The Hindu Business Line : Tata Indigo XL: Stretching to please

The current raging debate in the world of fashion is on the stick-thin models who walk the ramp. Over-ambitious, anorexic women of the fashion industry have been in the news for all the wrong reasons the past few months. But what has all this got to do with the world of cars, you may ask?

Well, thankfully, the dreadful eating disorder hasn't affected the automotive industry's products. On the contrary, we Indians possibly have a touch of bulimia affecting even our expectations from the cars we buy.

We like our models to be big made... we mean the cars. And who knows this `bigger is better' weakness of Indians better than Tata Motors. Remember the spectacularly successful `More Car Per Car' ad campaign for the Indica.

With the tagline `we like to carry our world with us' for the Indigo Marina estate, Tata Motors again showed that it understood the Indian psyche well.

After all, we do seem to like to lug as much luggage as we possibly can be allowed by limitations such as boot space and airline check-in baggage allowance policies.

But clearly Tata Motors' success story with the Indica and the Indigo has not been merely because of their plus sizes, but because overall they represented great value for the buyer.

The company's latest model IndigoXL is just another example of Tata Motors' attempt at leveraging its ability to offer value to customers in various segments.

Even more car per car

The IndigoXL is a super-luxury-car-sized, premium-sedan-priced, long-wheelbase version of the Indigo, Tata Motors' existing entry-level sedan. Duh! Is the logic difficult to see? Why would anyone want to buy a so-called `stretch limo' variant of an entry-level sedan?

Look inside the IndigoXL and the air clears. The IndigoXL was originally an experimental long-wheelbase version that Tata Motors developed about a year ago. True to its previously successful strategy, the company has stuck to providing great value even in the new IndigoXL. Only this time, the target customer is different.

The IndigoXL is clearly targeted at customers who may be considering other premium sedans, such as the Honda City, the Hyundai Verna and the Ford Fiesta, which have fewer luxury features but a bigger brand name.

It also enables Tata Motors to gain from two other rub-off effects. One is that with the IndigoXL, the company now has an additional premium sedan option on the same platform as its existing entry-level sedan, enabling it to fill a gap in its product portfolio. For another, the `premiumness' image that the XL variant could help it gain would have a beneficial effect in improving the image of the entry-level sedan too, after all they share the same brand name.

The long and short of it

For the IndigoXL, Tata Motors' engineers worked to achieve a basic purpose. The wheelbase of the car should be stretched enough to offer the rear passenger ample legroom, currently not available, and frankly unthinkable, in the Rs 7-9 lakh price range.

So, the wheelbase of the Indigo has been extended from the current 2,450mm to 2,650mm, an additional 20 cm of space between the wheels, much of which has gone into dramatically improving the legroom in the rear.

With this wheelbase, the IndigoXL can take on the likes of the Toyota Corolla, the Skoda Octavia and the Hyundai Elantra.

Of course, with the longer wheelbase, the overall length of the IndigoXL is up a little more than commensurately, but the other dimensions of the entry-level sedan and the big brother stretch-limo (as Tata Motors calls it) continue to be similar, including the ground clearance of 165mm.

With the longer wheelbase, Tata Motors' engineers have managed to redesign the interior of the car to maximise rear legroom, so much so that even tall passengers (over six feet) will be able to comfortably stretch out their legs. The longer wheelbase has also meant that the car's chassis had to undergo a structural change, with better reinforcements for handling the increased weight and length.

The longer wheelbase has allowed for big rear doors that open wide, permitting easy access to the rear seat. The turning radius of the new IndigoXL, however, is only about 0.5 metres more than the sedan's 5 metres.

As much of the IndigoXL passengers will be chauffeur-driven kind, Tata Motors has softened the suspension set-up to improve the ride quality at the rear and offer a more muted ride .

The front suspension, which features McPherson strut and an anti-roll bar, also gets the addition of coil springs. The rear continues to have an independent 3-link McPherson strut with anti-roll bars. Overall ride quality, even on bad patches of road is quite good and almost on a par with the cars in the Rs 10-lakh-plus segment. The use of tubeless tyres, that remain 175/65 in size but now mounted on snazzy 14-inch alloys, has also helped in improving the ride quality.

