Tata Indica - The Making Of The Small Car

In 1961, Telco produced its first crane in collaboration with M/s Pawling & Harnischfeger (P&H), U.S.A. In 1966, it acquired Investa Machine Tools Co and set up a machine tools division at Pune. In the same year, it started its Press Tool Division and vehicle manufacture facilities at Pimpri and Chinchwad (Pune). The first commercial vehicle was produced in 1977. In 1983, Telco started producing heavy commercial vehicles.

In 1986, the company rolled out its first light commercial vehicle - TATA 407 that had a completely indigenous design. In 1991, Telco produced indigenously - designed passenger cars - Tata Sierra and Tata Estate and in the same year it started its assembly and training plant at Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh). The product range of the company included passenger cars, heavy commercial vehicles, trucks and buses (Refer Table II).