[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by tushky

And now when i proved them that the vehicle is not Tata Venture. i am not getting a single reply from Tata Motors. they dont have anything to say now

In my opinion, this is a bigger blunder than a manual mistake in a public document (Annual Report).

Right way to handle this situation would be to do a press release with clarification. Something like:

"Picture shown in report resembles a model released by competition, it represents a vehicle that is under development".

Or they can fess up the error tactfully.

One reason could be that PR agency for TATA is in flux itself (contract is being transferred to new agency). So, no one would bother about account that is going away in few months.

[pacman2881]

Originally Posted by flyingkolors

Exactly. Why Venture of all the vehicles? Arai, Safari, Vista etc etc would have been easier to sketch

Look at it this way- displaying XUV by mistake in place Aria would have the been blunder of the decade . Good that it was Maxximo.

Jokes apart, I guess no one would have noticed this blunder anywhere if it was not for the sharp eyes of tushky. It is a major failure alright but I wouldn't blame TML as long as they learn from mistakes. I hope they did.

[arjab]

What was TML's Corporate Communication department doing ?
Every document emanating out of TML to the media is supposed to be vetted by the Corp Comm. folks.
And as for not recognising their own models, the less said the better - which makes me wonder - maybe TML sales managers, by mistake, are selling the Bolero's instead of the Sumo's hence the Bolero's stupendous performance in Oct-11

[Lalvaz]

Awesome catch Tushky, you are one of the few people I know who actually reads Annual reports in such detail, most people would just skip to the Accounts section and the Auditors report.

Very normal of Tata Motors to deny that its an error. Typical chalta hai mentality. Makes you wonder though, if this is the work culture in the company, and if they can deny an obvious error so casually, do they treat complaints about their vehicles in the same manner?

[kdadi]

Today I saw an advertisement on TV about TATA Magic Iris - a new variant of the TATA Ace platform. I somehow think that the sketch shown in the annual report resembles that of this new product. So could be that it might not be a mistake after all.

[rajess_in]

A real Serious Offense IMO. What were they actually doing? Mahindra might even sue them for violation.

What is actually happening at Tata. On the lighter side they have done a free market campaign for the Mahindras.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by arjab

And as for not recognising their own models, the less said the better - which makes me wonder - maybe TML sales managers, by mistake, are selling the Bolero's instead of the Sumo's hence the Bolero's stupendous performance in Oct-11

On a side note, if you stay outside the gate of Tatas Plant in Pune, you see more non-tata vehicles coming out after shift, which implies most of TM employees do not drive Tata vehicles. So employees are more familiar with competitors products than their own. Tata need to do special pricing for employees. It is a win win for both, TM get long term QA, and employees get a chance to own the product they built with pride.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by kdadi

Today I saw an advertisement on TV about TATA Magic Iris - a new variant of the TATA Ace platform. I somehow think that the sketch shown in the annual report resembles that of this new product. So could be that it might not be a mistake after all.

Not really, the lines don't match. see the Magic Iris shot here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...s-arrived.html

[AbhiJ]

Its just goes to show that there are not enough motorheads/car guys working at tata..

[rohi_rao]

Originally Posted by abhi413

Corporate goof-up at its best! Wish Tata Motors had utilized the money wasted on the consultants for this job towards making efforts to revitalize their better products like the Manza and the Aria!

PS: I'm going to be cheeky and tweet Anand Mahindra about this today just to seek a response!

PPS: Just tweeted! Hope he responds!

Anand Mahindra replied, "anandmahindra anand mahindra
Have not seen it.If true,well,mistakes can happen..@abhieschek :dear sir , came across this.. indiancarsbikes.in/auto-news/scoo… ...your reaction?”"

[rideon]

This goof up is not only with the Annual Report but also on their own Customer Service portal. I don't remember if Tata has any car that looks like a Logan/Verito. This page had been highlighted by me to the Regional office here in Gurgaon, but neither the person nor the related department came back to clarify. As some one mentioned, they can't recognize their own cars.
Below is the URL:
customercare.tatamotors.com/service/antiRust.asp

[ajay0612]

Now that is one short of making a trend! It appears that both Tata & MnM use same customer service agency and Tata is playing catch up game with MnM.

Originally Posted by rideon

This goof up is not only with the Annual Report but also on their own Customer Service portal. I don't remember if Tata has any car that looks like a Logan/Verito. This page had been highlighted by me to the Regional office here in Gurgaon, but neither the person nor the related department came back to clarify. As some one mentioned, they can't recognize their own cars.
Below is the URL:
customercare.tatamotors.com/service/antiRust.asp

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by GTO

P.P.S. I just downloaded the annual report from TataMotors.com and see the Mahindra Maxximo used all of 140 times!!!!!

The Annual Report for 2010 - 11 is no longer available on the above link. Looks like team TATA has finally woken up to this blunder

[pacman2881]

Originally Posted by rideon

This goof up is not only with the Annual Report but also on their own Customer Service portal. I don't remember if Tata has any car that looks like a Logan/Verito. This page had been highlighted by me to the Regional office here in Gurgaon, but neither the person nor the related department came back to clarify. As some one mentioned, they can't recognize their own cars.
Below is the URL:
customercare.tatamotors.com/service/antiRust.asp

I only see a Safari picture at the top. Have they corrected it or am I missing something?

[roy_libran]

Wow!

Now here is some food for thought, and perhaps a Bomb.

How about Tata not just picking up pictures of Mahindra vehicles for their Annual Reports or Websites, but also some of Mahindra's mechanical components for their vehicles. That should do wonders to the teething reliability issues faced by some of their vehicles.

Brickbats Please. :-D