[zulfi hansi]

@GTO, So has the old Pajero (SFX) finally stopped selling or HM has stopped production (as discussed in another thread)? Any news of reinventing the product, which IMO will work wonders, even today there is no close match for this 4x4. I only wish it is relaunched with half its price tag with necessary changes.

[jessie007]

I would like to add to the statistics with figures for segment-wise market share over a period of last month, 3 months and 6 months. These numbers give a fair picture of each vehicles market share within its own segment and whether they are gaining or losing.

Segmentation might not be perfect but I have done it to the best of my knowledge. I have left out vehicles (such as Prius, 370Z) as they have negligible impact in overall market share. Have also highlighted (in yellow) top 10 sellers for each month over the past six months. Hope this is helpful.

Click on an image to enlarge / zoom:

[himanshu_2580]

Maruti seems to be doing an excellant job. While enough has been said about Swift trio, i believe the company has significantly improved its backend ops and It back bone. For a fact I know that company tracks each and every sales call that each of its dealers get everyday.

I have owned Swift for more than six years now and have never faced any issues with servicing. In fact, i seen a gradual improvement in their service levels (in terms of customer engagement, communications etc). The point i am making is that very few companies would put in so much effort on their processes when their blockbuster products (Swift, Dzire) are dominating the segments.

My only compalain is if they could make some more exciting cars...plus, would like to see some more platforms...have been milking swift platform for quite some time now....

[Contrapunto]

Tata vehicles seem to be a strange mix of the very good, the mediocre and the ugly, as is the case with all other manufacturers who have to build a vehicle to a budget. However, it is the mix where perceptions (and sales) are made and unmade. Where to cut costs so that the customer do not perceive it as a "dumbing down" of the product is an art in itself. And as a Tata vehicle owner, I feel this is where they lose out time and again. Is it a case of engineering, I really don't think so - there are worse engineered cars for any model that Tata produces. To me it is a case of deficiency in "product acumen" and a broader "business acumen". I sometimes feel that they apply a commercial vehicle mindset to the passenger vehicle space, which does not work. Examples of this abound. Interestingly, all their innovations in the CV segment seem to work (e.g. Ace, Magic, et al) and it is the others like Mahindras and ALM who are struggling to play catch up.

I think:

- TML needs to realize that that CVs are purchased and owned with a completely different mindset, which does not work in the passenger vehicle segment.
- Long term reliability matters, and for that, customers are willing to pay a premium. Look no further than Qualis/ Innova/ Fortuner for that.
- Service! Service! Service ! Look no further than Maruti for an example. I have lost count of the number of times I got the post service call where I mentioned that "NO, I am NOT happy with the service" only to be served the same question with different wording, all aimed at gaming the survey by getting me to say "yes" to anything.....so its not that the dealer has not invested in a QA/ VOC program. But they have failed to follow up with the management rigor around service discipline.



I want to see TML come up the charts once again. The products are inherently good, and deserve better. And its completely in their control. One killer product and deep introspection on service can change the game for them.

[contactme27]

D2 segments seems to be dominated by fortuner always.

[anujmishra]

It look like other media big wigs also watching this thread and taking cue from this thread. One of the example is today's article on February sales on rediff.com. They have clearly said source: team-bhp.com

http://www.rediff.com/business/slide...s/20130306.htm


See the source in this article.

[volkman10]

Audi reports sales of 775 units, a 20% sales growth in Feb.

A major portion in the growth was driven by the auto maker’s utility vehicle range, comprising the models like Q3, Q5 and Q7.

http://www.cartrade.com/car-bike-new...0in%20February

[sahakar]

Economy gone to the dumps and the car sales too.

Tata may soon be HM unless they do something quick. A diesel or automatic nano will do wonders. Its all about perception one good new model and they can turn around. But do the bureaucrats of Tata know what to do.

Increased excise a further blow to Tata and Mahindra. Only Maruti and to some extent Hyundai weathering then storm.

Next months will be even worse.

Cheers

[volkman10]

Tata Motors February global sales fall 22%, JLR sales up 10%.

Jaguar Land Rover sales stood at 35,485 vehicles, Tata Motors said in a statement on Wednesday, up from 32,257 in the same month last year.

