[RavenAvi]

A search on Zauba reveals that Tata Motors has recently exported two prototypes of it's sub-4m sedan, the Zest, to Italy.

These prototypes, marked as "Test & Return", have been most possibly sent to Tata's design & engineering centre at Trilix Srl., Turin.(link (Tata Motors acquires Italian Design Firm))

Whether the Zest facelift will see design changes and/or some engineering changes in the inside, remains to be seen.

Tata has been working on the mid-life facelifts of the Zest & it's hatchback sibling the Bolt for a while now, with a possible launch due for sometime next year.

Zauba

[carbhaari]

This was spotted in the month of April where the headlight corner of Zest is visible in camouflaged version along with Kite 4 and Nexon.
Source:Rushlane
So, the details from Zauba, kind of confirms that Zest facelift is on cards.
Let's hope it will have 1.5 L Diesel engine.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

A search on Zauba reveals that Tata Motors has recently exported two prototypes of it's sub-4m sedan, the Zest, to Italy.

....Whether the Zest facelift will see design changes and/or some engineering changes in the inside, remains to be seen.

Originally Posted by carbhaari

...This was spotted in the month of April where the headlight corner of Zest is visible in camouflaged version along with Kite 4 and Nexon...

So, the details from Zauba, kind of confirms that Zest facelift is on cards.
Let's hope it will have 1.5 L Diesel engine.

Honestly, the only thing that can be better in the Zest is the front design (to take away the Indica resemblance). The engine is never a weak point with all that 90 bhp (now only in the top variants), a 110 bhp actually is an overkill for a compact sedan which doesn't boast of sharp handling.

But otherwise, it's spacious, interior quality, feature loaded (HK touchscreen system / DRLs), cheap to maintain, AMT option, quite VFM - what more does someone want?! Rather, what more can the company add?!!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Rather, what more can the company add?!!

"Flogging a dead horse" is the phrase that comes to my mind.

Zest and Bolt were both meant to be stop gap exercises till the actual GenNext products (Tiago / Nexon/ Kite5/ X451 premium hatch) etc made it to the showrooms. Out of which, Bolt can be called as a flop and Zest is just about chugging along. And the reason is the baggage that they both carry. Both are reminiscent of the Vista (and thereby the Indica) and all the image issues that it carried.

Doesn't make sense to me that TATA is delaying the new launches like Kite5 and Nexon while wasting time on upgrades for the Zest. I feel its better to just let it sell as much as it can in its current avatar, while slowly diverting the sales to the new generations products like the Kite5 on the lower end of the price range and the X451 at the higher end.

The compact sedan market itself is not witnessing the earlier growth trends anymore, with only the well established DZire making a strong case for itself. TATA is not going anywhere with an upgraded Zest, and their best chance is to undercut the DZire significantly (Very much possible seeing Tiago's pricing ) with the supremely capable Kite5 sedan.