About the eGroup.

The Indica eGroups is a world-wide e-mailing list of people who own a Tata Indica or are interested in the car. It is not associated with or influenced by Telco, who manufacture the Indica. Many Telco personnel have joined this eGroup, however, as they find the online discussions to be valuable as feedback.

Anyone can join the eGroup for free -
just by sending an blank email to the address indica-users-SUBSCRIBE@eGroups.com

I started the eGroup since my wife and I were going to buy a Indica at that point of time and needed answers to our own (many) questions regarding the Indica. I realised that there was a significantly vast number of expectant would-be users like me out there who wanted to ask questions about this new car which redefined the price, size, looks and performance criteria for the small car buyer in India. I hosted the Tata Indica Users Group (TIUG) at http://www.egroups.com because it is simple to start a e-group there. The eGroup idea caught on fast with many people signing up from around the country to voice their opinions, tell others about their experience with their cars and discuss problems and solutions they were facing. A couple of curious Telco employees were among the first subscribers to this eGroup - their then Vice President (Corporate Affairs) and also the Product Manager for the Indica - and they realized very fast that here was a valuable first-hand source for customer feedback. Then, in a manner most uncharacteristic of an Indian company, Telco listened to the online exchanges, quietly using the customer opinions voiced in its boardrooms to formulate future product strategy. Most Indian companies faced with a similar situation would tried to disband the customer group, perceiving it as a threatening group of people. Telco didn't do this - and that is why it must be praised.

The egroup also provides e-alerts - reminders for service dates, insurance expiry dates and pollution check dates. It also provides free web-space [upto 20 MB] to all its members. It allows snap polls to be taken by Indica users nation-wide. Most importantly, the group provides a network of friends across India to the Indica user.

Now the eGroup has grown into a vibrant impartial forum for Indica users, advertised as a e-forum by Telco themselves. Members can ask about problems and get answers from across the world within minutes. Potential problems - typical with any new car - are caught right at the beginning in this unique feedback from the customer directly to the manufacturer.

The Indica Users eGroup is an wonderful example of how the Internet has become a means for interaction between people who may never see each other in their lifetimes but may help each other out several times in the course of a single morning. It is also perhaps an unique example of how a customer-manufacturer synergy may leverage a product better than the more usual customer-dealer-manufacturer relationship.