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S. Muralidhar

THE Tata Indigo had everything going for it. Built on a two-box platform, by a company, which, despite its "trucking" past and initial glitches, had recently acquired the image of a quality passenger car manufacturer, it was taken for granted that the Indigo's pricing would be competitive. Of course, Tata Engineering has still managed to stun the market with the extremely low price of its entry-level model.

The fact that Indica's current demand is expected to continue, and that the company has returned into the black with its present volumes, has made the Indigo's pricing possible. The only other company in the industry that, intrinsically, has the ability to juggle with intra-model pricing is Maruti Udyog. That said, Tata Engineering will still have to deal with the fact that the petrol version of the Indigo will not attract as much attention as the diesel one, despite the former being priced at a low Rs 4.35 lakh.

It is also possible that this tendency amongst the C-segment car buyer to look for precedence in either diesel or petrol engine technology will continue to make the diesel Indigo's a bigger draw than the petrol one.

The other C-segment car manufacturers are also probably confident about facing competition from Indigo because of the feeling that the buyer in this segment is a different animal. But Tata Engineering has attempted to bridge the gap in perception that it is not a luxury sedan manufacturer by piling on a number of features into the Indigo. These include an independent three-link suspension to evenly distribute and dampen shocks. Keeping in mind Indian users, and their general bodily structure, the Indigo's front seats have been given additional lumbar and thigh support for more comfort during long distance drives.

In addition to the longer wheel-base, the Indigo has also been given larger 14-inch wheels compared to the 13-inch wheels that is the standard in most of the C-segment cars.

The Indigo is clearly the Indica's twin, with its unmistakably identical lines. However, to distinguish the Indigo from its predecessor, Tata Engineering has added a few distinctive features such as the chrome-lipped bonnet grille and trapezoidal tail lamp and velour upholstery. Tata Engineering intends to keep the distinction and the forthcoming variants of the Indica will still not sport the new headlamp cluster, according to company officials.

Continuing with its focus on India-specific features, including the "bigger the better" motto, Tata Engineering has increased the dimensions of the Indigo. The company has opted to use the Indica diesel engine on the Indigo too. The diesel engine, to which Tata Engineering has added a turbo charger to improve the power, generates five bhp more than the Indica's. The new petrol engine, in turn, generates a respectable 85bhp. However, compared to the Indica's power to weight ratio, both the petrol and diesel variants of the Indigo will be lower. Tata Engineering has also raised the safety standards on the Indigo to meet the expectations of buyers in this segment.

The Indigo is built on a steel monocoque frame that has passed European standards of full frontal and offset frontal crash tests as well as endurance safety tests. It has also been fitted with a fire-preventing inertia switch which minimises fuel leakage during an accident.

Brakes feature nine-inch boosters to ensure safer braking, and even rear seats have been provided with seat belts. Other safety features include a collapsible steering wheel, side-impact beams and crumple zones.

The mid-size car buyer struck by "feature-philia" will not be able to fault the Indigo for want of more. However, the real test for Tata Engineering will be weaning away buyers from other C-segment cars, for want of a brand that is well known in this segment, compared to attracting the ambitious B-segment (Indica) buyer.

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