Tata Motors working on Datsun Go and WagonR rival?

For people not in the know,Tata Motors has shelved its plans of launching the Nano diesel - a project that it had been working on for quite a long time. The company had to take this decision due to high diesel prices and rising interest for petrol cars in India. The company has spent a lot of money and effort into developing the Nano diesel, but the product has become commercially unviable for the Indian market.

If reports are to be believed, Tata Motors has now shifted its focus on developing an all-new small car, rumoured to be based on the Indica platform 'XO', which will compete against the likes of Maruti WagonR and Datsun Go. This according to me is a much better option than launching a more expensive version of the Nano, which even at the existing price is struggling to get buyers.

Since the XO platform is already in use (Indica eV2), developing a small car on the same won't cost much to the company. In fact, the company might use the engine-transmission combination from the eV2 as well - 1.4-litre 8 valve, TDi diesel unit and the 1.2-litre 8V petrol that will also be offered with a CNG option. Crucially, none of the rival companies currently have diesel engined powered hatchbacks in the 3-4 lakh price bracket, so, having a diesel model might work in favour of Tata.

Pricing, too, should not be a problem as the company is already selling the Indica eV2 at Rs 4.09 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) which also has a CNG kit. To put that in perspective, fitting an after-market quality CNG kit costs to the tune of Rs 40,000-50,000. So, without CNG kit, the company will easily be able to price the Indica based small car between Rs 3-3.5 lakh.

Size and space was never an issue with the Indica. The eV2 is a fairly big hatch measuring in at 3690mm length, 1665mm width and 1485mm height. So, a new car with almost same dimensions will be as big as the Datsun Go - which currently is the most spacious vehicle in its league.