From Tata Motors to Maruti, automakers spot lifestyle trends to design cars

Tata Motor's Impact 1.O - the design language which shaped the Nexon, Tiago and Hexa - was about getting younger buyers into the showroom

A good car company needs sharp eyes and ears, people who can discern a trend while it’s still in the womb, so that a new car design will resonate with customers by the time it is ready to go on sale — and take a long time to become obsolete. 

 “Get out of the office. Go and walk the streets,” was the order that Pratap Bose, head of design at Tata Motors, gave his staff in the Delhi, Mumbai, Tokyo and London offices when Tata Motors’ new design philosophy, Impact 2.0, began to take effect.

 Bose told them to peek into people’s