[man_and_machine]

All is well with the Aria, even an autobox might help. But its the price. When you price a vehicle more than Innova which is comparable to the Innova you really need to have a convincing story to tell. The Aria does not have one. An autobix might be one, but they really need to fix the price, look at the XUV. The market has responded to it more aggressively than it has done for the Eon! People are willing to pay money as long as it is justified!

[MaserQ]

The bottom line is - How many auto tranny Arias will Tata sell in a month? Lets say 10% of total Aria monthly sales come from the auto variant. So an additional 50 cars a month? Even that is optimistic, given the pricing.

Logic dictates that there is still room for a cheaper Aria, with just basic features like power steering/windows/locks to take on the Innova. Clearly, that is where the numbers lie.

[sridhar-v]

Methinks they must be trying out the AT box from Borg Warner- their JV in Pune, Divgi Warner, has a large photo of an AT box on the outside wall of the factory. Also they are already supplying the transfer cases for the 4x4, so integration would be easier.

Only hope TML's quality improves substantially. Otherwise it makes more sense to wait for the Innova AT.

[needforspeed88]

Aria is a fantastic product let down only by the ludicrous pricing strategy .

Nobody would have expected a 12 lakh Mahindra to be sold out within a week of its launch. People are now saying , even if the the XUV was priced a Lakh extra
it still would have sold out. That is how you competitively the XUV is priced.

Aria is a very good product with an understated elegance about it . Tata had the opportunity to have a head-start in the segment , instead see how they have floundered .
In Aria's case people are saying ,even if it is priced a Lakh lower it is still expensive .Look at the irony . This is because TATA has created an impression in the market that
Aria is an exorbitantly Overpriced product due to its over ambitious pricing strategy .Now even if the XUV is sold at the same price of Aria , people will still lap it up cos it is already a huge success and people always want to buy successful product as it has a huge impact on resale value and image .

Mere marginal price corrections /auto tranny ain't going to help . They have to reposition the Aria and price it competitively .

[pgsagar]

Aria AT is welcome but right now, need of the hour is Vista diesel AT. There are AT hatches and then there are diesel hatches; but there are no AT diesel hatches. Will we see one in Buck Roger's 35th century? There is a huge potential if Vista comes with one. Because it will take MUL another 100 years to launch a diesel AT Swift. Because, Swift is soooo popular in India that MUL can afford to sell 4 wheels as accessories and people would still que up to buy.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by needforspeed88

Aria is a very good product with an understated elegance about it . Tata had the opportunity to have a head-start in the segment, instead see how they have floundered .

Personally, I find the Aria's design classier than the XUV 500, by a significant margin. That holds true for both the exterior and the interior; if you go through the forum thread of the XUV prior to the price release, you'll see divided opinions about the styling, in fact with more people criticized it as being over the top, but the moment the pricing was revealed........poooof.

Originally Posted by needforspeed88

Aria is a fantastic product let down only by the ludicrous pricing strategy .
Mere marginal price corrections /auto tranny ain't going to help . They have to reposition the Aria and price it competitively .

I have this theory -probably completely wrong- that Tata took a longer term view for the Aria and what it's supposed to do for the brand. Once a value for money, low cost image is set, it's very hard for a company to wriggle out of that; see how even Maruti and Hyundai have struggled with higher end (>12 lakh) models. It's worse for Tata, because they make the least expensive car in India (I love the Nano by the way) and the Indica range sold on its value for money tag; their premium product, the Safari was rife with niggles. Which brings us to the Aria; GTO's finely detailed review spoke quite highly of the Aria's quality-not something associated with Tata- and it was mostly a positive review before being confronted with the price. I think Aria is part of a dual product strategy with the next generation Safari (not the Merlin) where these two products will have a great chance of doing well in terms of word of mouth publicity, and this time the publicity wouldn't be about how cheap, but rather how good the products were. In that sense, I'd be really disappointed if they cheapened the Aria in order to bring down the price.

[needforspeed88]

Originally Posted by Amartya

, I'd be really disappointed if they cheapened the Aria in order to bring down the price.

For a product to do well , the buyer should have this feeling of money spent well. Take any successful product even a higher segment product like a BMW X1, it is perceived to be value for money by the consumer. The consumer should feel he is getting a very goodvalue for his hard earned money. You simply cannot price it ludicrously high thinking it will be accepted as a premium product. Take the Aria
and XUV, every which way in terms of the product and features, XUV trumps aria barring may the quality of the materials used in the cabin. Exterior looks are subjective. I personally prefer the looks of XUV, but
Aria is a very good looking vehicle with an understated elegance about it.

Now pricing it competitively does not mean removing the features, usinglow quality plastics [cheapening]inside the cabin to reduce the price. XUV is not being looked at being cheap in any way. Today it is being
considered as an alternative option to a more expensive Fortuner albeitat a very affordable price. Hyundai i10 is a classic example of a car which commands its premium because of the way it drives.put together.

I am afraid Aria is not that premium to command the high price tag it has. If the consumer thought it was well worth the money /deserves its premium price it would have been a hit. Brand building is a long process. It takes years to build a brand. I hate to say it Mahindra has taken a massive step with the very competent XUV in this regard. Now if Mahindra comes up with a product in the 15 lakh plus range people will at-least have a serious look at it as an option in that price range. What XUV has done to Mahindra is that it has given Mahindra a solid platform upon which they can seriously consider launching much more
premium products in the higher segments and pull them off successfully.

