Industrialist, business tycoon and philanthropist Ratan Tata recently shared a picture of himself with the Tata Indica car on Instagram. With the picture, the former chairman of the Tata group celebrated 25 years of the launch of India’s first indigenously manufactured car. The hatchback from Tata Motors (then called Telco) was launched in India in 1998. Sharing details, he described the Tata Indica as the birth of India’s indigenous car industry, while also voicing his love for the car.
In his post, Ratan Tata wrote, “25 years ago, the launch of the Tata Indica was the birth of India’s indigenous passenger car industry. It brings back fond memories and holds a special place in my heart for me.”
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Tata Indica, launched in 1998, became a pioneer of the Indian car industry. It was a model that paved the way for many more cars to be launched by the company in the coming future. However, early models of the car were beset by a number of problems inherent in the manufacturing process. At that time, the company had experience in manufacturing heavy motor vehicles such as buses and trucks.
After implementing several changes, Telco relaunched the car as the Indica V2 (Version 2.0). This iteration of the car changed the future of the car by solving major quality and reliability issues. With these changes, the car created history with its impressive performance in the Indian market which continued for several years and completely changed the numbers on the sales charts.
The sales numbers were also complemented by the price of the car, which offered a good looking contemporary car with European vibes. In a statement to Business Standard, Ratan Tata once said, “It will be shaped like a Maruti Zen, with interior dimensions of an Ambassador and running costs of a diesel at the price of a Maruti 800,” while talking to Indica. about