Is Tata the most active player ?

[indian21r]

Is Tata the most active player in the Indian car industry. They seem to chruning out something or the other new once very six months. Well a new model or a variant of existing one.

Others like Maruti, Hyundai are also players in the same league. But somehow Tata gets the maximum attention @ Team-BHP.

Regards
Rahul

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by indian21r

Is Tata the most active player in the Indian car industry. They seem to chruning out something or the other new once very six months. Well a new model or a variant of existing one.

Others like Maruti, Hyundai are also players in the same league. But somehow Tata gets the maximum attention @ Team-BHP.

Regards
Rahul

I thought FIAT gets the maximum attention here...

Personally, i think Maruti is the most active company at present...

[Zappo]

Ummm... by attention if you mean threads on Tata well then yes they do have quite a few here. Actually there are lot many Tata owners here. However if you want to know about vociforous support (or even brickbats) then that honour is reserved for Fiat.

We also have a lot many threads on all the other cars as well. In fact you need to search and you will find almost anything and everything cars here in the forum buddy.

[carCrazy25]

In all honesty, i have seen equal distribution of thread here.
But FIAT fans are in a different league!!!

[indian21r]

Well I meant about the threads. I did observe Fiat has lot of fans.

[theMAG]

Tata is the only player that's clearly understood the Indian market space and have the internal wherewithal to launch right products at the right time. In fact their unique position as an Indian homegrown manufacturer coupled with the understanding of the market has made them a reference to watch by new auto entrants and especially those that are finding their feet in India - like Renault .

[hell_rider]

well,

i believe tata is definitely very active when it comes to upgrading their products.

but somehow, starting with the indigo sx and then followed by the indigo LWB, i feel they have lost a sense of direction with respect to upgrading their product.

with SX its hard to find anything in that model that could not have been a simple after-market upgrade.

I would much rather preferred if they focussed more on improving build quality even more, reduce panel gaps, NVH levels etc. This should definitely make the Indicas and the Indigos an even more unbeatable value proposition.

similarly with the dicor indigo and the imminent dicor indica, i am a bit let down that they did not make it a 90 bhp engine.

basically focus more on the fundamentals. the bells and whistles can come later.

[directinjection]

I disagree.

The title of the most active player in the Indian car industry belongs to Maruti. There can be no arguments about that. Maruti produces the widest range of cars in India, in the biggest numbers, about 6,00,000 every year.

In my opinion, Tata has not been particularly active in the Indian car market. After launching the Indica in 1998-99, they took too much time in launching its derivatives - the Indigo and Marina. The Indica platform was never fully exploited. There could have been a lot more derivatives. Some like the Indica Sport and Tata Advent were developed but never launched. Even today, Tata is essentially a single platform car company. At 2,25,000, their car manufacturing capacity is no match for Maruti's. Even that limited capacity is not fully utilised.

However, the scenario would change if the Indian auto industry is taken as a whole. Tata would win hands down because of the sheer width of its model line-up, from sub-one tonne to 49 tonnes.

[hell_rider]

Originally Posted by directinjection

I disagree.

The title of the most active player in the Indian car industry belongs to Maruti. There can be no arguments about that. Maruti produces the widest range of cars in India, in the biggest numbers, about 6,00,000 every year.

In my opinion, Tata has not been particularly active in the Indian car market. After launching the Indica in 1998-99, they took too much time in launching its derivatives - the Indigo and Marina. The Indica platform was never fully exploited. There could have been a lot more derivatives. Some like the Indica Sport and Tata Advent were developed but never launched. Even today, Tata is essentially a single platform car company. At 2,25,000, their car manufacturing capacity is no match for Maruti's. Even that limited capacity is not fully utilised.

However, the scenario would change if the Indian auto industry is taken as a whole. Tata would win hands down because of the sheer width of its model line-up, from sub-one tonne to 49 tonnes.

i guess i was referring to active in a different sense, in terms of constant upgrades to existing models, and not number of models.

even then, it has to be considered that maruti has just woken up after close to a decade with the swift. also you need to keep in mind that maruti has just launched its first decent diesel offering in the form of the Swift diesel. Mind you, they still can't build their own engine, which sounds pretty bad, when you are referring to a manufacturer vying for the "most active player in the car industry" title. I am discounting the Esteem and Zen diesels which have been discontinued.

