It was the star of the 1998 Delhi Auto Expo with Murasoli Maran, the then Industry Minister, proclaiming it as the Kohinoor of India.

Today, the Indica has bid adieu from the Indian market with its manufacturer, Tata Motors, finally deciding to slam the brakes on its production. The Indica’s numbers have been falling for many years now and there was really no point keeping it going.

Vision of Ratan Tata

Yet, this was the car that paved a new path for Tata Motors (which was then Telco) beyond the traditional route of making trucks. It was the vision of Ratan Tata, who had taken over as the Chairman of the Tata group in 1991, which made the Indica a reality.

He was, and continues to be, passionate about cars, and saw no reason why India could not make its own automobile which would do it proud. The economy had just opened its gates to investments from international carmakers, and big names such as Peugeot, Daewoo, General Motors, Fiat and Hyundai had announced their plans.

Yet, Ratan Tata was confident that the product he envisaged would more than hold its own in a market where Maruti was the leader. His vision was to create a car that offered the “internal volume of an Ambassador and the size of a Maruti Zen” while pricing it closer to the Maruti 800.

There was tremendous excitement, with people wondering what the Tata product would look like. And when it was unveiled at the Auto Expo, the crowds went wild. There were other big launches from Hyundai, Daewoo and Toyota, but the Indica was the showstopper.

First hatchback

It looked stylish and had a lot of space to offer. It also had a diesel engine, which was a first for a hatchback in the country.

There was no question that the competition was rattled, and it was hardly surprising that Maruti slashed prices of its 800 and Zen just prior to the Indica’s launch in end-December 1998.

The car had captured the imagination of the market and customers queued up for it. However, it was not too long thereafter that complaints began on its noisy engine and other quality issues. Sure, it was a great effort from a company which only made trucks, but sentiment was not going to help boost Indica sales.

With Maruti going into overdrive and Hyundai hitting the bull’s-eye with its Santro, the headwinds were just getting too strong for the Indica.

It soon became a part of the taxi segment, but the numbers continued to fall. Eventually, it had to bow out, carrying with it a treasure trove of memories.

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