Remember When Lionel Messi Was The Brand Ambassador Of This Indian Carmaker?

Tata has a history of signing big names to take on the title of its brand ambassador. But back in November 2015, the carmaker pulled all the stops and acquired the biggest name in the world of football to represent it as its global brand ambassador for its passenger vehicles. Lionel Messi, the Argentine national and ex-Barcelona player was signed, and Tata became the first Indian brand to be endorsed by the international superstar.

When Tata Motors was struggling back in the years and came out with a brand new hatchback called the Zica (now the Tiago), the Indian marque needed to make a splash during its introduction. 

Unfortunately, around the same time, an outbreak of a deadly virus called Zika came around, which caused the marque to rename the hatchback to what we know today as Tiago. This was cleverly turned around during the launch campaign of the Tiago, which sported a picture of the player standing alongside the car. The rest as they say is history. 

Seven years down the line, Lionel Messi is no longer the brand ambassador for Tata, but both the carmaker and the player are going strong in their respective fields. While the player just won his first FIFA World Cup, Tata is still maintaining its strong sales momentum and has an electric derivative of the Tiago, which was also the country’s most affordable EV for a certain period.

Tha Tiago EV, which slots alongside the standard ICE-powered hatchback, will start reaching its respective owners in January. It comes with multiple battery options that offer a range of up to 315km. With introductory prices ranging between Rs 8.49 lakh and Rs 11.79 lakh (ex-showroom), the Tiago EV is the most affordable EV in Tata’s electric lineup, which includes the Tigor EV sub-compact sedan and Nexon EV sub-4m SUV as well.