The auto industry went mad for mid-size saloons in the mid-to-late nineties, to such an extent that stubborn old Erin decided that they should finally enter into the market. And boy were they going to make a lot of noise about it.
Enter the Tauga, Erin’s standard bearer for post-millenium optimism. It didn’t just signal a change in the cars the British marque would be making in the future, it introduced the world to a whole new ethos for car design. Efficiency as the key selling point on a premium saloon, yet one that offered superb driving dynamics and a wealth of advanced kit - colour interface displaces, dual zone climate control, traction control and more on a car that was at a more affordable end of the market.
There’s a f*ck-ton of lore here so I’ve put it into this neat little hidden section. If you want to read it then <3 but no worries if you don’t 
The Full Story
Origins: "When the hell are we going to build an Impakt rival?
Germany ruled when it came to luxury saloons. While a slew of new Japanese luxury brands would soon join them, in the early 90s they were unquestionably the best on the market. Erin was competiting with them in the full size executive section of the market with the Berlose, but they’d never entered into the mid-size section.
Well, not quite. There was the Lomaron, a saloon made in conjuction with Saminda. But it was never sold in the UK and certainly not a premium car. It did, however, put pressure on the company to create such a car. CEO Marco Erin had wanted to do this for some time, but other projects and limited budgets in the 1980s had restricted this.
By the 1990s, however, Erin’s finances were doing much better, and they would have completely updated their range by 1993 too. That opened up the oppurtunity to switch focus onto a new car, namely, a premium mid-size saloon. Thus in Autumn of 1991, Marco commissioned a research effort into the market to begin designing this new car.
Adventures in Aluminium
At the same time, Erin’s RnD wing, the X Department, were experimenting with the use of aluminium on cars. Much of their research had come about thanks to ErinSport’s Group C development programme, which had also helped to birth Erin’s first i5 engine - a story for another time. In particular, with so much money spent on researching aluminium and other lightweight steel alloys, they wanted to see it put to good use.
Erin’s first aluminium-bodied car, the Scarlet Mk 1, had been released in 1986, but was an expensive sports coupe. While it now meant the company had aluminium production facilities, the X Department wanted to see costs slashed on said production, to perhaps allow it to be used on an everyday car.
So when they got wind of rumours of a new car being researched in secret, they were quick to convene a meeting with Erin’s management, seeing a perfect opportunity to combine the two projects.
A Combined Approach
Over the winter of 1991/1992, meetings were held to work out how both projects could come together. The key issue was that the X Department were predicting that they would need a long time properly get costs down, which would force back the release of the new mid-size saloon. This would create problems; several other manufacturers were now announcing similar models, meaning finding a foothold in the market would be difficult.
That said, Erin’s management weren’t being naive. They could see the benefits using aluminium would bring to such a car, especially if were to be the USP of the thing. In order to push the X Department, they asked for a working example of affordable aluminium production to be in place by 1996, with an aim to launching the car some time in 1998/1999.
Both sides agreed it would be feasible, and thus the project finally got going in a big way. Codenamed “Project 55”, Erin’s mid size saloon was finally beginning to gestate.
Finding affordability
In order to bring the cost of aluminium manufacturing down, the X Department considered multiple approaches, but eventually settled on having Erin manage its own facilities directly. This would be costly initially, but it would take out a number of third parties in the process, meaning Erin only needed to source its aluminum. Considering that much of the cost difference between steel and aluminium came from its mining and refining, this was a huge save on budgets.
The X Department would also end up working with production line equipment manufacturers to develop new machines and new ways of working with the material, making it far more suited to being used on mass production lines - as opposed to the specialist production line on which Erin made its Scarlet sports coupe.
By 1996, the Department had presented its findings, and had manage to shave a huge amount of cost off of the production of the metal. It would require a lot of down investment, but would benefit the company for years to come, both through actually manufacturing the material and in how many cars it would allow them to sell.
"…but what’s going to make it stand out?"
Back in Erin’s engineering rooms, Project 55 was starting to become a reality. By now, it was clear that they were going all in; three different body types, all of which would be available within a year of launch. Feature-wise, however, this wasn’t going to be enough to make the car stand out. After all, every other manufacturer was doing the same thing.
Then, someone in the interior design department had the bright idea to get in contact with some of the people Erin had worked with from Saminda during the Erin-Saminda partnership days. Erin’s management were keen for the Project 55 car to have lots of groundbreaking technology, namely features that would “be the norm 5 years from now”.
