The year was 1991. India had won the cricket World Cup only once, back in 1983, and the country had just opened its doors to economic liberalisation. The only mainstream cars selling in respectable numbers were the tiny Maruti 800 and the ageing HM Ambassador and Premier Padmini. A new wave of opportunity was taking shape, as a generation of Indians began to experience rising incomes and newfound aspiration.
Sensing this shift, an engineering and locomotive manufacturer named TELCO, decided to build something the market had never seen before. The result was India’s first indigenously developed SUV, the Sierra and the as for the engineering and locomotive manufacturer, they went on to become a global automotive conglomerate, today known as Tata Motors.
The Tata Sierra was unlike anything Indians had ever seen before. It stood tall, sat wide, and had the stance of a rugged truck that had been civilised just enough to fit into your driveway. The idea for the Sierra came straight from Ratan Tata himself. A long-time admirer of American automobiles, he wanted a vehicle with presence and the three-door layout paired with that massive wraparound fixed rear windows gave the Sierra exactly that.
This was also a major turning point for the company. When Ratan Tata took over as Chairman in March 1991, he inherited a business known mainly for commercial vehicles, not passenger cars. The Sierra became his first big leap into that new territory and it marked Tata’s entry into the passenger vehicle segment and stood out as a car that was ahead of its time.
Built on the X2 platform, the Sierra shared much of its hardware with the Telcoline pickup. From the front, the resemblance was clear, but everything behind the B-pillar was a fresh design—those huge fixed wraparound windows, the three-door layout, and rear access through a folding passenger seat set it apart from every other car on sale. The front and rear bumpers were made of metal and the wheel arches got healthy black plastic cladding.
And if there was one thing you simply couldn’t miss, it was the rear-mounted spare wheel—an element that would go on to become a defining design trait on every Tata SUV that followed through the 90s. Under the bonnet sat a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated diesel making 63 bhp, paired with a five-speed manual. Power was sent to the rear wheels and there was also an optional four-wheel drive variant on offer.
Inside, the Sierra offered a surprisingly modern experience for the early 90s. Power windows, air conditioning with both front and rear vents, power steering, and a tachometer made it feel far ahead of its time, giving drivers and passengers a level of comfort that none of the other Indian cars could match back then.
Beyond the engineering, the Sierra carried an emotional weight in the 90s that few Indian cars have ever matched. You saw it in the Prime Ministerial convoys of P. V. Narasimha Rao, and on film sets where it became the default choice for a “powerful” character’s car. The Sierra quickly became the car for the “who’s who” of the 90s. In a decade where India was changing fast, the Sierra found itself at the centre of that cultural shift, quietly earning the cult status it enjoys today.
As emission norms tightened and customers began expecting more power, Tata responded by launching a turbocharged version of the Sierra in mid-1997. The familiar 2.0-litre diesel was now equipped with a single-stage turbo, rated to Euro 2 standards, producing 87 horsepower. The interior saw updates too, with the old two-spoke steering wheel replaced by a four-spoke unit, and small tweaks to the front grille along with clear-lens headlamps gave it a fresher look. Demand for the Sierra remained healthy, but the automotive landscape was changing.
Back in 1994, Tata had introduced the Sumo, an MPV with five doors and seating for up to nine, offering buyers a more practical alternative. Then, in 1998, the Tata Safari arrived. Bigger, built on an all-new platform, and far more luxurious, it quickly became the natural upgrade for Sierra owners. That same year, Tata shook the Indian automotive market again with the launch of the Indica, the country’s first indigenous passenger car. The Indica was such a game-changer that Maruti had to slash prices of the 800 just hours before its launch.
Caught in the whirlwind of success with the Safari and Indica, the Sierra slowly faded from focus. The final blow came in 2002, when Mahindra launched the Scorpio, giving the Safari fresh competition and shifting Tata’s attention fully on the Safari. The Sierra had carried Tata through the 90s and helped establish its passenger vehicle legacy was discontinued in 2003 due to declining demand.
After nearly two decades in 2020 when whispers began circulating that the Sierra, India’s first indigenous SUV, was preparing for a comeback as an electric vehicle. The rumours became reality that February at the Auto Expo, when Tata unveiled the Sierra EV concept, branding it as the Sierra for a new era. But the global COVID 19 pandemic soon hit, forcing Tata Motors into corporate restructuring, and the concept quietly slipped from the spotlight.
Three years later, the Sierra returned to centre stage at the 2023 Auto Expo, this time with Tata executives confirming that the car would go into production and that the design was almost production ready. They were not exaggerating. Over the next two years, multiple test mules were spotted across India, and in 2025, at the Bharat Mobility Expo, Tata unveiled the nearly production ready Sierra.
Finally, in November 2025, the new Sierra made its grand comeback in Bombay, 22 years after the original had left an indelible mark on India’s automotive scene. The new model retained the butch, unmistakable presence of the 90s original but was reimagined for the modern era. The three-door layout was replaced with five doors, yet the wraparound rear glass, a signature design cue, remained, cleverly engineered to meet current safety norms alongside a thicker B pillar. The rear‑mounted spare wheel of the original Sierra is gone, tucked under the boot, but the sense of ruggedness that its predecessor carried still remains.
On the inside, the 2025 Sierra is a quantum leap over its 1990s ancestor. The cabin now embraces a fully modern, premium layout: a triple‑screen dashboard with a 10.25‑inch digital instrument cluster for the driver plus dual 12.3‑inch infotainment and passenger screens, soft‑touch surfaces, a four‑spoke steering wheel with an illuminated Tata logo.
Tech and comfort features are now in a different league altogether: dual‑zone climate control, panoramic sunroof, wireless charging, ventilated front seats with power adjustment and memory on certain trims, rear sun‑shades, ambient lighting, and a 12‑speaker JBL sound system with Dolby Atmos. For connectivity and convenience, it gets the company’s iRA 2.0 connected‑car suite with over‑the‑air updates, a head‑up display, 360-degree camera, and a powered tailgate.
Under the hood, the 2025 Sierra offers multiple engine options to suit varied buyers — a 1.5‑litre naturally aspirated petrol, a 1.5‑litre turbo‑petrol, and a 1.5‑litre diesel — with both manual and automatic transmissions. The diesel produces around 118 hp and 280 Nm, while the turbo‑petrol delivers a healthy 160 hp. Compared to the old Sierra’s humble 2.0‑litre diesel with 63 bhp, this is a massive step up in performance, and refinement.
The Sierra has always been more than a car. It shaped India’s automotive history and captured the imagination of a generation, from leaders and film stars to enthusiasts on the streets. As a 21 year old writing this, I never got the chance to drive the original Sierra myself, but I was always in awe of the sheer presence of my neighbour’s 1997 Sierra Turbo. I also had a Sierra toy car, one of the coolest toys on the block you could have as a 4-year-old. The first car I ever worked on as an automobile engineering student was a cut section of a Tata Sierra in my first-year basic mechanics lab. That was the kind of impact the Sierra had on me and thousands of enthusiasts growing up in the 90s and 2000s alike.
Ratan Tata had always envisioned it as more than just a vehicle. He wanted to build something that instilled pride and left a lasting mark. Today, the new Sierra carries that vision forward, keeping the rugged charm of the original while embracing the technology and comfort of a new era. After 22 years, it is back, bigger and more powerful proving that true icons do not fade, they endure and evolve with time.