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They are the face of cheap cars in India, and with the advent of the Nano they’ve pretty much become the face of cheap cars all over the world. Well I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, don’t get me wrong the Nano is an achievement; nobody thought that that cheap a car could be made. And the car does look complete, it’s yet to be seen but at least it doesn’t look like parts of it are going to fall off. But after the acquisition of Jaguar and Land rover I think it’s high time the company redid some of its core processes.
Pick up any car magazine and read the review of any car that’s been made by Tata, the Indica, the Indigo etc., almost all of them will say the exact same thing in the for and against column. For: Good Mileage, Reliable, cheap, low maintenance and in the against: looks, build quality. And that’s where I think Tata’s main problem lies it’s not a car that people look to and say it’s a great car so I’ll buy it, it’s the car that everybody seems to settle for, I can’t buy any other car so I’ll buy a Tata.
But now I think it’s high time they changed that image, this is now a company that owns high premium brands like Jaguar and Land Rover. With these acquisitions the company must back itself and take that leap of faith to make expensive high quality cars that everyone knows it’s capable of making.
We are a country that I believe is intellectually one of the best in the world (if not THE best) and shouldn’t an Indian company then challenge automotive boundaries and make some sensational cars. And it’s not something totally new for them either let’s face it the Nano is an engineering marvel, it challenged a boundary and achieved it, now that that’s done its time for new ones. I mean statistically the company is great, it’s like the Indian cricket team was years ago, statistically brilliant but yet they looked domestic and docile, like they shiver at the sight of tall white Australian men. Then came along a bunch of young brats with barely any stats but with loads of attitude and finally some balls and they kicked ass. You are now owners of premium cars brands like Jaguar and Land Rover how many companies can say that, so it’s time to take that leap of faith, make India’s first sports car, make it calm and docile in the city streets and a monster when it reaches an empty stretch, make a premium quality car, a luxury car and please not one that look like the Indica, let’s face it that’s not exactly a good looking car in itself and copies of that with a boot ain't gonna look good either. Face it you’re not Porsche for you to be replicating the same design over and over again (and also note that Porsches are not exactly noted for their design either). Oh that brings me to my most important suggestion: try a new design, radical ones that’ll take your breath away, in the right way.
And I’m glad to say that I see a move in the right direction with the Sumo Grande, it’s a HUGE step up from the older car. Fantastic, but it’s just the starting step we need to see a lot more of these improvements.
