Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


Reply
  Search this Thread
34,395 views
Old 20th November 2011, 20:26   #46
BHPian
 
ironshark's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Pune
Posts: 114
Thanked: 167 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

MT or AT, it will be difficult for Aria to gain some momentum in the market unless priced well!!! anyone from TATA's hearing????????
ironshark is offline  
Old 20th November 2011, 21:12   #47
BHPian
 
aditya79india's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: DELHI
Posts: 370
Thanked: 514 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

Quote:
Originally Posted by rohanjf View Post
Fiat India is a JV between Tata and Fiat. They will supply diesel engines to MSIL, won't they? This is worse for Tata than the case presented by you, since Aria has no competition from Suzuki in its segment.

If profit outweighs the loss, why not join hands with competition?
Fiat India Automobiles Limited is not a profit making entity. Hence supplying diesel engines to Maruti may suit them. However, MMPIL should be a profit making company, as it is the sole source of 1.3L diesel ECMs to all companies using this engine.

Now, lack of profits not being the concern, question arises how come MMPIL supply a new product category to the competition, the company being a Maruti JV and located within Maruti owned premises.

Last edited by aditya79india : 20th November 2011 at 21:36.
aditya79india is offline  
Old 21st November 2011, 07:35   #48
Senior - BHPian
 
rohanjf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 1,193
Thanked: 706 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

Quote:
Originally Posted by aditya79india View Post
....

Now, lack of profits not being the concern, question arises how come MMPIL supply a new product category to the competition, the company being a Maruti JV and located within Maruti owned premises.
I already have given my guess, mate. Aria does not compete with any product of MSIL. By no means will MSIL's profit get affected with Aria AT. Even the Ertiga will not come any close to Aria. And I am sure MSIL will supply AT box only for a certain period (say 5 years).

Of course there is GV in a similar price range, but the only similarity I see is, both are overpriced :-D
rohanjf is offline  
Old 27th May 2013, 19:47   #49
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Somerset, NJ
Posts: 110
Thanked: 152 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

It is now 2013, two years on from the time this thread was launched, and still no Aria AT; just some articles on various motor shows about how Tata is preparing to begin to start to introduce Aria AT.

Really well done TATA! I suppose I should make a note to revisit this thread in 2015 and note how Aria AT was shown at XYZ Motor Show.
Pacifica is offline  
Old 28th December 2013, 17:24   #50
Team-BHP Support
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 17,688
Thanked: 76,297 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

It is rumoured that Tata Motors is going to display the Aria automatic at the Auto Expo in February 2014. The car is likely to be launched in April.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

Last edited by Aditya : 28th December 2013 at 17:26.
Aditya is offline  
Old 28th December 2013, 17:57   #51
BANNED
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 11,368
Thanked: 23,090 Times
Infractions: 0/3 (12)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya View Post
It is rumoured that Tata Motors is going to display the Aria automatic at the Auto Expo in February 2014. The car is likely to be launched in April. Link to Team-BHP News Article

Whats the point? The poor guys only seem to be able to bring out fantastic concepts. Their execution is the absolute pits, going by the various experiences on this forum and others. Somehow, the Tata vehicles in the passenger segment, just have not cut it, with the private car / automobile buyer. Sad, yes, but what the blazes are they doing about it, other than launching squillions of variants, each minutely different from each other!
shankar.balan is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 28th December 2013, 18:33   #52
Distinguished - BHPian
 
condor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Speed-brkr City
Posts: 15,845
Thanked: 15,956 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

The Aria is in an un-eviable position. An excellent vehicle. But the market is not ready for it. And it doesnt have a petrol option to sell it overseas - even if they get the auto-box in.
condor is online now  
Old 28th December 2013, 20:20   #53
Senior - BHPian
 
wilful's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: cochin
Posts: 1,277
Thanked: 1,227 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

An AT version will take the price close to the 20 lac range on road. At that price methinks they will find it very tough with other options available.
I agree they have just not been able to translate good looking concepts to reality.
wilful is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 28th December 2013, 20:24   #54
Distinguished - BHPian
 
4x4addict's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 4,483
Thanked: 4,520 Times
Infractions: 0/1 (5)
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

Quote:
Originally Posted by shankar.balan View Post
Sad, yes, but what the blazes are they doing about it, other than launching squillions of variants, each minutely different from each other!
Tata marketing department consists of a bunch of headless chickens. No strategy or foresight. Just reacting to market failures veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy slllllllooooooooooooooooowwwwwlllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyy .
4x4addict is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 28th December 2013, 23:13   #55
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Somerset, NJ
Posts: 110
Thanked: 152 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

2011: Tata Aria AT rumours.

2013: Tata Aria AT rumours.

Bah.

Back then this seemed like my dream car - space, six airbags, A/T, leather, navigation, and three rows of seats.

Now, I can't be bothered. I guess most of the market isn't going to be bothered if it launches or not, either.

Last edited by Pacifica : 28th December 2013 at 23:18. Reason: First post was too terse.
Pacifica is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 29th December 2013, 00:41   #56
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Kottayam
Posts: 1,081
Thanked: 155 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditya View Post
It is rumoured that Tata Motors is going to display the Aria automatic at the Auto Expo in February 2014. The car is likely to be launched in April.

