Being one of the carmakers which are successful not only in the domestic market but also in the international one, Tata Motors has manufactured and launched many cars in almost all segments of the Indian auto market. While some did well, others recorded a poor sales number, which made it soon be forgotten. Below is the list of 10 Tata automobiles which have been forgotten in India.
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The Tata Sierra came with three doors, a large glass area in the rear and a 4WD system on the top variant. As regards the interior, it was packed with class-leading features which make it outstanding from other SUVs at its time. Despite being one of the first proper SUVs to be available in India, the Sierra never gained much popularity with the Indian car buyers. The reason was that for a price-conscious car market like India, few buyers wanted to spend such a huge amount of money on a car which is so unique, unusual and not really necessary.
The Tata Sierra is one of the much missed Tata cars in India.
Tata has penetrated into many segments in India, including the estate one with one station wagon, the Tata Estate. While the Estate has many similar aesthetic and mechanical elements to the Sierra, its exterior design has been said to be inspired by the station wagons produced by Mercedes Benz in 1980s. It is no wonder because the home-grown auto manufacturer used to assemble Mercedes Benz cars before the latter made a decision to produce their vehicles independently. Like the Sierra, the Estate never did a good job in India, just like all other wagons in India.
The Tata Estate was one of may station wagons to record a failure in its sales in India.
Actually, many other Tata vehicles like the Tata Sierra and Estate are based on the Tata Mobile pickup truck. It was powered by a 2-litre non-turbo diesel motor which can produce a maximum power of 68 bhp. Targeted for individual usage, the Tata Mobile soon became a sales failure. The reasons were that people who usually needed to transport goods preferred a Tata 407 and those who only used a pick-up truck on an occasional basis would rather hire one.
The Tata Monile was another vehicle which was never popular with the Indian auto buyers.
You may be not familiar with a Tata Safari petrol. But it was available around 20 years ago in India. The SUV received its power from a 2-litre petrol motor with 135 bhp which lends it a remarkable sprinting ability. However, this had to be sacrificed with fuel mileage, which led the potential customers to be more interested in the far more fuel-efficient 2-litre TCIC diesel. For this reason, the Safari Petrol was enlisted in the Tata’s cars which never took off in India.
Due to the low fuel mileage, the Tata Safari Petrol fails to gain the interest from the Indian buyers.
Have you ever heard that the Tata Safari once borrowed its motor from the 407 pickup truck? In 2022, when the Scorpio was launched, Tata decided to equip its flagship USV with a powerful diesel engine and a common rail fuel injection. Then, the Safari made its launch with such an engine. Nearly a year later, it was discovered by Tata that the equal power and torque output could also be generated by a 2.2-litre engine. The 3.0 DICOR was then transferred to commercial usage, so the Safari which comes with this engine also became a failure.
The Tata Safari failed to do well in the Indian auto market, which soon led it to be forgotten.
After the Estate’s failure, Tata tried to penetrate into the estate segment again with the launch of a station wagon, the Indigo Marina, some years later. Underpinned by the lengthened Indica platform, this vehicle is an amber wagon, which even used to serve as the means of transport for Ratan Tata’s dog. Nevertheless, like other station wagons, the Indigo Marina, soon became a sales failure.
The Tata Indigo Marina is another unsuccessful station wagon in India.
Tata did not hesitate to experiment with its cars. Even after the failure of the Indigo Marina supported by the India platform, another Indigo which was also underpinned by this platform was launched in India, the Indigo XL. Spacious legroom and a roomy cabin are two of the USPs of this vehicle. At that time, the Indigo XL was popular with cab segment but could not attract personal car buyers, which partially led to a low sales number of the car in India.
The Tata Indigo XL was discontinued, due to its lack of popularity with individual owners.
Launched in 2010, the Indigo Manza was meant to be a more premium fashionable alternative to the Indigo XL. Keeping under its hood both petrol and diesel motor options with a Fiat Multijet diesel motor which can generate 90 Bhp against 200 Nm, the Manza was a breakthrough by Tata in terms of quality. With an aggressive price range, it was expected to pose a direct threat to the Honda City and the Hyundai Verna, etc. The car was warmly welcomed by the cab segment, but low sales in the individual ownership made the domestic auto manufacturer have no choice but to shelve the production of the vehicle.
The Tata Indigo Manza could not appeal to the personal customers, which led to its discontinuation.
Being a canvas top vehicle, a very different vehicle type from Tata, the Spacio is a very rare vehicle. Based on the Tata Sumo, the Spacio 3.0 existed in the early 2000s. It received its power from a 3.0-litre DI diesel motor borrowed from the Tata 407. Only a canvas top can handle this engine’s prodigious low-end grunt and flexibility. However, Tata suddenly stopped the production of this vehicle, which put an end to its presence on Indian roads.
The Tata Spacio's production was suddently stopped.
The Tata Bolt was based on the Indica Vista, but actually, it was a refreshed version with an upgraded exterior design with brand-new headlamps and taillights. The interior was also modified to be much better than that of the Vista. Tata has also improved the overall quality of the car by equipping it with the airbags and Bolt gaining ABS. Despite all the improvements, the Bold failed to attract customers to its dealerships. Although the car is still on sale, so many Indian car users have forgotten it that it is rarely seen on the roads now.
Despite still being put on sale now, the Tata Bold has already been forgotten by most of the Indian auto buyers.
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Above is a list of the 10 forgotten Tata cars in the Indian auto market. In your opinion, which vehicle is the most regretful? Share with us in the comment section below.