plastic used for the interiors, but definitely the dashboard looks appealing with its smart buttons and switches. The company, like in its earlier models, has a small steering wheel in this car too, in order to give it a sporty feel. Talking of the dash, the car comes with Connectnext Infotainment system by Harman, complemented by the sporty instrument cluster pods. The central console sports rotary.

The company has introduced new segment-first applications like the Turn-by-Turn Navi app and the Juke-Car app. This first-in-segment app displays Turn-by-Turn navigation when connected to a smartphone  via  Bluetooth.  The audio prompts and hard key operations are used to control navigation providing sheer convenience. This app also provides guidance  on  Estimated  Time  of  Arrival  (ETA) and  Next  Maneuver,  which  helps  in  simplifying navigation  while  driving.  Along with Bluetooth pairing, it also supports  speed volume  control, steering wheel mounted information controls and phonebook on-the-fly.

The Juke-Car app, a first-in-segment feature, utilises mobile hotspot to create a virtual network and host a service for sharing list of available songs in the device. All connected devices can view the song list on the hotspot device. Users can place their requested song queuing. The Juke-Car app then plays the songs one after the other. Enhancing the comfort and convenience of passengers, the car also has user selectable vehicle setup like 'follow me home' timer and steering mounted controls.

The Interior consists of a geometric texture accented with chrome handles, knitted fabrics, colour harmony, layered design theme with a dual tone interior, customisable air vents, premium graphics on the fabric and body hugging seat bolsters. The top- end variant comes with colour­ accentuated air conditioning vents in line with the body colour. Then there are also the height adjustable headrest and seat.

There are multiple storage spaces in the car. The car has been designed to provide 22 utility spaces, despite keeping the interior roomy.  On top of that it has a luggage space of  240 litres  with  the  added convenience of shopping bag hooks along with  markings mentioned  on  each hook  for  the  weight.  A separate partition for the tool kit and smart use of moulded carpets make the boot space very user-friendly.