Tata Punch: it has a 120 PS turbo now — and that changes the question

Why this car sells

The Punch topped India’s sales charts in August 2026 with 21,320 units, close to double what it managed in the same month a year earlier. It isn’t a complicated proposition: SUV-ish height and stance, a small footprint, and an entry price of ₹5.65 lakh.

Most Punches sold are bought on that basis. The turbo changes what the car can be, but it doesn’t change why it sells.

What the turbo actually gives you

The new engine is a 1.2-litre turbocharged unit producing 120 PS at 5,500 rpm and 170 Nm, paired with a six-speed gearbox. Against the naturally aspirated 1.2: 87.8 PS at 6,000 rpm, 115 Nm at 3,250 rpm — the difference isn’t the peak figure so much as where it arrives.

The naturally aspirated Punch has to be revved to move four adults and luggage. The turbo doesn’t. If you regularly carry a full car or drive on highways, that’s a real quality-of-life difference rather than a specification-sheet one.

The CNG, and the thing Tata got right

The iCNG runs twin cylinders for a combined 60 litres, against a 37-litre petrol tank. In CNG mode the engine makes 73.4 PS and 103 Nm; on petrol it reverts to 87.8 PS and 115 Nm.

The twin-cylinder layout matters because the usual CNG compromise is the boot. Splitting the capacity into two smaller cylinders is what keeps some of that space usable. If you’re comparing CNG cars, this is the detail to ask about, not the claimed efficiency figure.

What each step actually costs

Read the ladder as steps rather than as prices and the shape of it becomes obvious. Smart to Pure is the big one at ₹90,000. That’s the jump out of the entry car, and it buys rear AC vents, all four power windows, steering-mounted controls and the armrest console. Very few people should buy a Smart.

After that the steps shrink. Pure to Pure + is ₹52,000 and brings the 20.32 cm touchscreen, wireless Android Auto and CarPlay, the reverse parking camera and cruise control. That’s the best-value step in the range.

Then notice the pattern. Pure + to Pure + S is ₹35,000. Adventure to Adventure S is ₹35,000. The S suffix costs the same ₹35,000 wherever you take it, and what it buys is the sunroof. If you don’t want a sunroof you can skip every S variant and lose nothing else.

The last step, Accomplished to Accomplished + S, is ₹70,000, double the usual S premium, because it bundles more than the roof. And at ₹9,16,990 you’re in Nexon territory, which opens at ₹7,39,990. That’s the comparison to make before you sign.

The overlap you should price before you decide

The Punch range runs from ₹5.65 lakh to ₹9.05 lakh ex-showroom. The Nexon range starts at ₹7.39 lakh. That means the top third of the Punch range sits inside the bottom of the Nexon range.

This isn’t an argument that the Nexon is better — a smaller car is easier to park and more affordable to run, and plenty of people should buy the Punch. It’s an argument that if you find yourself specifying an Accomplished+S, you owe yourself twenty minutes pricing the equivalent Nexon before you commit. A showroom that sells both won’t always volunteer the comparison.

What we’d actually buy

For a city car that occasionally goes further, buy the naturally aspirated Punch in Adventure trim and put the difference in your pocket. For daily long running, the iCNG pays for itself faster than the turbo ever will.

Buy the turbo if you genuinely drive loaded and on highways, and only after you’ve checked what the same money buys one segment up.