The Aeris is Tata's latest attempt to dethrone the Maruti Dzire and also put in a dent in the sales of the Honda Amaze and the Hyundai Aura. Will it succeed?
Does launching a sub-4-metre sedan in 2026 make sense? Well, with the new Aeris, Tata Motors surely thinks it does!
Say hello to the new Tata Aeris. It’s a sub-4-metre sedan that starts at ₹5.29 lakh ex-showroom. I’d be reviewing the petrol manual and CNG AMT powertrains of the Aeris in this review to find out if this reskinned Tigor has any chance in the market.
Aesthetically, Tata has done its best to differentiate it from its hatchback sibling. The front bumper is different from the Tiago, and it gives the car quite a mature and inoffensive appearance. The rear gets a new connected light bar with split style lighting signature. From the side however, it still resembles the erstwhile Tigor, mostly because of that stubby boot.
I heard people saying online that this car looks like a shrunken-down Tata Curvv from the rear three-quarter, and I won’t lie, it kind of does.
The odd thing is that despite having the same variant nomenclature as the petrol model, the CNG is stuck on 14-inch steel wheels even on the top-end variant. The higher petrol variants, on the other hand, get smart 15 inch alloys.
On the inside, the interior of the Aeris closely resembles that of the Tiago. It gets the same new dashboard and door panels introduced on the latest Tiago facelift. However, the light brown and off white colour combination remains exclusive to the Aeris. There are also ample soft touch surfaces inside the cabin, however, the fit and finish of the plastics still remains strictly average.
The Aeris does make up for it by being loaded to the brim. It's the only subcompact sedan with leatherette upholstery with front ventilated seats, and a 360 degree camera with in-built dashcam. The car also gets 6 standard airbags from the base variant onwards.
Let’s quickly also touch upon how good the Tata Aeris is as a family hauler. Well, the rear legroom is pretty average, but it’s not bad keeping in mind the very compact footprint of this car. Although the car is not wide enough, so the centre rear seat is best suited only for children.
Then, the iCNG gets 227 litres of boot space thanks to the clever placement of its cylinders. The petrol, on the other hand, gets 419 litres of boot space.
An area where the Aeris excels is the ride quality. So, the suspension is now upgraded compared to the Tigor, and this is also the very same suspension that we saw on the facelifted Tiago.
And yes, just like the Tiago, the ride quality is a highlight here. It seamlessly soaks up all the impurities of the roads. Even the bigger potholes don’t really unsettle the car. So yes, comfortable this car surely is.
So, is the Tata Aeris a sporty handler? Well, not really, but it is safe and predictable, and I must say that body roll is kept well under check, especially when you take sharp turns.
All right. So right now I’m driving the petrol plus CNG with the AMT transmission option. Unfortunately, Tata cannot brag about the fact that they are the only brand offering this powertrain option because Maruti recently launched the Dzire with the very same option.
But anyway, a quick word on the engine. It’s a 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit, and yes, because it’s a three-cylinder, the vibrations do seep in, and it is a bit buzzy as well. Although I must say that the vibrations sort of smooth out once you are on the go.
Now, the AMT gearbox. It’s a five-speed unit, and does it shift seamlessly? Not really. You feel every single shift, and for whatever reason, you feel upshifts much more than downshifts inside the cabin. Although I must say, if you’re driving at city speeds, if you’re generally commuting to office in everyday traffic, then that’s something you won’t feel all that much.
However, once you’re on the highway, the AMT’s limitations are pretty evident. The good thing is that Tata is offering paddle shifters with the AMT. In general, the AMT’s calibration is a bit on the lazy side, so it is not a particularly enthusiastic gearbox. But if you use the paddle shifters, they do help to curb that gap quite a bit. So yes, if you’re on the highway, using paddle shifters is actually quite recommended on this car.
DISPLACEMENT: 1,199 cc
POWER: 85 bhp (petrol) / 74.5 bhp (CNG)
Torque: 113 Nm @ 1,300 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 5-SPEED MT / 5-SPEED AMT
So that was for the petrol-only mode. You can instantly switch to CNG on the fly using a single button. And once you switch to CNG, the power output drops, and you do feel it. So with petrol, it generates 85 bhp, but with CNG, the power output falls down to 74.5 bhp. On a flat surface, it is generally fine once you’re cruising on the highway, or maybe you’re just driving around in town.
But if the highway has a bit of an elevation, then you will definitely feel the lack of power. It is not a fast car, especially in CNG mode. I will say though that the engine has a decent amount of mid-range. So even when the speeds drop, you don’t really have to drop gears to pick the pace up. But yes, if you are in CNG, then you might have to plan your overtakes accordingly.
Now let's shift focus on to the petrol Aeris with the manual transmission.You don’t have to drive this car for very long to realise how much better the manual gearbox is calibrated with the Aeris’ engine. The engine feels a lot livelier and more responsive with the manual transmission.
As for the gearbox itself, the clutch is light, even though the travel is on the longer side, but it is quite light, and the gear shifts are reasonably short throw as well. So yes, it is quite city-friendly in that sense.
I must say that if your daily commute involves heavy traffic congestion, if you stay in a tier-one city where it takes you over 30 minutes to travel five kilometres, then yes, the AMT is still the more practical option, because most of AMT’s drawbacks become prominent when you’re out on the highway. In the city, it’s pretty good. However, if your daily commute does not include heavy traffic, then yes, the manual gearbox is the one to go for. It is a lot better to drive.
Not only is tthe Aeris the best-equipped sub-4-metre sedan, but it also has the best ride comfort in its segment. Tata is also making special efforts to protect this car from yellow number plates, because the company has emphasised that this will be only sold to private buyers.
The Aeris is priced between ₹5.29 lakh to 9.74 lakh (ex-showroom). That means its base price undercuts all its major rivals. On the other hand, the higher variants, while priced at par with rivals like Dzire and Amaze offer a lot more features for the same price.
But sedans are no longer the default choice when it comes to mass-market cars, and Tata could have easily differentiated this from its boring rivals by offering a turbo-petrol engine. Also, will buyers prefer buying this over a similarly-priced Punch when they move into a Tata showroom? Well, that’s something only time can tell.
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