Continued: Cars that are ‘Truly Indian’

Maruti Vitara Brezza

The Vitara Brezza is a very special car for India. Not only did it mark the entrance of India’s most loved brand into the compact SUV stage, but it was also one of the first Maruti car to have an Indian as the head of the product development team. So the Brezza is the first Maruti vehicle that was conceptualized, designed, developed and validated in India. Also, the car will be made in India for the export market as well. Because of this reason, the Brezza is on this list.

Tata Nano

 

The Tata Nano started off as a vision by Ratan Tata, to build a small car that was very affordable (Rs 1 lakh target). The project was headed by Mr. Girish Wagh who had to come up with innovative ways to design the new car and also make sure costs stay low. The designs were shortlisted in 2005 after which I.D.E.A refined the design and it was frozen in 2006. The vision behind the Nano was to shift those families who could only afford bikes to get cars. Because the vehicle was mostly developed in house, it is on the list.

Mahindra XUV500

The XUV500 marked a new start for M&M. The company, which was only known for making rugged ladder on frame vehicles made their first monocoque vehicle. An all new manufacturing strategy had to be adopted for the XUV. Most of the work for the XUV was also done in house at their facility in Chennai and Pune.

Mahindra Scorpio

The Scorpio was launched in 2002 to celebrate 50 years of existence of M&M. The vehicle was Mahindra’s first truly in house vehicle. It was designed and developed in house with inputs from AVL Austria and other consultants from Japan. Only 23 engineers worked on the development of the Scorpio to keep costs low. The fact that the Scorpio was developed completely in house sees it on our list here.

Mahindra Xylo

The Xylo was Mahindra’s second all new model after the Scorpio. Though the conceptualization happened in India, Mahindra used a lot of foreign consultants for the Xylo’s development. Lotus helped with the suspension tuning, AVL helped with the engine development, Stile Bertone helped with styling and MIRA helped with aerodynamics. The main aim for the Xylo project was to use the technical expertise of the suppliers and come up with innovations early on in the process so as to keep costs low and development times low as well.

Mahindra E2O

Like the original Reva, the E2O takes the game to a new level. Most of the development of the car took place in their design facility in Bangalore before they were bought over by Mahindra. Even now, Mahindra is the only car manufacturer to offer a full electric vehicle. The E2O has a lot going for it, sadly the high price is a deterrent for most consumers.

Mahindra KUV100

The KUV marked a new chapter in Mahindra’s company history. For the first time, they have come up with such a compact vehicle. This one is aimed purely at the youth. While conceptualizing the product, Mahindra got insight from the youth of the country who wanted to stand out out from the crowd, desire to have an outdoor lifestyle and want everything immediately. With that in mind, the KUV was built on an all new monocoque platform. It offers new smaller engines, both petrol and diesel. The total project cost was Rs 1000 crores.

Mahindra TUV300

The TUV or tough utility vehicle showed a new direction for the company interms of compact SUV’s. Most of the design and development of the TUV took place in house only. Pininfarina was chosen as a partner for help in design and engineering. A tank was used for inspiration of the TUV.

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