NEW DELHI: It’s the most talked about project in the auto industry right now. But there’s more to the Tata Motors Rs 1 lakh people’s car than just it’s eye-popping and jaw-dropping price tag. Despite the hush of secrecy surrounding the project, ET AutoMania spoke to vendors, suppliers, consultants and industry insiders to come up with details of what the car will pack in.

The Tata Rs 1 lakh car is undoubtedly the most talked about product that will hit the market in 2008. This despite the fact that the year will be choc-a-bloc with launches (see Local Launch) across the product spectrum . The company, understandably enough, has been tightlipped about the project but ET AutoMania spoke to vendors, consultants, analysts and auto industry insiders to cull information about this muchawaited people’s car. So here goes the details...

First things first... the Rs 1 lakh car will probably sport a 660 cc engine and crank out between 30-33 horses . And yes, it will offer both diesel and petrol drivelines. German Tier One component major Bosch is developing “a brand new” common rail direct injection (CRDi) solution that will be compatible with the Tata Rs 1 lakh car. “For the first time, Bosch is developing CRDi systems at that cost to suit the configuration of an extremely low cost vehicle,” said a component industry source. In June, Wolf Henning Scheider, president-gasoline systems division, Robert Bosch had announced the company’s intent to become “market and technology leaders” in the low price vehicle segment.

The company, he said, is supplying “alternators, brakes and gasoline and diesel en-gine management systems for the one-lakh car from Tata” and in four months, Bosch’s local engineers have “developed viable technical concepts and solutions” for the project.

That’s just the beginning. According to vendor sources, the Tata Rs 1 lakh car will be rear-engined (unlike most cars on Indian roads today which are front-engined ), four-door and four-seat . The strip down base variant will not offer air-conditioning or power steering, say sources. The prototype is ready and may world premiere at the Auto Expo next January.

Like the Indica, the new car is being designed by Italy's Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering (IDEA). And like the Indica, it will come in a cute egg shape with the same kind of rear light arrangement as the group’s first passenger car. And yes, it will sport a tall boy frame and may offer some “totally different” design cues like an aircraft-style storage space under the hood or a single wiper.

The Tata group chairman has gone on record to say that the vehicle will “not be a scooter, threewheeler or an auto-rickshaw made into a car.” And it will not be a totally stripped down car either though in terms of finish or horse power, it won’t match up to the bigger cars in the marquee. Ratan Tata has been quoted saying that the car would have “continuously variable transmission (CVT) technology, ” which would mean driving without changing gear.Although Tata group is likely to source the CVT initially from a global Tier One vendor , it will develop the next gen version in-house to keep costs in check.

Of course the Tata stable isn’t just focussing on the Rs 1 lakh car project which has been code-named X3. According to sources in the auto industry , the company’s under-development new Indica platform (codenamed X1) will target the top-end of the B-segment to take on rivals like the Swift and Getz while the current product, in a tweaked avatar, will attack Maruti’s best-seller Alto at the lower end of the B-seg food chain. The company will use the new Indica , existing Indica and the people’s car to attack the entire small car price range.

As for the aggressive pricing, that isn’t something that the company has finalised though. Of course, vendors shortlisted for the project say that the company is demanding and getting a good 20% discount on current rates on the back of big volume orders. Which, analysts say, means Tata Motors is very serious about sticking to the Rs 1 lakh moniker.

However, sources indicate that the car may end up sporting an exshowroom price of close to Rs 1.25-1 .5 lakh. “It should bridge the gap between a premium motorcycle and an entry level car,” Tata had said in one of his earlier interviews. But even at that price it’s all about cost that’s driving the project.

Vendor sources say Tata Steel is slated to supply the cold-rolled steel for the car body from its Jamshedpur plant and Tata Metallics will provide the grey iron castings for the chassis.

As for its debut date, the group chairman has gone on record to say that the project is behind schedule because of the political problems at the proposed mother plant in Singur , West Bengal.

He however also added that the team was working overtime to make up for lost time. Which means the car will, in all probability, debut in 2008 though whether it will be in the first half or later that year or in the last quarter of the calendar is of course anybody’s guess.

As for its body specs, the car, say international media reports, will be as big as the Volkswagen Rabbit though one-fifth as powerful. And it will be cute if the Indica’s styling DNA is anything to go by. That’s about all that’s available on the people’s car right now. We promise to keep you posted on anything else that we can pick up along the way. Till the car actually premieres that is.