Erin thus got in contact with a number of Japanese electronics companies, including Panasonic and Sony, to contract them for said technology. Rather than go the expensive route of trying to develop this themselves, Erin saw the benefit of going to the world leaders in such equipment, even if it would make manufacturing more complicated.
Panasonic would eventually design the 6.5" colour TFT display that sat on the Tauga’s dashboard, displaying the radio, air con information and the sat nav, something that had never been seen before on a car at this price point. Sony, on the other hand, developed the stock soundsytem on the car, fitting it with a total of 4 monitors - 4 tweets and 4 woofers - as well as innovative steering wheel controls, a proper CD player (and not just a stack unit) and a fairly decent amplifier too, giving even base models fantastic audio quality. Harmann International would, as is tradition with Erin, be contracted to develop the sound system for the top end Vox trim.
It would some become clear, however, that one feature was going to trump the lot on this car; its engines.
The Millenial Engine Range
Progress was looking good by 1996, and with much of the groundwork for the car out of the way and a rolling test chassis almost completed, it was time to work out how to power it. Erin’s engine department were similarly filled with a turn-of-the-century optimism as the millennium approached, and suggested that Erin should start marketing its engines more.
Thus, in early 1997, Erin announced it was changing how it developed engines, bringing (almost) all of its new offerings under one name: Millenial. It was a way to signify a number of new innovations that would define these engines.
The key feature was the use of Variable Valve Timing and Lift, something that Erin had been experimenting with for some time. As they had done with electronic injection back in 1983, they wanted every car in their range to use the technology, making the most of its benefits to power and efficiency.
Speaking of injection, the Millenial engine range would utilise fully computer-managed control systems, including computer controlled injection, allowing for active engine management and the ability to adapt to environmental conditions easily. Such innovations made Millenial engines noticeably more efficient than rivals, seriously benefiting the Tauga’s credentials.
First Impressions
By late 1996, the rumour mill was confident that a new mid-size saloon from Erin was on the way, with a number of spy shots from test mules taken up on the Peak District practically confirming this. Then, at the 1997 Geneva Motor Show, the concept finally emerges. Still called Project 55 at the time, the show car featured fairly similar styling to what would appear on the final car, as well as an early version of the Millenial 2.2l i6 engine. While far from finished, it sparked considerably interest in the car.
A year later, and the final Pre-Production Concept emerges, and it finally has the name - Tauga. Erin really were not taking any chances with this car, considering that by now they had sunk a huge amount of money into it. Even if it was arriving years later than planned, it was able to tap into the pre-Millenium buzz, selling itself as a glimpse of the future. All three body variants were revealed, with the launch date being given for March 1999.
In hindsight, it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Nineties had been a renaissance period for Erin, with all models in their lineup selling well, as well as seeing outstanding success in motorsport in both touring car racing, GT racing and endurance racing. The Tauga, then, was the next step for the company, made better still considering that much of it had benefited from research gained in these racing disciplines. But there were problems beneath the surface that would soon emerge in a nasty way.
The Magnet Effect
So much effort had been vested into the Tauga that the company had neglected other models. And with the rest of the range due for an update over the course of 2000 to 2001, the company ended up rushing the development of those other models. While the Visto, whose third generation launched in 2001, would join the Tauga as one of the strongest selling Erins of the early 2000s, the company’s two most famous models - the Berlose and Merna - struggled due to lacklustre design and tough competition that had been neglected as everything was focused on the Tauga.
Upon release in March 1999, the Tauga was met with widespread critical acclaim. Its efficiency and driving dynamics stood out the most, with critics praising the wide choice of body styles and engines. And there lay the problem; the Tauga stole the limelight off of the rest of the Erin’s range, both outside the company and within. Its success came at the cost of Erin’s other models, forcing a major rethink in the company’s approach to its range in years to come.
A car that changed the direction of Erin forever and redefined its market, at the cost of the marque’s own image. The Tauga was one of the most innovative and arguably important cars of its time, but the mid sized saloon thoroughly shook the mid sized company, for better and for worse, into the company we know today.
1999 Erin Tauga (Mk 1)
Overview
The Mk 1 Tauga was Erin’s first proper mid-size saloon. A rear-wheel drived machine that utilised aluminium body panels to save on weight, with multi-link suspension and integrated safety engineering, it was ahead of its time for the turn of the century. With its broadside squarely aimed at the German and Japanese dominated premium market, it tried to offer an alternative to the standards they’d created in this segment. Its key selling points: superb efficiency, great driving-dynamics and modern features.
