Tata Indica was once a CityRover. *bad headline*

Well, what I meant was it isn't probably a great car to drive, unlike the Fiat cars. However, it does it job well and no wonder there are so many on the roads.

 

Point to consider is the cost of labour in UK. Labour is expensive and for fixing niggling issues, you need to shell out extensively. Spare cost and availability was also a problem. Combining these factors, that's a not so good to have car and once the problem comes us, the cost of ownership starts to shoot. So comparison between running an Indica here in India and in UK is totally not justifiable.

In addition to that, those guys have better roads and better cars long before us. So they feeling Indica to be substandard is just not a feeling, but because they are used to better products.

 

I have indica in home, and yes it throws some niggles here and there, but it wont let you down anywhere. Mine is pre-Xeta 1.4 Mpfi petrol.

Its almost 12 years old and covered 50K plus kms. We have covered pretty long distances in it, its very comfortable though not refined.

I still remember when I went to Puri in it and it rained heavily there almost submerging puri.
That was my first experience with driving in waterlogged conditions and indica didnt let me down.

 

Yes is is a very old news and the Topic header seems too much exaggerated.

If we consider the cars the Top Gear guys drive then defiantly they are bound to use words like rubbish and nonsense.
Honestly or like 6,000 pounds it is steep with Manual windows and cassette player.
Anyway I just couldn’t stop laughing after watching James May’s review on our very own Tata Indica.
No offense please and also please do not link this as Indian car getting beaten up by UK blokes, honeslty Tata is still a crude car to have but then Zest seems to change Indian's perception of Tata.

 

Yes Meples, I thought you might have meant that, just that I got a sudden urge to defend the humble 'Indica' for the record Thought that if it were that bad to drive there are still worst cars of previous generations even from the Fiat stable, which are not driveable on todays roads and conditions nor have great steering feedback. Its just that it is still practical and handles pot holes and undulations better than many other premium or cheaper cars. "Jolly good suspension" as the British would say.
But lets leave that aside since that is in my personal opinion. And opinions are largely subjective.

Like I mentioned before the problem was more with the pricing and perhaps the fact that it was essentially Indian (therefore cheap in various senses) though designed for India in Italy and also the fact that it has MG Rover badge too. It would probably do better if sold under Vauxhall. Really there are umpteen factors including the timing of launch and market maturity as is pointed out rightly or maybe more feature list and perfect pricing was needed. Also lets face it the body design has never been so appealing and lacked the something that only the Italians can churn out in design model after model. Besides I am glad that Tata never sold it under its own brand name in UK. Maybe Tata makes cheaper to buy cars but 'TATA' group is surely not so cheap.

 

Making cheap products yet buying iconic brands of repute. The bottomline is good somewhere atleast.

 

I find no offense in James May's statement. At the end of the day these guys are the ones who speak out of their heart and sheer experience of driving N number of cars from across the globe. We should accept the fact that the Tata Indica of that day and age was not at all competitive at least in the European markets. Indian market was a complete different story. We should be proud that with changing times, Tatas have evolved and have shown their will to grow with continuously developing their portfolio.