Link to Team-BHP News Article
Not sure how much the news can be believed.
Quote:
The rear bench seat has been replaced by two captain seats. The quality of the plastics and upholstery is expected to be improved.
I dont think any one will put captain seats on last row. It makes sense to make the second row as 2 captain seats, for better comfort. A better option is like what Toyota Highlander does, a middle seat that can be removed or tucked under, which will give a captain seating for regular use, but can use 3rd seat in case of emergencies.
On a side note, i think, Indians have not accepted Automatic Transmission yet. What is the ratio of Manual vs AT with Fortuner? What happened to Scorpio AT? Why XUV is not available in AT yet?
Aria is currently selling in so small numbers, supporting a model with AT will be difficult for ASS. I would like to see AT on Nano first, then on other vehicles.
People always believe Tata vehicles will be good in its second iteration, first being problemmatic. Let us hope, With exterior and interior changes, V2 may be more acceptable to general public. A good marketing campaign and right pricing with the v2 launch may be what it takes to reach 3 digit sales per month.

Last edited by teamveevee : 29th December 2013 at 00:42.
teamveevee is offline  
Old 29th December 2013, 10:52   #57
BHPian
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 592
Thanked: 828 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

The car buying population baulks at paying big moolah for a TML vehicle, but over time I think it is more sinned against than a sinner. Look at these loosely connected facts

- XUV is also beset with niggles, but does that stop folks from buying that vehicle costing 15 lakhs OTR? No.
- Superb (22 lakhs OTR) with its rampant problems with the DQ200 gearbox is well known (along with Skoda A$$ experience) , VWs shameless disregard for its customers in India (compared to other countries) is also well known- does that stop Polo GT TSI or now Vento TSI from flying off the shelves, some even by well informed worthies in TBHP? Not at all !!!

Not to condone the less-than-acceptable quality and A$$ experience of Tata , which they definitely need to improve. But I think Karl Slym's immediate attention should be focused on solving their "image problem" on a war-footing. This should include scheduling all test drives and press meets outside India, the more exotic the locales the better, "targeted spend of marketing budget", focus on gradually reducing "noise" from influencers etc.

Then, maybe even Tata will have auto journos clarifying/ almost certifying on his own accord on twitter that the recall they twitted about have no bearing on the India portfolio- so no worries. "No worries? really????" That is the kind of "positive advocacy" that TML needs.

Disclaimer- I have no association with TML. I have owned an Indica eV2 once. I have sold it. It was a good car but not a great experience overall. But as I said, with time, I have realized that TML is more sinned against than the sinner :-) They deserve to do FAR better than they are doing.
Contrapunto is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 29th December 2013, 12:03   #58
Senior - BHPian
 
wilful's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: cochin
Posts: 1,277
Thanked: 1,227 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

Quote:
Originally Posted by Contrapunto View Post

Not to condone the less-than-acceptable quality and A$$ experience of Tata , which they definitely need to improve. But I think Karl Slym's immediate attention should be focused on solving their "image problem" on a war-footing. This should include scheduling all test drives and press meets outside India, the more exotic the locales the better, "targeted spend of marketing budget", focus on gradually reducing "noise" from influencers etc.

Then, maybe even Tata will have auto journos clarifying/ almost certifying on his own accord on twitter that the recall they twitted about have no bearing on the India portfolio- so no worries. "No worries? really????" That is the kind of "positive advocacy" that TML needs.

Disclaimer- I have no association with TML. I have owned an Indica eV2 once. I have sold it. It was a good car but not a great experience overall. But as I said, with time, I have realized that TML is more sinned against than the sinner :-) They deserve to do FAR better than they are doing.
I would agree with you there. They definitely need an image makeover or rather their vehicles do. They need to bring in (at least major portions of) those attractive concepts.
I also agree to your latter point about being more sinned against. But the weapons to change those negative perceptions lie solely in their hands.
wilful is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th December 2013, 13:34   #59
Senior - BHPian
 
GrammarNazi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,419
Thanked: 3,490 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

Quote:
Originally Posted by Contrapunto View Post
... But I think Karl Slym's immediate attention should be focused on solving their "image problem" on a war-footing. This should include scheduling all test drives and press meets outside India, the more exotic the locales the better, "targeted spend of marketing budget", focus on gradually reducing "noise" from influencers etc...
Agree with the rest but I doubt Tata's would do anything unethical (trying to influence journo opinions by almost "Bribing" them!). We're cheating ourselves if we push auto-makers to follow such practices!

IMO They should re-build the brand highlighting the strengths of their products. Apart from that, revamp the servicing section so as to gain maximum control over service centers and strengthen internal controls.

As consumers we shouldn't be led to accept products with biased reviews. The whole purpose of this community is to help those vulnerable to being misled. We want a product for its qualities on merit of specifications. Building hype is justified, but attempting to mislead people, isn't.

As a reasonably informed consumer, if I felt service is an issue, I'd want majority of the service burden on them, so they'd have absolutely no other incentive but to improve the service. I suppose a 5+2 year warranty (+Ex. W) offer covering almost absolutely anything, could do - Even if its offered at a premium.

P.S. : And we're already seeing such a change - AFAIK warranty claims at TaMo Service are the smoothest as per industry standards.
GrammarNazi is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 29th December 2013, 16:34   #60
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: N.A
Posts: 7,046
Thanked: 2,751 Times
Re: SCOOP: Tata Aria with Automatic Transmission

Quote:
Originally Posted by Contrapunto View Post
But I think Karl Slym's immediate attention should be focused on solving their "image problem" on a war-footing. This should include scheduling all test drives and press meets outside India, the more exotic the locales the better, "targeted spend of marketing budget", focus on gradually reducing "noise" from influencers etc.
I would tend to agree with that line of action - while their cars aren't trouble-free, we see other equally troublesome brands being spoken about positively and that is mostly due to such influences.

It still won't stop the guys who are out there just to create noise, but once you take care of the majority such irritants should not matter - every brand has a bunch of such detractors who will continue to tilt at the windmills.
Steeroid is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks