Normally, Indians are skinny, short and petite. Not my family, though. In my immediate and extended family, most of the men and women are tall, larger-than-normal sorts.
We excuse our podginess with the flimsy, but true, reasoning that we’re descendants of Sikh warriors and as such it’s perfectly normal to be larger than most people. Our size can quite logically be blamed on our lineage, it has absolutely nothing to do with our love for good food and our collective lack of willpower.
I was thus apprehensive about transporting said family around in a little Tata Indica, but was quite surprised. In its class, as an entry-level vehicle, the Indica has more space than most and four sizeable adults fitted into the car in relative comfort.
My test unit was the top-of-the-range 1,4Lxi which comes equipped with a rev counter, power steering, central locking, electric windows, aircon, ABS, two airbags, a radio/CD player, a seatbelt warning buzzer, full-size spare wheel and much more.
While I’m aware one can’t expect perfection for R87 500, Tata needs to improve on its build quality and reliability. In the recent JD Power and Associates survey, Tata was at the bottom of the list with a dismal score of 539 problems per 100 vehicles while the industry average is 242.