Coming in three different body variants and powered by Erin’s new Millenial engine range (namely 2 i5s, 3 i6s and 2 V6s, one of which came on the very sporty XTune variant), it was designed to be a proper catch-all vehicle, with its key mission being establishing Erin’s position in this very competitive market. Entry-level trims tried to tempt away buyers looking at cheaper every-day offerings, whilst top-of-the-range trims aimed to outdo the competition with advanced features like TFT interface displays, high end audio equipment and dual-zone climate control.
Where most mid-size saloons could average around the 30 MPG (UK) mark, the Tauga impressed with significantly better ratings than rivals. Even on larger engines such as the 2.8l i6 option, it could average 36 MPG, with diesel variants reaching well above 50 MPG.
It was one of the most significant cars in Erin’s history, and has played a pivotal role in shaping the company into what it is today. It was the fastest selling saloon in the company’s history at the time, the first Erin to receive a Euro NCAP 5 Star rating and one of the first high-volume cars to use aluminium body panels, an innovation that has become perhaps its best known feature,
The Saloon
The standard saloon body Tauga had a tough role to play: fit into the bustling crowd of mid-size saloons so that customers would take interest, but also stand out enough so that said customers would maintain said interest.
Head of Design Chris Famerley, now overseeing his third wave of cars designed under his influence at the company, wanted to mimic the tidy and ‘happy’ feel of Japanese cars at the time. The Tauga was therefore given a subtle smile at the front, whilst a common theme of parralelogram-shaped fixtures was used across the car.
The result: a unified, smart and friendly design, with enough edge to make a statement parked in the office car park, but enough charm to not come across as vulgar or imposing.
The Coupe
The Tauga Coupe introduced a new way of approaching such a car. Not the coupe as a whole, but rather two versions of four door cars. Then-CEO Marco Erin had often complained about the laziness of such cars when it came to dealing with interiors; typically, rear-seat passengers ended up having to cram into a tiny space as such cars were simply created by sloping the roof line at the back.
The solution: split off the design of the Coupe variant fairly early on during the development process, and reshape the cabin to accomodate such changes. The whole cabin was elongated, whilst different seats were used that were more reclined. This allowed rear seat passengers to sit (fairly) comfortably, whilst the coupe styling was maintained. Although more expensive to develop, it paid dividends in establishing the Coupe’s reputation for comfort.
Combine that with a sharper suspension setup and the benefit of less weight, and the Coupe offered by far and away the most sporty option of the Mk 1 range. Tight, balanced and superbly pliable on the road.
The Tourer
Like all Erin estates, the Tourer variant came as standard with AllDrive all-wheel drive, as well as featuring a number of styling changes; roof rails for both practicality and to give a more rugged look, narrower tail lights to make way for a wider boot hatch, and a subtle rear spoiler to make it…well, more sporty.
The Tourer in particular was marketed towards families, with tailored finance packages and exclusive optional extras designed with consultation from parents. Erin hoped the efficiency focus would shift a fair number of units in this demographic, but they knew it had to appeal in more ways than just that, especially against cheaper, non-premium wagons.
The XTune Variant
Naturally, with this being such a momentous occasion for the company, the X Department had to get their hands on it and develop a sportier model. Enter the XTune 3.3l, powered by the recently introduced NS6-C, the third generation of the NewSeries V6. In line with the key features of Erin’s new Millenial engines, the NS6-C was an aluminium block with fully computer managed control systems and VVT/L.
For the 3.3l XTuned variant of the engine, sports intakes and individual throttle bodies were used, making it good for 331 hp, screaming its way to just shy of 7800 rpm. The car wasn’t as fast as some of its competitors, still capable of 0-60 in 5.3s and 167 mph flat out, but the lightweight aluminium construction and further weight reductions on the interior brought it in under 1.5 tons, making it thoroughly poetic through the corners.
Impact
Not only would the Tauga become the company’s flagship car in the early 2000s, it forced efficiency to become the main priority for rival models. Although petrol prices were low in Europe at the time, something which had freaked Erin’s top brass as the launch date approached, the car’s other features ensured it sold incredibly well. By the end of its production run in 2005, over 2.4 million Taugas had been sold, making it one of the best selling Erin’s of all time.
It would, however, be a shining star in a time of considerable difficulty for the company, as more traditional models - namely the Merna and Berlose - failed to sell as well due to poor design. The Mk 1’s successful career in motorsport would also be overshadowed by separate problems, namely the struggle that was the GT-01. The Mk 1 represented what Erin could do when they were at their absolute best, but after almost 9 years in development, it showed how much of a toll the singular focus had taken on the company.
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