Tata Pulls The Plug On Indica; 5 Facts About Tata Indica You Don’t Know!

Tata Indica, the supermini car manufactured by Tata Motors is history now.

Tata Motors has decided to finally pull the plug on this iconic car, as dwindling sales, and low demand made no sense to continue with it.

A Tata Motors Spokesperson said,

“With the changing market dynamics and the evolution of Tata Motors design language towards impactful design, we have decided to phase out the Indica and the Indigo eCS, a common phenomenon in a product lifecycle,”

Considering that Tata Motors’ new offerings such as Kite 5, Hexa crossover, Nexon, Pelican and more are about to hit the roads, it was finally the time to say goodbye to good ol’ Indica.

Anand Mahindra, CMD, Mahindra & Mahindra expressed his sadness, when he tweeted:

“I feel a tinge of sadness at the passing of the Indica. It was a ground-breaking project and an inspiration for local innovation.’’

As a tribute to this iconic supermini car, here we present 5 facts, which we bet you were not aware of!

1. Incredible Response

Tata Indica was launched in 1998 and branded as India’s first fully indigenous passenger car. The launch was a superhit, as more than 100,000 bookings were made in the first 24 hours of its launch. In a way, Tata Indica revived Tata Motors and established them as a solid brand in passenger cars. It was marketed as ‘coming of age car’ for India.

2. Maruti Ka Baap!

When the first look was unveiled during Auto-Expo 2008, on-lookers declared Indica as ‘‘Maruti ka baap’’! As per some insiders, the impact of Indica sales was such that the numbers helped Tata Motors to make a successful bid for JLR in 2012.

3. Ratan Tata’s Promise!

When Tata Indica was being designed, and its dimensions being finalized, then Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons, took a special interest. Indica was very close to him. Before the launch at Auto Expo 2008, he had famously said that

“Indica will have dimensions of a Maruti Zen, the cabin size of an Ambassador and the fuel efficiency of a Maruti 800.”

True to his words, he delivered on this promise.

4. Tata Indigo As Successor

Following Tata Indica’s massive success in 2008, Tata Motors launched Tata Indigo in 2002, which was again well received, and proved to be a big hit in passenger vehicle segment.

5. The End Was Inevitable

Sales of Tata Indica had reduced in later years. As per latest Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) numbers, only 2,583 units of Indica and 1,756 units of Indigo were sold in the fiscal year of 2018. Overall, Tata Motors sold 1,87,321 units of cars in the same period, which is an increase of 22% compared to last year.

Do you have any special memories of driving Tata Indica? Do let us know by commenting right here!