With respect to product breadth, it must be noted that they still do not have a diesel sedan.

They also do not have an SUV, which TATA does in the Safari.

Also this has to be viewed in light of the tremendous head-start Maruti has had in the industry as opposed to TATA.

however, i am unclear about your statement that the indica platform has not been fully exploited. i would think it was the opposite.

Indica petrol 1.4
indica xeta 1.2
indica xeta 1.4
indica NA diesel
indica turbo diesel
indica tcic diesel
indicab

indigo petrol
indigo TCIC diesel
indigo DICOR
indigo SX
indigo LWB

indigo marina and its variants

i doubt if a platform can be exploited any more.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

They also do not have an SUV, which TATA does in the Safari.

Well they do have the Vitara. Or do they?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

Well they do have the Vitara. Or do they?

VITARA is an SUV? Its a minivan

[pradkumar]

I'm not a Tata fan, but at least I must say that they had the courage to try the new Indica platform. What has Maruti done so far other than bring those typical hand-me-down cars from Suzuki? Look at the WagonR or some of the other hatchbacks they have. The standard size is 3520 (L) * 1475 (W) for which they get price concessions in Japan. Does this size suit the Indian market where we have extended families and the prime consideration is to seat 3 adults comfortably in the back? But for that you need to develop new platforms and not rely on hand-me-downs that suit some other geography.

WagonR is the first tall boy design, but Hyundai had the courage to introduce Santro in India. Maruti could do only a tame me-too act. Does Suzuki have the courage to introduce WagonR+ (a wider platform), which probably suits the Indian market better? All they have done in the past 2 decades is tinker with 'all new versions', which are nothing more than purely cosmetic makeovers. It is only now that they have introduced the Swift, the diesel version, and the awaited new Baleno.

For a market leader with 50%+ market share, they should have taken a lead role in introducing new models, but sadly they have woken upto it only now after facing the heat from the competition.

Tatas have been in the serious car business only for the past 9 years if you discount their attempts at Safari, Sierra, Sumo and other models. Look at Hyundai. In the US, 10 years back, nobody would have perhaps touched a Hyundai with a barge pole. Some of their models sell in decent numbers in the US now. Give Tatas another 10 years and they will have some great powertrains and good models.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

however, i am unclear about your statement that the indica platform has not been fully exploited. i would think it was the opposite.

Indica petrol 1.4
indica xeta 1.2
indica xeta 1.4
indica NA diesel
indica turbo diesel
indica tcic diesel
indicab

indigo petrol
indigo TCIC diesel
indigo DICOR
indigo SX
indigo LWB

indigo marina and its variants

i doubt if a platform can be exploited any more.

Why do you say that? Speaking of further possibilities based on the Indica platform, haven't I myself referred to the Indica Sport and the Advent that were never launched?

Even with the same platform, you can have vehicles that have completely different shapes and characteristics.

For eg. the Maruti offerings Wagon R, Alto, Zen Estilo all look different and perform differently too, yet share the same common platform, something a lay person may not even notice. Similarly, the Swift platform has spawned other new vehicles like the SX4 (small SUV) and the upcoming new Baleno (sedan) that look and perform quite differently from one another.

How many vehicles has Tata produced based on the Indica platform that look different? None that I can think of.

Also, constant upgrading is not something that's confined to Tata. Maruti has been doing it too. When launched, the Esteem (then known as Maruti 1000) developed 45 BHP from its Gypsy engine. This increased to 65 BHP when the carburetted 1300 CC engine was introduced. MPFIsation of the engine increased the BHP to 85.

I wasn't trying to belittle Tata Motors, a company that I've admired for years but the fact remains that they have been slow with further development of the Indica platform. The departure of Mr. Sumantran from Tata Motors a few years back was also said to be linked to his failure to develop further variants of Indica in time.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

VITARA is an SUV? Its a minivan

I dont know if you are being sarcastic. But I think you are confusing the Grand Vitara with the Versa.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

I dont know if you are being sarcastic. But I think you are confusing the Grand Vitara with the Versa.

LOL, you are right. I forgot about the Vitara. do they actually sell any?