Tata Engineering’s new sedan named Indigo

Mumbai: Tata Engineering has announced that its new offering, a mid-size sedan targeted at the hugely competitive C segment, will be called Indigo. The product is likely to hit the roads by the end of 2002.

According to the company, the car derives its name from the words ‘India’ and ‘Go,’ symbolising a nation on the move, and is aimed at Indians on the go, intending to make a purposeful statement.

Tata Engineering vice-president (sales and marketing - passenger car business unit) Rajiv Dube says the name Indigo invokes a sense of patriotism like Indica, which itself has created a strongest brand value in the country. “While we do not want to lose the brand equity of our first car we also want to convey a sense of progression through our contemporary sedan, and thus the company chose the name Indigo.”

Tata Indigo is designed to be the most spacious and comfortable sedan in its segment with class-leading ride and handling characteristics. Powered by an 85bhp petrol and a 62bhp turbo-diesel engine, the new car will have a large 500 litres of trunk space and 42 litres of fuel tank capacity. In addition the Indigo is likely to be fitted with a 1.4-litre engine as indicated by the company at the Auto Expo 2002.

While the price of the car has not been announced by the company Tata Engineering executive director (passenger car business unit and engineering research centre) V Sumantran indicated at a press briefing that it would be competitively priced. Analysts expect the car to be priced in the Rs 5-6-lakh range, as most cars in the C segment are priced at these levels.

As the current trends show a shift in passenger preference towards the lower end of the market, the company sees a number of top-end consumers shifting to the C segment in the future.
Says Dube: “We do believe that our entry will revive interest in the segment.”

The company has invested Rs 350 crore for its new projects in the passenger car unit. Prototypes of the car are currently undergoing testing at the company’s facilities in Pune and at international test facilities in the UK.

The Indigo will compete in the crowded lower C segment with Hyundai’s Accent, Ford Ikon, Fiat Siena, Opel Corsa and the Maruti Esteem. The C segment currently accounts for sales of around 3,000 units per month, with the Accent leading the race, followed closely by the Esteem and the Ikon.

In the months to come the battle for the mid-size segment is expected to intensify with Maruti launching a diesel-power version of the Esteem, while at the same effecting improvements on its present petrol offering. Hyundai is also getting ready to come out with an estate version of the Accent towards the yearend.

Telco is also planning to follow up the Indigo’s launch with the Indica Sport, a sportier version of the car, by the end of 2002. The estate version of the Indica will subsequently be rolled out early next year. Sumantran says the company expects to produce around 1,000 Indigos a month, in addition to 6,500 units of the Indica.

Dube says the Indigo will be an extension of the Indica line with the value proposition of “more car per car,” the Indica’s baseline. The Indigo will be sold through the existing Indica dealerships that are at present being beefed up to handle the sedan’s clientele.

Auto analysts expect the diesel version of the car to sell more than the petrol version initially, as Telco is yet to make headway in the petrol segment of passenger cars.

Sumantran says his company is also looking at significant Indigo export volumes. So far, Telco has exported limited volumes of the Indica to Italy, Malta and Bangladesh. It is expecting a surge in export volumes in future, once the Euro-III petrol version is ready.

Tata Engineering, which sold about 89,000 passenger cars (including utility vehicles like the Sumo and the Safari) last year, hopes to exceed 1,00,000 units this fiscal, including the Indigo.