From the outside, the IndigoXL is very clearly a stretch version of its entry-level sibling. The car also gets new, improved headlamps and tail-lamps with projection type clear-lens glass and a new layout for the tail-lamp cluster.

Well-made outside rear view mirrors with integrated turn indicators add to the uniqueness. Touches of chrome, new front grille and badging, and a better paint job round off the exteriors.

Choice of new engines

While the ride quality is good, the problem with the car's interior is the finish of dashboard panels and the ambient cabin noise levels. This brings us to the choice of engines that Tata Motors has made for the IndigoXL.

The IndigoXL is offered with new diesel and petrol engines, in keeping with the company's need to showcase the product's uniqueness and special positioning. Tata Motors has chosen to debut the 1.4-litre version of the Dicor, its nomenclature for a common rail direct injected diesel engine.

Using a Delphi 1600-bar pressure, common rail system, the 1,396cc Dicor diesel engine generates a maximum power of 70PS at 4,000rpm and a peak torque of 140Nm at 1,800rpm to 3,000rpm. The engine is teamed with a variable geometry turbocharger for better assistance during varying performance conditions.

Tata Motors has chosen this engine to give the IndigoXL a unique position vis-à-vis the other cars in the company's portfolio. However, for a car this size, the engine does feel underpowered and unrefined.

The Indigo's cab forward design has also meant that the lower refinement levels comes through in the form of higher cabin noise compared to the competition's cars.

While initial acceleration is good, thanks to a linear and adequate torque delivery, the new 1.4-litre engine's top-end power tends to taper off. Acceleration past the 110 kmph mark feels laboured. Cabin noise levels are lower during the idling cycle and during cruising.

The other engine that the IndigoXL is offered with is the similar sized, but new 1,396cc, 16-valve, twin-cam, MPFI petrol engine. Based on the same old XETA petrol engine, it now features 16 valves and a belt-drive system for improved refinement levels. The engine now puts out over 100 horses of peak power at a high 6,100rpm and a maximum torque of 124Nm at 3,500rpm. The original Indigo's petrol engine develops about 85PS of peak power in comparison.

The new 16-valve petrol engine definitely feels more refined, relatively speaking, compared to the 1.4-litre Dicor diesel. But, overall performance quality for a car, which is positioned as a luxury alternative, is still below expectations.

However, as has been the case in the past, Tata Motors will carry forward the learning from the new engines' experience in the IndigoXL for improving their performance in all its future vehicles. As for the on-road performance of these engines, the owners are not going to expect nerve-tingling performance as the car is meant to be largely a chauffeur-driven saloon.

Luxury versus refinement

To more than make up for the relatively lower refinement levels in the engine department and the interiors, Tata Motors has loaded the car with unique luxury car features that no other badge in this price bracket offers.

So, the IndigoXL buyer will get soft feel beige leather seats, a six-speaker, DVD player with twin headrest mounted LCD screens for rear passenger entertainment, anti-glare inner rear view mirror, trunk mounted power radio antenna, fake wood inserts on the dashboard centre console and door pads, new electronic instrument cluster, a car phone kit with a mobile handset, wireless blue tooth kit and roof mounted microphone to conduct hands free telephonic conversations and scuff plates for the front and rear doors.

Most of these features are found in E-segment cars, and though the finish quality of these features is not on a par with those in the higher priced segment, their very presence lifts the image of this Tata car immensely. The list can go on, with features such as six-way powered seats for driver and co-driver, rear air-con with dual floor vents and independent control for rear passengers, remote keyless entry, central locking, etc.

However, features such as anti-lock brakes and airbags are not currently on offer in the IndigoXL, something that the competition in this size segment will offer, at least as options.

Priced at Rs 7.7 lakh, the IndigoXL's value-for-money-cum-luxury-feel proposition is easy to see. Institutional buyers will find the combination irresistible, but weaning away brand-conscious individual buyers in this price segment will be a more difficult task for Tata Motors.

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