Make in India initiative has paid really well for the country and is creating a lot of job opportunities. Tata indica is also made in India initiative but took place in the 90s. This is the story of one of my favourite company and their struggle in making the first indigenous car successfully. I also wanted to tell this as a story. This is the story of Tata indica.
Indica is the first indigenous car of the country and it took almost a decade for the company to bring it to the people. Even this project paved a path for modern cars like the Nexon, Tiago, Tigor.
Table of Contents
Ratan Tata took over Tata and Sons
Soon after Ratan Tata became the CEO of Tata and sons in the early 90s, He had two major things in his mind. Firstly he taught about cars, he realised that cars create a symbol of patriotism and pride to the country where it is made. Second, he taught about the country. India is a country which is rich in resources. Also, we have tested missiles and attracted the eyes of the world and much more. Yet we don’t have a homemade car.
For instance, the cars ruling the roads in those time were HM ambassador which was based on an American car (Morris Oxford Series 3). Maruthi has a tie-up with a Japanese company Suzuki.
Therefore, he gathered the Indian automotive component manufacturers in 1993 and briefed about his new project. Things went well but it was estimated that the project would take 1700 crores. This is a massive amount of money and this created some tension among everyone. If the project failed this might tip the company over.
The segment of Tata indica
The first task is to decide the segment to place the car. Back then, the Indian roads were ruled by cars like the HM ambassador, Premier Padmini, Maruti 800, etc. Analysing the market, Tata found a huge void on the road. The beefy ambassador is so big and hard to drive and maintain. It lacks practicality.
If people opt for a smaller car, they had no other choice than 800. But 800 is too small and won’t fit medium-sized people and lacks a diesel engine.
Tata decided to make a medium-sized car by filling this void. Hence indica is the first car in its segment (However Hyundai brought Santro at the same time).
The Design
Things started to take shape by 1995. The design work was assigned to the Engineering research centre, Pune. Their job is to design a car which is as described above and the design must be futuristic and must have an amazing road presence.
The company approached I.D.E.A, an Italian design company for the final tweaks in design. Remember this was just for final tweaks and people here did the complete job. The company also spent several crores for CAD and CAM software.
Engineers had an opportunity to present their design directly Ratan Tata himself. He was very keen on making this happen.
The prototype
A few months later, the first prototype was ready. Officials flew to Turin, Italy to check on and ship this prototype.
To their surprise, the prototype was very much futuristic and were very happy. The design was so streamlined and had lots of curve features. On the other hand, the cars on the Indian roads are very boxy and sharp. Remember this was in the 90s and the same car fuses with the modern cars seen now.
The car as expected from any Tata cars had supreme legroom at the back. The cabin would easily fit five people with good comfort. The company did not want to compromise on safety so the build quality of the vehicle was amazing just like now.
Up Next
After shipping it to India, some interesting things happened and I’ll cover it in the next article. Stay tuned