[Venkatesh]

25 years of Tata Indica - Link





Autocar India celebrates the iconic car's remarkable journey.











Link

[Nikhil Beke]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

25 years of Tata Indica

Many thanks for resurrecting this thread: reminded me of my school days- sheer nostalgia!
Sentiments aside, this(And RavenAvi's thread about Tata aspiring to be no 3 in PV sales) throw such an introspective light on history of Indian automotive industry- and specifically of Tata PV segment. It's a fascinating rags to riches story- from vehicles that even cabbies were sneering at, to Vehicles that are truly world class, drool-worthy and aspirational for generations X, Y and Z. Not to mention visionary and timely foray into EVs- who could have imagined them a create a segment that's now successful in all senses, and be a market leader in EVs in 2017, at the time of inception of this thread? Mr Shailesh Chandra's and his team's role deserves so much of applause!
PS: was just reminded while going through auto-expo coverage that blue-eyed-boy of TML, Nexon and wonderkid-in-making Curvv share their basic underpinnings with indica! What an engineering feat to have a platform that continues its metamorphosis successfully for 25yrs, and counting.

[ruzbehxyz]

Tata Indica kick-started Tata Motors' passenger vehicle division. The car, designed and developed in India, was launched at Pragati Maidan on Jan 15th, 1998 and also made way for a host of small cars in the company's range.

On Sunday, Mr Tata shared a nostalgic post remembering 25 years of the launch of Tata Indica. The veteran industrialist shared a picture with an Indica and captioned it, "Twenty-five years ago, the launching of the Tata Indica was the birth of India's indigenous passenger car industry. It brings back fond memories and has a special place in my heart for me."

The vehicle turned out to be a success within two years of its launch and soon became a loved brand because of its features and affordability. However, after twenty years, Tata Motors stopped the production of the compact hatchback in 2018, after facing stiff competition in the segment.

Mr Tata's post has gone viral, garnering over 18 lakh likes in just a span of five hours. Just like the industrialist, many also got nostalgic as they shared their memories of having a Tata Indica as their family car.

One user said, "Tata is not just a brand! It is emotions of India,'' while another commented, '' Indeed, a very beautiful car was made for us Indians. My father got his the first-generation Indica in 1998, the year I was only a year old. Later on, we upgraded it with the Indica V2 in 2005. This isn't just a car for me and a few others; there are so many emotions and feelings involved. Ahh The iconic INDICA. Still remember the tagline, "More car per car". We have only immense respect and love for you, Sir Ratan Tata!''

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/feature/ratan-t...-3694025/amp/1

Some pictures:













Photo source: Various.

[fhdowntheline]

One of the good things about legacy auto journalists is the appreciation of automotive history. In the cacophony of self styled auto " influencers" this comes as a refreshing and pleasant moment.

[ergon_9700]

AH, the car that started it for Tata Motors. Well we will definitely be more nostalgic because it is not just a car but an emotion for many especially for Mr. Ratan Tata and former and current owners of Indica. Also this car served equally well in the cab market as the Indicab.

The popular tag line is also nostalgic and still serves as one of the core tenets of Tata as per my belief: More car per car.

IF Tata decides to launch Indica or its sedan counterpart Indigo again (it is a BIG IF), we can see sales shoot up for Tata like crazy as it was seen for the current Safari and the upcoming Sierra, if the hype at Auto Expo was any indication

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Nikhil Beke

PS: was just reminded while going through auto-expo coverage that blue-eyed-boy of TML, Nexon and wonderkid-in-making Curvv share their basic underpinnings with indica! What an engineering feat to have a platform that continues its metamorphosis successfully for 25yrs, and counting.

Just to keep specifics in check - the X1 platform that the Nexon uses, originates from the Indica VISTA. Not the Indica "proper". Only the name was shared between the Vista and the original Indica. So the platform being used right now isn't exactly 25 years old.

No doubt - the X1 platform itself - that arrived around 2007-8 has proven its credentials beyond any doubt already & is a fairly versatile and stable one. I'm personally an owner of the Vista and Nexon both, and am pleased to see it continue on into the future.

