Tata, who was talking to reporters at the IETF '99 in a videoconference from Mumbai said that the overwhelming response of over 1.25 lakh initial bookings for the Indica had come as a surprise. "It seems we touched the national chord somewhere as people responded to the fact that this is the first Indian car," said Tata. "Indica is not the end of the road for Telco when it comes to passenger cars. It is just the beginning, as there are more to come", said Tata, adding that the company is at present working on another mid-size car after Indica.

The Tatas have to produce 60,000 cars a year to break-even. Tata said that the group is committed to refund the money of those people whose demand for cars cannot be met in the initial lot. The Tatas will stress upon the after-sales service of Indica. The group has created two organisations within Telco, one dealing withcommercial vehicles and the other with passenger cars. "We understand that after-sales service for passenger cars will be very different, with staff dealing directly with car owners" said Tata.

The company has already undertaken a major restructuring exercise whereby the passenger car and commercial vehicles divisions will function as two separate business units. "We will now see more action in restructuring at some point of time in terms of acquisitions, mergers and divestments -- which will take place from time to time", Tata said. He, however, declined to give any details. On the new logo, Tata said the group companies will take at least a year to adopt it. Asked if there was a move to create a unified (Tata) group, Tata said, "I do not have any such intention. The Tata companies will be allowed to retain their autonomy. What we are trying to do is to draw a framework of similar values and evolve a uniform management system so that the various companies synergise with each other."