We just love how Tata Motors, at times, just takes the level of excitement to the very brim and the entire auto industry in India goes bonkers anticipating about the end result. The homegrown automaker did just that before revealing the official name of its upcoming premium hatchback. We, obviously, took the safe route and left the guesswork to others. The wait, however, is finally over. Tata Motors has christened the 45X Concept as Altroz.

Don’t go hunting for a dictionary because it isn’t a real English word. The company says that the name is inspired by a seabird called Albatross. The car itself is still under wraps but those will come off at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show, which opens its gates on March 5. In other words, the premium hatchback will be seen in its production guise for the very first time.

As you’d expect, the confirmed set of details are scarce at the moment. But the Altroz will become the first car from Tata Motors which will be underpinned by the new ALFA-Arc platform. For nerds, ALFA-Arc stands for Agile Light Flexible Advanced – Architecture. Needless to say, the Tata Altroz will also flaunt the Impact 2.0 design language. That means it could very well possess the same power to turn heads as the Harrier. As far as the launch is concerned, it will happen sometime in mid-2019.

Let’s roll in some calculated speculations here. The Tata Altroz is a premium hatchback and that means it will be under four metres in length. What else is under four metres in Tata Motor’s portfolio? The Tiago, Tigor and the Nexon. Considering how the Nexon’s powertrains have been praised in the past, we suspect that the Altroz will borrow them. They might be tuned differently to deliver their oomph is a more linear manner but the inclusion of a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol and the 1.5-litre turbo-diesel are more or less confirmed. Transmission units will be shared between the two as well.

We could go on to guess what the list of features could be like but the fact of the matter is simple – Tata needs to outshine products like the Hyundai i20, Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Honda Jazz and the Volkswagen Polo. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Question is, can Tata find the best balance amongst pillars like built quality, comfort, convenience, performance and price? Only time will tell!