Page 12 - Sands of Time Special Issue on Tata Motors Diamond Jubilee

12 VOL. XVII, ISSUE 2, 2020 VOL. XVII, ISSUE 2, 2020 13

n A CAR FOR ThE pEOpLE

FROM THE

COLLECTION

w the tata DKw car being inspected opposite Bombay house building. w J.r.D. tata and ratan n. tata at the launch of tata estate, 1992.
OF THE
tatas involvement in the and examination of the facilities of The design of the car was so up- A couple of decades later the leader, was there on July 26, 1988, TELCO launched two new passenger
manufacture of cars dates back Premier by the management of to-date there was no fear of model Government sought the advice of at Pune, to launch India’s first fully vehicles - the Tata Sierra in 1991
TATA CENTRAL ARCHIVES
to 1951 when J.R.D. Tata was in M/s. Porsche and Volkswagenwerk. changes for the next decade. Mr. Moolgaokar by inviting him on indigenous pickup - the Tatamobile. and the Estate Station Wagon
discussion with the management to the board of Maruti Udyog Ltd. The occasion also marked the known as Tata Estate in 1992.
of Volkswagenwerk (Volkswagen) However, the proposals did not In 1960, Mercedes-Benz pleased as a non-executive Chairman to get golden jubilee of J.R.D. Tata as Contemporary design, elegance
for manufacturing rights of their materialise. with the quality of production of the car out. Chairman of Tatas. and versatility were features of this
famous “People’s Car” or the their trucks at TELCO were willing vehicle which took the automobile
“Volkswagen”, as it was popularly Around the same time the partners to permit Tatas to manufacture the Years later on July 10, 1985 an On December 28, 1988, Ratan Tata, market by storm and it became a
known. According to the discussions, of TELCO, Daimler-Benz, had Mercedes-Benz 180 D model (the agreement was signed between took over as Chairman of TELCO fashion statement for the rich and
Volkswagenwerk was ready to grant acquired a controlling interest in D.K.W.) in India. Sumant Moolgaokar, Tadashi Kume, President of after Mr. Moolgaokar stepped down. the famous.
the Tatas the selling, assembly another German firm, Auto Union, the builder of TELCO, told R.M. Lala Honda and Mr. Moolgaokar for the
and manufacturing rights for the reputed manufacturers for over that in 1960, “I gave keys of six manufacture of cars. A decade Mr. Moolgaokar’s years of The market for automobiles was
“Volkswagen” in India, Pakistan, thirty years of the D.K.W. light car. Mercedes-Benz cars to K.B. Lal and later in 1994 a Joint Venture involvement with TELCO was best meanwhile growing exceedingly
Burma and Ceylon. They promised to A new model of this car was under told him that you use these six cars agreement was signed between summed up by Bobby Kooka, the competitive and the customer
provide the necessary assistance and production in Germany and the for one year and at the end of it you TELCO and Mercedes Benz AG for creator of the Air India mascot more demanding. To meet this
supervision to Tatas to undertake Auto Union had agreed to license can decide whether you want to give the assembly and manufacture of – the Maharaja, when he said: requirement, early in 1992,
the manufacture. Tatas were to TELCO the manufacture of this car at us the permission to manufacture E Class passenger cars in India. “lf Sumant ever wrote a book, it the second assembly line was
sell, assemble and manufacture Jamshedpur. This project was based it.” Moolgaokar added that one of Unfortunately, none of these would be on the love life of a turbo commissioned in Pune for special
these cars through an association on an output of 12,000 vehicles these cars was used by Krishna attempts materialised. engine.” purpose vehicles.
with Premier Automobiles. Further per year and also involved a capital Menon. A year later the six keys and
to this agreement, Tatas would expenditure of Rs. 14 crores. The cars were delivered back to Tatas. It The year 1988 was a watershed in The launch of Tatamobile 206 The Tata Sumo (named after
also have to enter into a separate car was priced at Rs. 6,950 ex- seems there was no reply from the TELCO’s history. Early that year, pickup truck in 1988 marked the Sumant Moolgaokar) was launched
agreement with M/s. Porsche and factory. government. Ratan Tata was appointed Executive entry of TELCO into the passenger from Pune in 1994. In 1998, Tata
Volkswagenwerk, if the military Deputy Chairman of TELCO, vehicle segment. While the 206 Safari – India’s first sports utility
version of the Volkswagen was A new model of this car was brought Out of 24 applications which the indicating a clear line of succession. was intended to be a load carrying vehicle was launched.
to be assembled, manufactured to India for the inspection of the government had received, the Ad Chairman Sumant Moolgaokar, who vehicle, it embodied the exterior
for Defence Authorities. In such a Committee and if the TELCO scheme Hoc Committee considered five was the celebrated architect of and interior finishes and handling The company’s ambition to launch
case, M/s. Porsche would then act was accepted the car would start which appeared viable. But it did not TELCO’s spectacular growth was akin to that of a car. The 206 was a full-fledged passenger car was
as consulting engineers to Tatas coming off the assembly line at make any specific recommendation battling with problems of health. particularly noteworthy as it was stuck in the bureaucratic tangle
and Premier in the development of Jamshedpur in about fifteen to in this regard. After sometime, the However, it was in the fitness of the outcome of a totally internal since 1950’s. This was finally
the motor industry in India. This eighteen months after the sanction government decided to manufacture things, Moolgaokar, who had always development programme in TELCO, accomplished with the advent of
agreement was subject to the visit had been given by the Government. the car in the public sector. kept TELCO in the slot of a market with no foreign collaboration. Indica in December 1998.

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