[CRtorquefan]

That's quite Inspirational & motivational.
This is more than the best to begin with being a chief of such a capable company where Resources are lying in aplenty but what all needs to be is to arrange them in a best possible way.

Lets hope for the best for TATA from their new & highly capable MD, Karl Slym.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by zenren

swiftnfurious, thanks for the correction.

While checking Tata Aria's official site, came across one of their sub sites tatasuv.com and was shocked to see below vehicles in Tata's SUV list:

Sumo Gold
Xenon XT
Venture

Can someone help me understand Tata's SUV definition? Sumo atleast has a shape similar to a SUV but the other two?

Actually Sumo, Venture are MUVs and Xenon is a pickup truck. But in India perceptions differ, hence Sumo and Xenon is a SUV. Callling a van like Venture a SUV is quite funny though.
Mahindra too calls the Bolero and its variants as SUVs Qualis and Sonalika Rhino were called SUV by some folks, so I guess it goes with the territory!!

[safari_lover]

Here's the video for NDTV Profit's interview with Karl Slym.

http://profit.ndtv.com/videos/ndtv-s...ameplan-251166

[pganapathy]

Looks like Karl Slym really has his work cut out for him. Tata is now fourth and there is no reason Toyota can't overtake them given they are planning some refreshes to their range soon.

Looks like being number two is going to be a pipe dream with the way Hyundai and Mahindra are growing. With regards to challenging Maruti, at present all their vehicles sales are roughly equal to that of the alto only, and that is a petrol car, in a highly dieselised automobile environment, courtesy of a skewed government policy.

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

Looks like Karl Slym really has his work cut out for him. Tata is now fourth and there is no reason Toyota can't overtake them given they are planning some refreshes to their range soon..

True, in next 5 years, Hyundai, Maruti and Toyota will be top 3, not sure in which order, followed by Mahindra and Tata. Then comes the rest.
But i strongly believe Tata can overtake Mahindra. A remodelled(!whenever that happens) Sumo can curtail the nos of Bolero. No chance for XUV sales to go up, but good chance it may go down eventually (after the festive season).

[ajay9252]

Tata Motors was the only company to show that the country can be self reliant, even though it had no past experience in manufacturing cars (they only made trucks using Daimler / Cummins technology till then). And I will always love them for showing the world that we can - be it through the Indica Rover or the Nano.
Mr Tata had earlier brought international figures into the company (Dr Sumantran, ex-GM). Now it is the turn of Mr Slym to rebrand the company, with the JLR acquisition.

[apachelongbow]

What Tata need today is one power brand. A vehicle which is exciting enough to draw customers to the showroom. Second they need to up their after sales service and interior quality. The second and third aspect are already in improvement and should stabilize soon. The idea of no new launches and only refresh until quality is taken care of, seems to be on track and should payoff soon.

Once this exciting new product is in place (I hope Mr Dabar is on the job) we should see increase in sales and a excitement around Tata.
The new Storme, Vista, Grande and Sumo are far better products than their earlier iterations and honestly dont seem bad or out of place when compared to the competition.

[safari_lover]

Here's another interview of Karl Slym. This time with CNBC TV18. He stresses the need for better brand positioning and sort of confirms a SUV-like looking vehicle and may be a new car in the <4m segment.

We have the real tough SUV. We have the car that can do anything in the Safari Storme. But there are many people now looking into that segment. They don’t really necessarily need a car that can perform like an SUV, but might look like an SUV.
Therefore, that’s a segment that we haven’t really played in properly in the past. We have always done the real SUV as opposed to the one that’s okay for the streets of, let’s say, Mumbai. That is an area where we need to develop.

If we look at the other areas, over 70 percent vehicles in India are in the sub-four metre category, in the small segment. We have cars there. But it is so de-segmentized in that area that we have opportunities for other cars in that same segment.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/new...rs_779976.html

[PPS]

It seems Tata Motors wants to set some sort of a record when it comes to launching variants.

Here is what Siddharth Vinayak Patankar of NDTV Car & Bike show tweeted yesterday:

Tata Motors to launch 25 new variants of its passenger cars and 6 new variants in the CV segment in the next 6 months. SVP

[harishpr]

Originally Posted by PPS

It seems Tata Motors wants to set some sort of a record when it comes to launching variants.

Here is what Siddharth Vinayak Patankar of NDTV Car & Bike show tweeted yesterday:

That means, 18 additional variations of Manza/Indigo and 6 variants of vistas. WOW, What does that mean to mango men?? Tata is confused. I own a Manza, but it's nowhere near to competitors. Right from clutch, steering to build quality.

An AT box will be a dream on Manza.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please take the time to use proper punctuation as per Team-BHP rules. Avoid...typing...like...this. Thanks.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by harishpr

That means, 18 additional variations of Manza/Indigo and 6 variants of vistas.....

Sorry, some of the variants will be under Nano badge. My guesses are Nano 800, Nano CNG, Nano Auto (?), Manza CS 90, Manza CS 75, Vista 90, Vista CNG, Manza CNG, CR4 variants, Indica / Indigo CNGs, Aria Auto (?), Manza 75 etc. Sure customers are going to be confused!

[safari_lover]

Tata Sons' website has posted transcripts of 12 of its firm's executives. Here are the one from Karl Slym of TaMo and Dr Ralf Speth of JLR.

http://www.tata.com/media/interviews...d=e4yDQ1c6/I0=

Something that caught my attention and I quote,

How is it going with the task of reviving sales of the Nano?

The Nano is a story in itself and I have great expectations of it. I think the Nano missed being what it could be and that’s a shame. The potential was there, the product was there, but for various reasons it didn’t do what it was capable of doing. I look forward to getting the chance to revisit that. Because it’s not only a car; it’s a brand as well. The Tata Nano is known throughout the world so we have a huge opportunity to build a successful brand. We will be working diligently on that; I have a biweekly meeting on the Nano alone to ensure we are doing everything possible.

http://www.uk.tata.com/media/article...d=fjhCZUyKdLw=