Ratan Tata says this moment holds a ‘special’ place in his heart

Ratan Tata said the birth of Tata Indic helped create a special place in his heart for himself. (Image credit: Ratan Tata/Instagram)

Ratan Tata on Sunday shared an emotional note on Instagram marking 25 years of the launch of India's first indigenous car -- Tata Indica.

Sharing a photo with an Indica, the veteran industrialist wrote, "Twenty five years ago, the launching of the Tata Indica was the birth of India’s indigenous passenger car industry. It brings back fond memories and has a special place in my heart for me."

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A dream project of Ratan Tata’s, Tata Indica has also been called one of the best "failures-turned-success moments in the business world".

In 1998, Tata Motors had launched Tata Indica but it failed to take off. Due to low sales, Tata Motors decided to sell off its fledgling car business within a year of its debut. Ratan Tata and his team flew to the United States to meet Bill Ford, who was then the chairman of Ford. The story goes that Tata was “humiliated” by Ford during this meeting.

Ratan Tata at the roll out of the Tata Indica in 1998. (Image credit: Tata.com)

The American businessman apparently said that Tata should never have entered the car manufacturing business. Recalling the incident during an event in 2015, Pravin Kadle, who was part of the team, said: “They told us 'you do not know anything, why did you start the passenger car division at all.”

Adding on to the story, Vedant Birla, Chairman of Birla Precision Technologies, had earlier recalled, “They didn’t arrive at any deal. The mortifying experience only made Ratan Tata more focused on his goals. Ratan Tata decided not to sell the production unit. What happened later is one of the best failures-turned-success moments in the business world."

Ratan Tata flew to US and had a long discussion with #BillFord, the then chairman of #Ford. It was a humiliating experience for Ratan Tata. Bill Ford made demeaning comments like why Tata set their foot in manufacturing without knowing anything about #car production. — Vedant Birla (@birla_vedant) June 2, 2022

Nine years later, things had changed for the Tatas, while Ford was on the verge of bankruptcy following the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008. That’s when Ratan Tata offered to buy two iconic brands of the Ford portfolio – Jaguar and Land Rover.

In June 2008, he completed the deal to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford in an all-cash deal of $2.3 billion.

Read more: Ratan Tata's 1945 pic with brother Jimmy Tata: 'Happy days'