Once upon a time, back in the 80s, in the Indian market, there used to be one small family car:The Maruti 800.And although the Tatas were busy making trucks and other heavy vehichles they also had their sights set on the small car market, which was among the largest in the world.ca 1999: Enter the Indica, India’s first indigeniously designed car.The Tatas attempt at capturing the small car market.Except it didn’t, although it was targeted at the small car market, the 900 kgs of heavy steel chasis meant that the engine would never be able to provide the mileage or pickup that small car owners sought, and so the Indica was usuped by taxi operators .On the other hand, the very roomy interiors does impress any small car buyer.That and the fact that the car has an excellent suspension in the ’’Block Shock Absorbers’’ could seduce any buyer in its favor.If not for anything else, the Indica scores brilliantly for being an indigeniously developed vehichle.It is mere coincidence that the grille so much resmbles the Peugeuot 509.
What the Indica loses out on is refinement.If you are thinking of buying this car for your family, the Maruti 800 had a lot more refinement.You see the 800 is What-you-see-is-what-you-get unpretentious little car.The Tata Indica is...well....to put it a bit bleakly, a Tata truck with glamorized exteriors.The seating, the ergonomics, the noise level, all desire refinement.Not a problem if you intend to use the vehichle for commercial purposes especially in view of the low total cost of ownership.But if space and price are your sole criteria, the HM ambassador probably has better refinement.With competition steaming up, what with the Opel Sails, Palios and hopefully the Civic soon, the Tatas did come out with improved cabin ergonomics and acoustics recently but the seats are still a sore spot.
All in all, I would rate this vehichle thus:
Aesthetics
Exteriors[Grille, Headlamps, Rear tail lamp cluster]: 4.5/5
Interiors[Cabin environment Noise, finish, upholstery, dashboard]: 2/5
Ergonomics
Steering: 3/5
Gearshift:3.5/5
Seating[Comfort, Durability, :1/5
Windows[Powered, Visibility, tinted etc.]:4/5
Safety
Advanced Safety features:[Anti Collision detector, ABS Airbags, Fire retarding sytems, centrally located fuel tank etc.]:0/5
Chasis: 4/5
Stability:3.5/5