Tata Indica Production Comes To An End

The Tata Indica was launched in 1998 amidst much fanfare and announced the arrival of Tata Motors in the passenger car segment. A utility vehicle maker till then, Tata had a reputation for making tough commercial and passenger vehicles and the Indica added a sense of style and European chic to the lineup. With lakhs of Indicas sold over the span of its 20 year life time, the Indica went through many avatars, including the V2, the Turbo and later, even a major midlife facelift. But with the likes of the Tata Tiago taking over the mantle, the Indica found negligible takers. And now, after a long and iconic journey, production of the hatchback has finally been wound down.

(The Indica was launched in 1998, serving strongly for Tata Motors over the past 20 years)

Waning popularity of the Tata Indica meant that the car sold just 2583 units in FY 2017-18. Launched in 1998 at the Geneva Motor Show, the car quickly became very popular with Indian audiences getting over 1.15 lakh bookings in a matter of weeks. The car remained essentially unchanged - apart from some add-on body panels until a new model, the Indica Vista was launched in 2008. While the Vista was a brand new car, it continued with the Indica name, probably one of the reasons why the car never managed to do as well as the original Indica as most buyers had a bit of a perception issue.

Apart from the Indica, the Indigo compact sedan, or the Tata Indigo eCS has also been axed. The Indigo eCS clocked just 1756 units - mainly commercial vehicles like radio taxis. Overall though, in FY 2018, Tata Motors showcased one of its largest growths in recent years at 22 per cent up from 1.53 lakh units to 1.87 lakh units. This of course was helped by the likes of the Tiago, Tigor and of course, the new subcompact SUV, the Nexon.