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Tata chairman Ratan Tata said: “We saw fathers driving scooters, with his kid standing in front and his wife sat behind him holding a baby. We wanted to build a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such families. "

Tata engineers took four years to develop the four-door, four-seater car, which measures 3.1m by 1.5m and is 1.6m high. Ground clearance is sufficient for India's rural areas, not just city use.

It's a rear-engine rear-wheel drive. The powertrain is an all-aluminium two-cylinder with a displacement of 623cc. It produces 24kW (32.5hp) or 39kW (52.2hp) per litre.

That's not exactly competitive, but it's a reasonable point to build up from. Fiat's downsized twin-cylinder naturally-aspirated 900cc develops 53kW per litre and will go into the Grande Punto and the Panda.

"It has a strong passenger compartment, crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorages," said the company

The OEM said the car is also environmentally friendly. "It has a lower pollution level than the two-wheelers being manufactured in India today. The high fuel efficiency also ensures the car has low CO2 emissions."