[Venkatesh]

Celebrating 25 years of Tata Indica

https://youtu.be/Gp75fPXqbhM

[V.Narayan]

The Tata Indica, while technically not the first Indian designed car, was the first successful Indian car. The concept of this car started c.1989 in Bombay House under a new projects team that also was responsible for the launch of other Tata companies such as Tata Advanced Materials, Tata Capital {then called Tata Finance}, Hi-Tech Drilling, Tata Honeywell etc. Developing the Tata Sierra, multi-utility vehicle/car and the Tata Estate {1992} station wagon from the pick-up Tata 207 were the first experimental steps towards the Indica. The decision to bring in an Italian design house for the body followed after the Tata estate was launched and its lineage from a small truck was apparent. Mr. Ratan Tata Sir faced a lot of opposition in those days from the old guard of Bombay House who viewed him as a johnny come lately and didn't like this push to new areas. They also did not like his likely heir apparent status even though c.1985 JRD Tata had not made any announcement yet. For old timers like me it is hard to see Ratan Tata Sir looking old and frail. He otherwise has such a regal presence. May God always bless him. I consider it a privilege to have been a minutes keeping fly on the wall in several of his business meetings.

[ergon_9700]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

For old timers like me it is hard to see Ratan Tata Sir looking old and frail. He otherwise has such a regal presence. May God always bless him. I consider it a privilege to have been a minutes keeping fly on the wall in several of his business meetings.

Even though I am a youngster, I too agree with you seeing him old and frail, it brings tears of sadness to my eyes because I cannot imagine him being old and frail, it just does not fit him and his character and especially his presence, whose regality is up there with those kings and queens who were beloved by their subjects, as you rightly pointed it out. And also I would like to extend my appreciation to you working for him.

[Sanidhya mukund]

The Indica was released with such fanfare in a nascent market that had just begun to get exciting.
It had the looks that were right up there with the Fiat Palio, it had the price to poach customers from the Maruti 800, it had the space and comfort of a mid-size sedan (a late 1990s mid size sedan) and most importantly, it had a diesel engine!
It was quite a successful product and the value proposition offered by it remains unmatched.

The Indica was a seminal car for Tata and the Indian automotive industry, but unfortunately, it lived too long; it could have died a hero, but it lived long enough to become the villain. In the later days, Indica and derivatives were a stigma for Tata Motors, an albatross hanging around their necks. It was the epitome of everything that was wrong with the company: poor quality control, cheap interiors, bad fit and finish, reliability that you would loathe and zero aspirational value. We had an Indigo TDI as the workhorse car between 2008-2011. At the end of 3 years, every part other than the horn would make noise!
A major part of reinventing the Tata brand was to let go off the ‘Indicaness’.(the quintessential shape and those Christmas tree lights)

I would like to clarify that in no way am I undermining the importance of this car to the country; I still believe that if any examples survive in original shape, efforts should be made to keep them going. It’s just that Tata flogged it far too long and milked the platform way too much. They should have let it die a dignified death and replaced it with something cool around the time Maruti brought in the funky new Swift.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

The Indica was a seminal car for Tata and the Indian automotive industry, but unfortunately, it lived too long; it could have died a hero, but it lived long enough to become the villain.

The Indica platform had an extended production run because Vista and Manza, the cars based on the successor X1 platform, failed to achieve the runaway success of the former. This was in spite of better quality. Diesel engines were now offered by the competitors as well. And Tata had no match for Maruti's after sales service network! I don't have the figures with me but I believe Vista/Bolt and Manza/Zest sold lesser numbers than the first generation Indica and its derivatives.

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

They should have let it die a dignified death and replaced it with something cool around the time Maruti brought in the funky new Swift.

Through Vista and Manza, they did replace it with successors at the right time but the cars were't funky enough; so it made sense to continue producing the first gen and making money on it!

[itwasntme]

In Panchgani with my beloved Tata Indica 2000 LEi MPi petrol. A real sleeper those days.

[greenhorn]

Indica hitting 25 years means they are eligible to import to the US under the show and display rule. Who is going to be the first ?

[TurboLag200]

If Tata decides to relaunch the indica, It will surely make the entire market go crazy. I mean the car as a whole isn't so bad, Sure it has many flaws but if Tata relaunched a modern version of it, Then im sure it would be a success. I still see plenty of diesel indica cabs running all over!

[gupta_chd]

Originally Posted by TurboLag200

If Tata decides to relaunch the indica, It will surely make the entire market go crazy. I mean the car as a whole isn't so bad, Sure it has many flaws but if Tata relaunched a modern version of it, Then im sure it would be a success. I still see plenty of diesel indica cabs running all over!

You got to be joking. Seriously.

Tata should not touch Indica name with a barge pole. It is like a cursed tomb of good turned bad guy which should not be exhumed It is best for the Indica brand to always remain a nostalgic piece of history.