Tata Motors is among the highest selling auto brands in India, which has rolled out iconic cars such as the Sumo, Safari and Sierra, from its production line. Although the ambitious Nano missed out on carving out a niche market for itself among India's middle class, Tata has made electric mobility affordable as the country's EV seller. But one of its most successful models was India's first indigenous car the Indica, which was launched 25 years back.
Unveiled at the Auto Expo in 1998, Indica managed to sell 1.5 lakh units in its first year alone, as Indian families with a rising income sought a more sleek alternative to the Maruti 800. It was almost a decade after liberalisation, and Indica priced moderately at Rs 2.6 lakh with better mileage, also catered to the aspirations of a rising urban middle class.
To celebrate the silver jubilee of India's cherished hatchback, journalist Hormazd Sorabjee shared a picture with former Tata chief Ratan Tata. The picture was accompanied by a LinkedIn post, where Sorabjee reminisced about his experience of covering Indica's launch as a young journalist.
From a dome covering Tata Indica like an oyster hiding a pearl, to Ratan Tata's emotional speech, he describes each aspect of the iconic event.
In a dream run which lasted for 20 years till the Indica was discontinued in 2018, two more versions of the car, the V2 and Turbo also emerged. It sold almost 15 lakh units in two decades, before the new generation of Tata cars took over. It had even forced Maruti to slash the price of its Maruti 800 by Rs 30,000 back in 1998.
This year, Tata's EVs and concept cars attracting crowds at the Auto Expo 2023, were a reminder of the Indica launch described by Sorabjee.
