A hit at the launch but eyes will now be on performance.

By Sudeep Chakravarti

By now, you've probably read about, and seen on TV, the near stampede at the launch of the Tata Small Car (TSC) in Delhi last week. The crowd was so packed that TELCO chairman Ratan Tata -- who still hasn't confirmed a name for the car -- had to practically push his way through with the chief guest, Union Industry Minister Murasoli Maran. It has also probably struck you that Maran, who waxed super-eloquent about TELCO's efforts -- "... this historic moment ... this is the Koh-i-Noor of India" -- was inaugurating quite possibly the first real competition that market leader Maruti Udyog -- which controls over 80 per cent of the market -- and its best-selling 800 model, will face.

Tata is surely hoping the irony won't be lost in the marketplace; Maran, after all, has been closely involved in Maruti's affairs for over a year. As the stretched, sleeker version of Maruti's Zen emerged from a geodesic dome, waves of laser washing over the audience, the executive director of a major automotive organisation looked at the TSC and drew a finger across his throat: "If they deliver this car at the price they are saying, the rest have had it."

And there lies the big mystery. Can the TSC pull it off? For two years now, Tata has played the 100 per cent Made in India hype superbly. Is it called the Indica or the Mint? It will be priced like the 800, be bigger than the Zen, be roomy like the Ambassador and have the running cost of a diesel car. The largest investment for a single model ever, at Rs 1,700 crore. Taking a few select journalists on a spin but blacking out all news about the so-called Maruti beater. Tata, however, is equally good at the nitty-gritty. "The competition will be pretty fierce," he says. "And we'll have to face it."

Tata plans to face it with features that his team feels are hard to beat. At about Rs 3 lakh, the car also plans to take on the Maruti 800 and Zen in power and size, and undercut the moves of Daewoo Motors, which plans to launch D'arts, and Hyundai, the Atos, with the current advantage of vastly depreciated Korean currency making imports cheaper. This is the key growth segment in the presently depressed market, accounting for a majority of car sales. Tata says he is looking at 60,000 cars a year sales to break even within two years of commercial production beginning end-'98, and then cap it with a facility that can churn out up to two lakh cars a year. For the TSC, he plans a separate dealer and service network, as well as splash marketing. "For us, the customer is not a guinea pig," says Tata, suggesting the TSC will hit the roads glitch-free -- car, spares and service.

But the drive could be a rough one because the competition isn't in a mood to let Tata pass, and he knows it. Daewoo Managing Director S.G. Awasthi murmured "good, good" at the launch but knows where he's headed. "We've only just begun testing the waters."

And at the Maruti stall, Managing Director R.S.S.L.N. Bhaskarudu had already put the TELCO launch behind him and was looking straight ahead. "Outwardly, I must say the car's looking good," he allowed. "But let's see what the marketplace decides. Besides, competition makes us work harder to stay ahead." Outside, speakers blare a new company song, about the Maruti 800: "... it was a sensation, it caught the mood of the nation ..." When it's time for a reprise, Tata will try to ensure he plays the tune.

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