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View Poll Results: Tata/Mahindra Owners: Did "Patriotism" Play A Role In Your Car Purchasing Decision?
Absolutely! I always believe(d) in buying "Desi" 34 15.89%
Maybe. At a sub-conscious level perhaps. 70 32.71%
No. I bought a Mahindra/Tata because of its qualities. 110 51.40%
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Old 14th January 2013, 19:00   #1
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Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

A friend of mine was looking to buy a SUV and had shortlisted Duster & XUV 500. But after watching many episodes of Top Gear - where the presenters point out all that's wrong with British cars (Jaguar, LR, Rolls, Bentley, Mini), but still declare them as the winner because they are "British" - he has suddenly turned "patriotic". And now he has dropped the Duster and now doing XUV 500 Vs Safari Storme Vs Aria research.

And that got me thinking - Does "patriotism" have a role to play in car purchasing decisions of Indian public? I would broadly define "patriotism" in this context as -

- Shortlisting products from only Mahindra & Tata.
- Shortlisting other brands too, but eventually opting for a Mahindra/Tata because it is "Indian", inspite of knowing their shortcomings.
- You feel that buying a Mahindra/Tata will help the Indian auto industry (in terms of R&D jobs etc)
- You believe that buying a desi product will encourage Tata/Mahindra to develop better products, expand globally and hence increase India's standing in the eyes of the world.

What's your take on this?
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Old 14th January 2013, 19:08   #2
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

We have to look at patriotism in the context of a globalized free-market economy. Tata Motors itself is an MNC after acquisition of JLR; which I think is a good thing.

Personally; the nationality of the company does not factor-in while buying a car.
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Old 14th January 2013, 19:19   #3
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

smartcat , you should add "Sensible pricing" at which they are offered to the poll apart from being Desi!

In my case i can easily afford an Pajero sports or Fortuner or even a FL2. But IMO they are insanely priced and i would like to stick to any desi stuff under 15L with reasonable reliability and features.

In my case Patriotism too plays a part while buying. In the end final decision depends on acquisition cost and easier to maintain for at-least 5 years get my thumbs-up.
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Old 14th January 2013, 20:07   #4
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

I went through the same delimma, I thought I was confused between Mahindra XUV500, Tata Safari, Tata Aria, Toyota Innova. But in fact the true confusion was whether Mahindra, Tata or Toyota. When I remove these prefixes and only thought XUV500, Safari, Aria or Innova. It took me only a second to know that Aria was what I wanted.
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Old 14th January 2013, 20:33   #5
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

I do not own a Tata or Mahindra but my father and uncle while buying a new car always go for maruti-suzuki.
When i came across this poll i told my dad "Mahindra and Tata are true Indian companies and not Maruti Suzuki".(I don't know if i deciphered this thread wrongly please correct me if i am wrong)
Could some one please explain me about Maruti Suzuki partnership. Isn't MS an Indian company too ?
Thank You.

-Bhargav
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Old 14th January 2013, 22:33   #6
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

Oh yes, I totally agree. Although I do not own either a Tata or Mahindra, I would definitely think of them for their 'Indianess'. After all although Tata may not have the best fit and finish, it can still go any place without fuss. Come to think of it, the Jags of 60's and 70's were of inferior quality too. Yet the Orangutan (if you watch TG you will know who!) voted them as legend cars because of it's Britishness.

But on a realistic note, I would choose to buy a Tata or Mahindra only because they are cheaper than some import alternatives. And come on, who does not love the Scorpio? :-)

Cheers!
Rohan
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Old 14th January 2013, 23:01   #7
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

I look up to Tata and Mahindra because of what they offer and not from where they belong to.

Show me one more car which is as good a combination of quality, space, comfort, fuel efficiency and features as the Manza Club Class or the XUV.

MSIL too is as good as an Indian Co IMO.
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Old 15th January 2013, 00:17   #8
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

I have been one of the prominent users of M&M UVs. Right from the Armada to Bolero to Scorpio Gen 1 to Scorpio mHawk to XUV. BUT, none of the cars were bought because it is made by an "Indian" manufacturer. We truly appreciated the ruggedness, reliability and value for money of all Mahindras and it suited our needs more than the competitors, that's about it.

