Tata was already a major player in the heavy vehicle segment and the Estate was the company's first attempt at building a passenger car.

The Estate's exterior is based on Mercedes-Benz station wagon design made at the time of conception, in particular the T-series estate-type cars.

[2] The Estate was powered by a Peugeot sourced 1.9-litre diesel engine producing 68 PS (50 kW; 67 bhp) at 4500 rpm and torque of 118 N⋅m (87 lb⋅ft) at 2500 rpm, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

It was initially plagued with problems due to high fuel consumption, faulty electrical systems and suspensions before they were fixed in subsequent productions.

[5] The platform of the Estate was based on the Tata Telcoline pick-up truck, which saved the company around Rs.