When Telco first unveiled its pert li'l Indica some four years ago, the fact about the IDeA Institute-designed hatch was that it was always going to spawn a host of variants based on its floorpan. While Fiat's similarly styled Project 178 family was also conceived by IDeA, it took no real genius to see that Telco's Project MINT could be expected to add saloon and estate car versions to its fold. That Telco decided to explore yet another route, albeit a most welcome one, with the Aria cabrio and coupe concepts showed the versatility of the basic Indica platform.

And it is on just such an Indica platform, lengthened to a certain degree, on which is based its as yet unnamed sedan. Tata Engineering chairman Ratan Tata did the honours and pulled the wraps off the new car to an appreciative audience assembled at Telco's stall in Hall 11 at the Pragati Maidan even though production versions will only begin rolling off the company's impressive manufacturing facility in Pune sometime in the last quarter of the year.

"The car, to be positioned in the growing mid-size (Rs 5-6 lakh) segment, would be launched by September this year," informed Ratan Tata. "This will be the first of the new variants that will be built on the Indica platform. We have plans to have a turbo-diesel and other engines on the car also. We hope that the sedan will be preferred by consumers who want trunk space in their cars," he added in his opening address.

The key to the new sedan is not just a boot tagged onto the basic Indica hatchback but it also includes an important 50mm extension of the Indica's 2400mm wheelbase so as to make for more cabin space and legroom which are prerequisites for a saloon of its class. This exercise is exactly similar to what Ford did to the floorpan of the previous generation Fiesta to come up with its C195 project which we all know of today as the Ikon.

While the exterior style is not unfamiliar, the way the boot has been grafted on is better integrated than on the present-day Siena and there is some character on the boot though detailing could have been better conceptualised. The most distinctive part of the slightly tallish rear deck concerns the large trapezoidal tail lamps. The rub rails on the bumpers (both front and rear) and on the sides lend a good balance to the overall stance which is also further helped by the wheel wells being filled up, to a degree, by the larger 14-inch tyres.

The interior treatment is all new and the lessons learnt with the Indica have obviously helped Telco's engineers and packaging specialists to come up with a better optimised ergonomic package. The rear seat is the most improved of the lot with a better recline angle to the back and a better seat squab. If that is not all, the new three-link suspension at the rear should endow the sedan with better ride quality and improved body control.

Mechanically, the sedan gets the same 1405cc four-cylinder engines in both petrol and diesel forms but since the requirements of a sedan call for more power and torque, this requirement has been addressed by Telco. The petrol engine has a revised new chip in the EMS and mods to the intake and exhaust ports which not only bumps output to 85bhp but is also ready for Euro III compliance. The diesel gets a KKK turbocharger but no intercooler and this helps boost the output to 60bhp while torque registers an even greater hike to 122.63Nm. Of course gear ratios have been redesigned on both engine versions.

Tata Engineering hopes to offer a near problem-free vehicle and therefore the September launch programme. Quality and performance will be key issues if it wants to make its mark in the demanding mid-size segment and emerge as a force to be reckoned with. The signs are ominous, for the competition that is, because one can guarantee that the Telco engineers' learning curve has acquired great meaning and depth and these are all being put to good effect in the sedan.