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Tata’s chop job!
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After the Nano, Tata Motors now gives us the world’s cheapest saloon with 162mm taken off the regular Indigo’s boot. Hormazd Sorabjee reports
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Tata promised the world a car that would cost Rs. 1 lakh and it gave the world just that. Owing to media hype, every corner of the world is now aware that the Tata Nano is the cheapest car on the planet. Now, following the Nano hysteria, Tata has once again launched the cheapest-of-its-kind product, the Tata Indigo CS (Compact Saloon); this is the cheapest saloon in the world. With a splendid, tempting price tag of just Rs 3,79,000 (ex-showroom Mumbai) for the base model, the new CS is a remarkable Rs 91,220 cheaper than the regular Indigo’s base variant. In fact, the regular Indigo will continue to be produced and sold alongside the CS.
Advantage customers
In a clever move, Tata has placed the CS in hatchback-land therefore, created its own spot for it in the market. The new Indigo was launched at the Auto Expo held at Delhi in February this year. Owing to the chop of boot, the Indigo CS qualifies as a small car and therefore it can take advantages of the small car regulations that specify that if a car is less than four metres in length, it gets an eight per cent tax reduction. The Indigo CS is 3988mm long and can benefit from this regulation. The upside is that Tata was generous enough to pass on this financial advantage to the customer. And in a market where the customer is value-conscious and prioritises value-for-money over most parameters, getting the price right is highly imperative for any manufacturer.
The first time we heard rumours of the fact that Tata was going to chop the boot off the regular Indigo and make it smaller was around a year ago. Actual work on the Compact Saloon only started soon after the Indigo XL was conceived. And logically, it all makes sense; if a car can be stretched and go from being a regular Indigo to a more luxurious Indigo XL, then a car can also be cut a little and made shorter into the Indigo CS. Besides, Tata’s engineers have squeezed any iteration possible out of this platform over the last decade; so why not even alter the car and change its size to fit different needs. It is a smart thing to do and it works.
The Tata Indigo CS was in development stages for a year. The most time was taken in developing the dyes that came all the way from Ogihara in Japan; these are considered to be the best dye-makers in the world. The dyes were used to stamp the stubby boot and side fenders, the only body panels that are new. Speaking of new, the sharply-cut tail lights on the Indigo CS are also a new feature and the rest of it remains pretty much like the regular Indigo even the rear glass on both is the same.
The chopping of the boot has resulted in a remarkable improvement in the looks department of the Indigo. The styling has made such a difference that the CS looks several times better than the regular Indigo. The boot and large overhang of the old Indigo seemed quite disproportionate and did not flow smoothly with the rest of the car’s body. When the boot got chopped, this awkwardness also was removed improving the look of the car tremendously. The new compact boot suits the car and this one difference in style had helped the Indigo move generations ahead stylistically even though most of the car remains the same.
Exciting makeover The Indigo looks much better after trimming of the boot
However, it’s all very nice for the style quotient to have the boot chopped off, but how does this 162mm reduction affect boot space? Not too badly. The CS still has a very useful 380litres of boot space and this is still more than other hatchbacks! And at a pinch, you can flip down the back seat.
Slight difference
Get down to driving and there’s little difference between the CS and regular Indigo. For sure, the shorter boot makes it easier to park but the 25kg the Indigo has shed don’t add up to any discernible improvement in performance in the CS. However, the CS feels tauter and handles better than before. But these improvements are not specific to just the CS but the Indigo in general which is constantly being massaged to keep it in the game. The diesel CS comes with only the TDi motor (the DiCOR being reserved for the bigger Indigos). It’s reasonably peppy and at cruising speeds pretty muted as well.
However it does have drawbacks too; the poor build and rickety interior trim, a perennial problem with the Indigo, bring us right back to earth at speed. The driving experience isn’t thrilling either and you can’t escape the general lack of refinement that screams from every nut and bolt. However, let’s not forget the most important thing here; given the fact that you are getting the cheapest saloon in the world; these small issues are definitely easy to overlook.
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