NEW DELHI: Home-grown automaker Tata Motors has stopped the production of its compact sedan Indigo and compact hatchback Indica impacted by low sales and stiff competition in the segment, according to a company executive close to the develoment.
However, the company will keep providing necessary after market service support to the owners of these two vehicles.
The development was further confirmed by a dealer in the north, who said, “The company has stopped the production of both the cars and it is now supplying the last few stocks of these cars”.
Moreover, the sales and production number released by industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) indicates the same.
Tata Motors sold 187,321 units in April 2018, posting a growth of 22 percent, compared to 153,151 units in the same period last year.
The growth was primarily achieved on the back of newly launched models like Nexon and Hexa as also the strong sales of compact hatchback Tiago. However, the sales of old products like Indigo and Indica were below par.
According to the data released by SIAM, the carmaker sold 2,583 units of Indica and 1,756 units of Indigo in the complete fiscal year 2018. However, there was no production and sales of both the cars in April 2018.
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When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson said, “With the changing market dynamics and the evolution of Tata Motors design language towards impactful design, we have decided to phase out the Indica and the Indigo eCS, a common phenomenon in a product lifecycle.
Launched in 1998, the Tata Indica has been the frontrunner of Tata Motors’ PV line-up. Establishing itself as a ‘coming of age car’ for India, the Indica has been a much loved and admired brand.
The Indica was followed by the Indigo launch in 2002. The Indigo too was received well in the PV market and had been appreciated for its compact design and spacious interiors.
The spokesperson said, “We will continue to serve our extended family of Indica and Indigo customers by providing them the necessary service support.”
The car project was close to the then chairman Ratan Tata’s scheme of things where he made the famous statement on the physical attributes of the Indica, under development.
He had revealed then when the car was under development that the car will have the dimensions of a Maruti Zen, the cabin size of an Ambassador and the fuel efficiency of a Maruti 800. He kept his word, and the car when it was launched was one of the bestsellers garnering over 1,00,000 bookings.
Kaushik Madhvan, Director – Automotive & Transportation, MENASA at Frost & Sullivan said, “Not really surprised. They were really old models and their popularity has reduced significantly over the past years. There are newer models with better features, safety and performance. In my opinion, it was just a matter of time before these were.phased out.”
Industry experts are of the view that the carmaker has lined up new product launches this year and next year. And looking at the current sales trend the carmaker will require more and more capacity to produce new products which generate volumes, rather, producing those which sell few units.