Should Tata Indica Sport be launched?

[islero]

Indica Sport is not a bad idea, but image will severly hamper its popularity. Unless they do an extensive redesign of the bodyshell, it might not be worth it going forward with this venture, as enthusiasts will anyway avoid it because Indica is a family car/taxicab that kinda thing.

[Mp421b]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

I thought that this engine already did duty on the Indigo!

Was talking about the new 1.4L with 100bhp.

[sujaylahiri]

Even though Tata sponsors Williams F1 team and Karthikeyan, they don't have any access to their technology. So don't be under the impression that Tata can incorporate some F1 technology into their cars because of their F1 association.

[nirav_j]

Originally Posted by islero

Indica Sport is not a bad idea, but image will severly hamper its popularity. Unless they do an extensive redesign of the bodyshell, it might not be worth it going forward with this venture, as enthusiasts will anyway avoid it because Indica is a family car/taxicab that kinda thing.

the only image tht comes to my mind when i see an indica is that of a call centre cab !!

i wouldnt want to own a sporty taxi .... tats for sure

[hell_rider]

Originally Posted by salilpawar1

Tata has all the resources with its partnership with Williams F1 and Narain Karthikeyan....

"Partnership" with Williams F1 ???? i don't think it goes anywhere beyond sponsorship. in practical terms at least. never mind what the agreement might say on paper.

[salilpawar1]

Originally Posted by Mpower

The first problem is that TATA Indica does not have a sporty image so its going to meet the same fate as Hyundai trying to rub shoulders with Skoda and Mercs.

2nd prob is FE. People on low budget also have tight fuel budgets so its going to be a tough sell....but TATA is known to pull miracles, so lets wish them all the best and wait for the car.

People.... You are not getting my point....
See the Indica is quite a versatile platform. A redesign can take care of its image problem. Since FIAT is facing a problem in selling Palios. Tata can incorporate the awesome 1.6litre engine of the palio, or its own soon-to-be-launched 1.4litre 100 bhp unit and with some professional help from Indian tuners like J Anand and N Leelakrishnan (if not Williams F1) or may be even teambhpians, we can easily have a true blue Indian hot hatch.

[.anshuman]

its of no use for tata to launch the indica sport,they should first try to concentrate on how to tackle the diesel competition thats coming from other manufacturers.

[salilpawar1]

If not the Indica sport, can we expect something based on the Aria Coupe featured way back....

[Harrie]

My Indica Petrol has 75 bhp. A good head job should give it 10-15 bhp more. A free flow, cold air intake plus little tweaking of the ECU should get the power to 100 bhp. No big sweat making the indica hot hatch in terms of power. But the driving posistion spoils all the fun. It can never be a true hot hatch with that tall driving posistion.

[salilpawar1]

the driving posn of the indica is not that bad...considering all modern cars have city friendly tall seating positions for ease of ingress/egress.

Here is a pic of the indica sport. sorry for the poor pic quality

[salilpawar1]

Now that the Indica has improved a lot in the course of time and the 100 BHP engine already out in the Indigo... does this proposition make sense now??

[hydrashok]

For an Indica sport to work, IMHO:

1) It should not be called an Indica.
2) It must not look anything like an Indica.
3) Its name should not begin with Indi...

I guess a totally new car would be what we're looking at, right?

EDIT: Hmmm... very old thread. But what I said would still stand true.

[salilpawar1]

Ok I once again read this whole thread again... and this is what I have realised about the general perception of most of you guys here as follows:

1) People say that Indica never had a sporty image
So what... Zen, Esteem, Baleno, OHC (before Vtec was launched) did not have a *sporty* image originally. Zens and Esteems and Balenos never had any *dragster* image and Maruti never manufactured them with the intention that they could be modded and raced on drag strips...

2)Indica is still not a sorted out vehicle
I personally feel that Indica as of now is atleast 90% sorted out (in the Indian context). I guess the only major problem is the build quality but it is indeed showing some positive improvement off late...

3)Indica is basically a cab in India
The new Indica looks much different than the Indicabs now. Tata has ensured that they look as different as possible...

4)Indica sport (featured in the pic) is all show no go
It is not exactly all show no go. In 2002, when it was displayed it had an engine which was giving an output (85 bhp) which was more than the current output at that time (75 bhp). So at least theoritically, it had a performance edge over other omnipresent Indicas. In 5 years, the market has matured drastically and *all show no go* variants hardly sell these days (e.g. Chevy SRV, Lancer Cedia) So a 100 BHP indica is definitely a must.

5)Swift 1.3 will be a better choice
But a sport Indica will be atleast 50,000 to a lakh Rs. cheaper than the top of the line Swift and will leave a lot of extra cash to soup up for those on a budget....LOL!!

I don't say that I am 100% correct but I think my thoughts are very much valid.....

[salilpawar1]

Read this old article......
tata.com : Indica @ 180 kmph

[grvanand]

I dont see any point in putting Fiat 1.6 engine in Indica. Palio is a lot better car than Indica and Palio 1.6 doesnt suffer any Image Problem in anybodys minds w.r.t. it being hot hatch. Since Tata & Fiat have collaborated, it would be better if the hot hatch is Palio and basic car be Indica. IMO, this would be a better product differentiation and both could co-exist even though they belong to the same segment.
As for competition to Palio 1.6, I would like to see a Swift with 1.6 engine. Thats some doing.