Mahindra a tractor Maker has transformed its image through successively premium products starting from the Bolero to the Scorpio/Xylo to the sold out XUV now. This is called brand building. I am afraid TATA sat on its laurels far too long and Mahindra's products are trouncing TATA's mercilessly in all MUV/SUV segments. Mahindra is now being seriously taken as a premium SUV maker and this is what is called brand building.

[lurker]

Take the Aria
and XUV , every which way in terms of the product and features ,
XUV trumps aria barring may the quality of the materials used in the cabin.
Exterior looks are subjective . I personally prefer the looks of XUV , but
Aria is a very good looking vehicle with an understated elegance about it.

Both are very different. Aria is double wishbone independent front suspension and ladder-on-frame chassis. I think that would make it a bit more expensive compared to XUV whose front suspension is slightly more economical to produce, i.e McPherson with anti-roll bar. A true comparison for Aria could be Force One which employs similar technology in suspension and chassis. But then they do manage to sell it for 10.75. In Aria, the Tata's haven't skimped on anything including body weight. It's a proper full-size MUV.

[GTO]

An AT box could well be the differentiator, and give the Aria the positioning it always lacked. A Tata MUV for 18.xx lakhs on the road was never going to sell, I said so in my official review as well. Plus, a majority of 15+ lakh cars are sold with an automatic. The Aria is extremely well-engineered, and I don't expect the AT box to be any less so.

However, the current pricing allows absolutely no room for the AT. Do a "Jazz", Tata. Make the Aria prices more realistic and then bring in an AT. Both moves can easily double, or even triple, Aria sales.

[aditya79india]

Also, Tata made the Aria crash worthy for European markets. Doing this on a ladder frame chassis is much more difficult & expensive than on unitary construction due to body - chassis interaction during the deformation process.

[harimakesh]

Originally Posted by aditya79india

Also, Tata made the Aria crash worthy for European markets. Doing this on a ladder frame chassis is much more difficult & expensive than on unitary construction due to body - chassis interaction during the deformation process.

TATA did crash worthy tests on ARIA as it wanted to sell ARIA in those markets. This in no way justifies 50% premium pricing on Indians.

In Indian market TATA the very same company least bothered to offer ABS on its SUVs as standard safety feature for Indian market.

TATA sells its Safari EX at 9.3L ,Grande GX at 8.6L, Sumo Gold refresh GX at 6.86 exshowroom prices without thinking of basic ABS safety feature in Indian market.

Mahindra on the other hand sells mid variant Scorpio SLE with ABS and Xylo top end with ABS to Indian private car buyers. Due to lacklusture competitor TATA the Mahindra's Bolero has not received ABS yet.

TATA has failed to set a good trend to incorporate what customer needs in Indian UV market. TATA still in its old Licence Raj mentality of offering to customers what it makes rather what customer wants. This is were the market understanding by Mahindra differs and see where Mahindra has risen in Indian utility Vehicle market.

[aditya79india]

^^^ i just indicated of one cost element. Of course this doesnt entirely justify the pricing. Cost is one aspect. pricing is always a strategic decision in the automotive world!

[scopriobharath]

Tata Must also consider it rival XUV5oo. XUV5oo offers cruise control with Manual Tranny. When XUV5oo launches with a twin turbo / Auto box, The Aria must also have cruise control and not only an auto box. Tata would have to consider the cost factor of Cruise control + auto and not only Auto Box.

At the current pricing attitude of Tata, the Auto Aria 4X4 should compete in the Fortuner Price category (25 Lacs). Now taking an average, How many people will but the Tata brand instead of the Toyota brand.

No Offenses meant, this is my personal view only - I as a common unbiased buyer, i do not see even one reason to buy a Tata over a Toyota

[man_and_machine]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Aria AT is welcome but right now, need of the hour is Vista diesel AT. There are AT hatches and then there are diesel hatches; but there are no AT diesel hatches. Will we see one in Buck Roger's 35th century? There is a huge potential if Vista comes with one. Because it will take MUL another 100 years to launch a diesel AT Swift. Because, Swift is soooo popular in India that MUL can afford to sell 4 wheels as accessories and people would still que up to buy.

Agree. Completely. An AT D in a hatch could be a clear differentiation from the herd. What is the one thing that the Vista has (apart from there sedan class ad which is just trying to forcefully find something to distinguish them apart) to grab attention. For FE there is Figo, for class there is the i20 ( a bit expensive but still works!) , for enthusiast there is the Grand Punto and for the sedate the Polo. Where does it figure out? Cost, gotcha, the Figo beats here and with the Beat cost is also not a USP. An AT on the Vista will be a clear neck above the crowd.

[man_and_machine]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

No Offenses meant, this is my personal view only - I as a common unbiased buyer, i do not see even one reason to buy a Tata over a Toyota

You really needs guts to price a comparable model with the big T more than the big T. End of the day what can the Aria do that the Innova can not? I am talking basic utility here not the gizmo stuff (the Gizmo stuff is mainly for the driver of the car not much for the 7+ passengers in a MUV). Nothing much! Even though on a features to features comparison on paper the Aria will beat the Innova hands down on the road its a completely different story!

If ARIA needs to really be in business then they need to work on the price. Nothing else is wrong with the car! I would really prefer the ARIA over the XUV if they both come at the same price for the same trim! Hope TATA is listening.