Indigo – The First Indian Sedan

Indigo – The First Indian Sedan

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As one of the leading indigenous automakers in India, Tata Engineering has been rapidly gearing up for the day when the market is fully opened to global competition. Liberalisation of the market, closed for decades, started only in the 1990s and most of the protected automakers have found it very challenging.

For Tata Engineering, the strategy has been to rely mainly on its own technology to face the new challenges and in the late 1990s, the company – which has been a leader in commercial vehicles in India – produced its own car called the Indica.

By most accounts, the Indica was well received in a market that has been seeing more and more variety from foreign automakers. The hatchback has gone into a second version with improvements and it must be pretty good because Rover has decided to buy Indicas and sell them as Rovers in the UK.

Now comes the second Tata passenger car, this time a sedan which is larger and signals the company’s entry into the midsized segment. Known as the Indigo (derived from ‘India on the Go’), it is proudly proclaimed as ‘India’s first sedan’.

Not unusually, the Indigo has a similar platform as the Indica and an all-new 3-link independent rear suspension system. In size, it is close to that of a Proton Iswara sedan with an exceptionally long wheelbase of 2450 mm which suggests a spacious cabin. It also has 14-inch wheels, still something special in India and certainly good for improving comfort on the roads there.

Buyers can choose either a petrol or diesel engine, both designed and manufactured by Tata Engineering at its huge factory complex in Pune, east of Mumbai. The petrol engine is a 1.4 litre unit with multipoint EFI and develops 62.5 kW/85 bhp and a torque of 107 Nm at 3000 rpm. The diesel is a turbocharged one – the only turbodiesel in its class – and from its 1.4 litres, it develops 62 bhp and 123 Nm of torque at 2500 rpm.

The company has said it will produce around 1,000 units a month and with this new model, they aim to offer more petrol-engined versions, unlike for the Indica which has 80% sales comprising diesel versions.

It is expected that like the Indica, the Indigo will eventually see sales outside India. Tata Engineering has already been exporting its light commercial vehicles to some southern European markets as well as having them assembled in Malaysia and exported to Australia.

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