And I am a genuine believer that TATAs and Mahindras indeed make good vehicles, not that others dont!
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Old 15th January 2013, 07:27   #9
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We have had some kind of Jeep, (read Mahindra) always, because my Dad's work required it and the roads where we lived certainly needed it. (And still do, I may add, because urban roads in India are just as lousy.)
The only company making rugged vehicles of the type we wanted and needed, which were capable of carrying passengers, luggage and going off road on bad roads, right through the 70's, 80s and even 90's and 2000's were M&M.
Their vehicles have always been good, rugged, tough, easy to maintain, cheap to run and generally reliable and hassle free.
Rather than attribute our then loyalty to patriotism, it was just because there really was no option other than M&M for our particular needs.
Continuing into my working life, I was only able to afford the acquisition cost of a Mahindra type SUV all these years. I liked them for their value, rugged combination of utility, ability to go more or less anywhere, space and low running and maintenance costs.
For a time I did use the Gypsy but that was always heavy on the running costs on account of being petrol driven and very fuel inefficient too. Not really a good option on a long term basis.
Today, there are a plethora of options open to us so the relative relevance of M&M for our now evolved requirements, has gone down.
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Old 15th January 2013, 07:45   #10
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

No for me there is no patriotism when it comes to car buying. We had bought a Tata Indica a decade back and the reasons were spacious, cheap to maintain and kind of rugged. No where was the decision influenced by the feeling of patriotism.
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Old 15th January 2013, 08:32   #11
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

No patriotism while buying my Bolero. Just simple economics. Only vehicle for which traffic moves, cops do not hassle & fits in my budget !
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Old 15th January 2013, 09:01   #12
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

I've always had a soft corner for Indian brands/products, provided they were within my expectation (5-10% more tolerance). Whether they are cars or apples I use the same criteria.

While I am a consumer with expectations and aspirations, I also allow my being a citizen here as an additionality in choices.

Till two years ago I've always had one Tata or an 'Indian' car in my stable, starting with a Padmini (personal), an Estate (personal), Indica (family) and a Safari Dicor (spouse). I haven't found a car in the Tata stable to suit my current needs (needed an auto box) and inadvertently all our cars are now Toyota!

If there is a Duster equivalent in diesel from Tata, I might replace one Corolla (family car). Why I even considered a pre-owned Tata Sumo Gold recently, only considerations that made me dither were the ingress and egress for the elder members of the family and some features (straight second row seats). Waiting for their rumoured Vista based x-over!

I'd have considered M&M but never much felt comfortable with the driving dynamics over the Tatas (my personal preferences, no offense meant to M&M products' owners) in spite of the fact that M&M's seem to be a wee bit more reliable and with less niggles.

I must also confess that a significant consideration has been value for money too. Why I had considered a Manza but did not like the looks, thought was a li'l amiss in proportions and am not a great fan of the front and back of Manza (again no offense meant to Manza owners).
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Old 15th January 2013, 09:09   #13
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

Patriotism did not factor into the buying decision when we bought the Indica. At that time (end 2005/early 2006) it was the only diesel which was affordable and available in the market. If i recollect the other diesels either moved into the SUV territory (Safari/Scorpio) or Sedan territory (Octavia) which i could not afford.

Hence Tata Indica won by default.If i were to buy a hatchback today, probably Indica would not have been in the running at all.
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Old 15th January 2013, 09:35   #14
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

Cost, Maintenance, Service Network, Pricing, and utility.
Even styling when it came to the Sumo !

But yes, it did feel good to go with Tata. Have grown up looking at Tata buses - it was the first name I became familar with, and somewhere I still identify with Tata.
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Old 15th January 2013, 12:11   #15
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re: Tata / Mahindra Car Owners: Did "Patriotism" play a role in your buying decision?

In the year 2001 when i bought my Indica, it was not because it was an Indian car but because it offered maximum space, reasonable cost (Lesser than others), big on spec (Like all four power windows), and slightly more powerful engine. The AC of Indica fared better than the others that i was considering at that time.

What i missed was fit-and-finish issues, and QC problems that started after about 3 years. For that reason i stayed away from Tata so long.

Now with Storme looking better built and put together i might just look at one seriously, but again not because its an Indian car, but because it gives me more features (All four Disc brakes and 4H/4L) at a lesser cost.
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