[Rtech]

I like these vehicles, not too slow like those painful Apes, Minidor's, Mahindra 3 wheeler thingees to slow us down yet not too fast like the matadors etc to drive us off road

Exactly. I think they are the perfect inter-city goods carrierers for Indian cities and towns which are notorious for narrow lanes and no parking/stopping area's.

Not only are they faster than the 3 wheelers, they don't make that terrible racket like the Ape's.

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by Rtech

Not only are they faster than the 3 wheelers, they don't make that terrible racket like the Ape's.

Exactly Rtech, they don't make that terrible a racket as the likes of Ape. But they do have that distinctive diesel three wheeler sound. While those Apes go 'tthak tthak khatt khatt' and shake and vibrate like there is no tomorrow the Ace does not vibrate and shake (comparatively) and the sound is more like 'chug chug chug chug' Much much better I would say.

And by the way Hyderabad is already full of these Aces! Tata is definitely making money here. Wonder how they keep coming up with new products that hit off so well in the market inspite of all the criticisms. Remember 407s, Sumo, Indica... and now even Ace seems to be headed for the pedestal.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Wonder how they keep coming up with new products that hit off so well in the market inspite of all the criticisms. Remember 407s, Sumo, Indica... and now even Ace seems to be headed for the pedestal.

If I remember correctly, the 407 was THE success story when it came out. It single handedly conquered the LCV market and managed to "throw" out the Japanese biggies (Toyota Dyna, Nissan Cabstar, Mitsubishi Canter).

Going OT here: When the Qualis started eating into the Sumo's sales, it was termed 'Toyota's revenge'.

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by hrag

If I remember correctly, the 407 was THE success story when it came out. It single handedly conquered the LCV market and managed to "throw" out the Japanese biggies (Toyota Dyna, Nissan Cabstar, Mitsubishi Canter).

Going OT here: When the Qualis started eating into the Sumo's sales, it was termed 'Toyota's revenge'.

Yeah... Sumo did get beaten finally. But that was pretty late in the day and frankly sumo started appearing a bit long on the tooth. However by then Tatas recovered their investment in Sumo. So the fact is that most of their products proved to be a hit at launch. Of course there were exceptions also... like the Estate and Sierra. They did sell them but not in as big a number as their other superhit products. Similarly the Safari also sells but actually never managed to be the king of its turf (SUV market) in that sense.

P.S. I really wonder whether Tata ever have had an absolute dud of a product. One that probably managed to wipe off some off their bottomline... I can't think of one

[sajo]

The Ace is pretty decent, IMHO. My neighbourhood vegetable owns one, and he does pretty decent business renting it out to people hauling stuff. He says that there is more demand among the rental crowd for this thing than the Minidor cargo. BTW, has anyone seen the three wheeler from Kumar motors(I think), which has really funky headlights and comes in colours like orange?

[zenx]

Originally Posted by Zappo

P.S. I really wonder whether Tata ever have had an absolute dud of a product. One that probably managed to wipe off some off their bottomline... I can't think of one

Well - don't have to look too far. The Indica in its first avataar sold lots, and the more they sold the more money they lost! Yes, Tata was making a slight loss on every Indica they sold early on. Straight out of the bottomline.

[varunroy]

In Bangalore Tata Ace is not as popular as the other Rackety 3 wheelers as yet because the Road tax is preffy high that has to be paid every Quarterly, unlike the others that have a life time Road tax. I also heard from these drivers that the Engine of the Ace has a problem of excess oil consumption. Probably, some teething troubles. But the thing looks real cute and I have seen it move pretty well on the highways.

so long....

[adya33]

In Pune too Ace is becoming more & more common & from looks of it, starting to replace those three wheeled things.
After driving it for couple of kilometers on private road, it really seems like a peppy thing

BTW, has anyone seen the three wheeler from Kumar motors(I think), which has really funky headlights and comes in colours like orange?

Seen it once, looks alien

[nitrous]

Wonder how they keep coming up with new products that hit off so well in the market inspite of all the criticisms. Remember 407s, Sumo, Indica... and now even Ace seems to be headed for the pedestal.

What do u infer??

Tata always had the knack of knowing what the future needed.
Tata has always kickstarted a new segment. Right from the Sumo, Indica, Marina, Ace,etc..
They always know where the money is.

Let the 1 lakh rupee car come, and see what happens. Wait and watch!!

[naveendhyani]

hey all!

i enquired about this vehicle Tata TL crew cab but comeo, its way 2 expensive for such a vehicle. 7.75 lacs for a 4X4 that too with only basic aminities like the a/c and power steering. its nothing much but the upgraded version of their 207 crew cab with some addons. crew cab costs 4.4 lacs. dont understand such a price margin.

[Steeroid]

Demand for the Ace has reportedly gone thru the roof and supply is so far behind that Tata are looking to build a new plant to manufacture the Ace. Installed capacity of the Ace plant is reportedly 30k a year and while they're doubling this they still wont be able to catch up with demand.

At 2.something lakhs per Ace, its almost like they have another small car doing 5000 numbers per month...

Looks like they drew the Ace of Spades.

[ajayclicks]

Originally Posted by nitrous

What do u infer??

Tata always had the knack of knowing what the future needed.
Tata has always kickstarted a new segment. Right from the Sumo, Indica, Marina, Ace,etc..
They always know where the money is.

Let the 1 lakh rupee car come, and see what happens. Wait and watch!!

Yes they do... and they also have the knack of lossing this to competition.

They introduced the pickup concept in india, and lost the mantle to Mahindra "Pikup". I dont have current Market shares, so not sure how the revamped 207 (the 207 DI performs).

Look at Safari... and Scorpio... and Sumo and Qualis. Ofcourse Qualis is now out of the market and Tavera is laughing all the way to the bank (again no Numbers, just gut feel)

Not sure what new segment Indica and Marina (Tata mobile, Fiat Sienna Weekend etc etc) represent. Ace- i will concede, has good looks. The commercial vehicle market is/ was booming esp the sub 1 ton category. That is what ACE was supposed to be targeted at...

The key challenge for the 1 lac rupee car would be manufacturing something at around 50K. Coz 1 lac would be onroad price (after road tax, insurance, etc etc)

I would presume a 350- 500 cc engine.... with a abs body!!!!

They hit gold with the 407 engine and engineered that for the Sumo, indica, 207 DI etc etc

I feel good when i see ACE on streets tho...

Cheers
Ajay

[hrag]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Looks like they drew the Ace of Spades.

the light commercial vehicles provided the growth impetus and propelled by Tata’s last-mile sub one-tonne transportation vehicle Ace, sales grew 19.4 per cent at 1,43,237 units against 1,19,924 units in 2004-05.

Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/com...bLeft=0&chkFlg=

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Demand for the Ace has reportedly gone thru the roof and supply is so far behind that Tata are looking to build a new plant to manufacture the Ace. Installed capacity of the Ace plant is reportedly 30k a year and while they're doubling this they still wont be able to catch up with demand.

At 2.something lakhs per Ace, its almost like they have another small car doing 5000 numbers per month...

Looks like they drew the Ace of Spades.

You know what find the funniest in this whole episode? It seems like everytime they try to move out of being one platform company (they are trying everything to add variety and bring in additional platforms) in one way or the other its the Indica family that again helps them to hit the next paydirt!!! First it was the Indica that changed the face of Tata Motors. Then they turbo charged it and launched a sedan. Again they dug up gold. And just when they were thinking of something different Ace came up which has a "half Indica engine".

[sajo]

The demand is set to rise further once the Ace people carrier released. I had read somewhere that they were already working on it.