Source: ET

[babu.sundaram]

Bimal, Bangalore is doing a door to door / shop to shop campaign in their territories for Swift!

All Diesel Swifts available immediately and 4 year warranty over standard 2 year warranty. Interestingly, Petrol Swifts have 1 month waiting period!

Looks like sales in March is running South.

[damager21]

I expect Tata to bounce back a bit in March, maybe 15K+ in volumes. It is really surprising to see a manufacturer like Tata which has an array of products, fail to take on the likes of Maruti and Hyundai.

If we look at Vista, I am sure it is more spacious, loaded with features and cheaper than Swift, yet Maruti manages to sell Swift like hot cakes.

Manza is another good product from Tata, yet they are far off from Dzire.

I think there is something seriously wrong that consumers are not at all considering Tata products. Service level is not comparable to Maruti which we all know, but what has changed so much that consumers are OK to buy Swift but not Vista.

[swami.n]

Originally Posted by damager21

I think there is something seriously wrong that consumers are not at all considering Tata products. Service level is not comparable to Maruti which we all know, but what has changed so much that consumers are OK to buy Swift but not Vista.

I don't think its something wrong with the customers. Tata either has lesser quality, if they sell at a competitive price, or price the vehicle too high, if they build it with good quality.
The Aria was a very good product, but priced way too much. If it was placed a bit above the Innova, it would have done decent numbers. The pricing actually took it closer to the Fortuner. At that price point, most look for big on road presence.

On the other hand, it has been sculpted in people's minds that the Indica/Indigo series was of sub standard quality and most used for taxis. Probably they should not have associated the Vista/Manza with the Indica/Indigo series. People still refer to the Vista as Indica Vista and so for the Manza too.

Now they will have to come up with a new series and new design, and totally disassociate from the existing ones and create a new image for the new models.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by damager21

I expect Tata to bounce back a bit in March, maybe 15K+ in volumes.

Tata is in a major stock correction exercise. According to insider's the new management's view is to liquidate / minimise existing stock, then push further stock to dealers. Incidentally, although Tata Motors posted one of the lowest monthly wholesale volumes in Feb-13, the corresponding customer retails from the dealer forecourt for Feb was around 17,000. This comes from a very reliable source. Expect the stock rationalisation to continue for another month or so to level out the demand - supply mismatch.

Unfortunately in our country, we do not get "actual registration data" as not all the RTO's are linked up to a central database and neither are the RTO's decreed by law or voluntary basis to publish RTO-wise/State-wise "actual monthly vehicle registration" figures. That would give us a "true" picture of the numbers consumers are actually buying

Originally Posted by damager21

If we look at Vista, I am sure it is more spacious, loaded with features and cheaper than Swift, yet Maruti manages to sell Swift like hot cakes.

You are right. Apart from what you mention above, the VISTA has much better brakes than the SWIFT LDi/LXi & VDi/VXi pair.

Its sheer brand perception and brand management which the company has to rectify and refurbish. Bung on a Suzuki badge or a Hyundai badge on the nose of the VISTA or the MANZA and you will see sales doubling in a jiffy.

Maybe its time Tata Motors seriously thought about and created a separate standalone brand for it passenger cars - and there's nothing wrong in that. If Toyota can create LEXUS and SCION, Nissan fathered the INFINITI, Tata can and should do it - with their new lineup expected to hit the market 2015 onwards.

[sridhar24]

Seems like Tata has taken quite a big hit with so huge drop in Indica & Vista.
Also quite surprised to see Swift's sales plunging and Dzire's going up at the same time.
Its No surprise that Maruti actually offered immediate delivery of the Swift diesel.
Looking at Duster sales Nissan should definitely prepone the launch of their version of Duster to get that much needed sales numbers to survive and also since Ecosport is coming.

[damager21]

Originally Posted by swami.n

I don't think its something wrong with the customers. Tata either has lesser quality, if they sell at a competitive price, or price the vehicle too high, if they build it with good quality.
The Aria was a very good product, but priced way too much. If it was placed a bit above the Innova, it would have done decent numbers. The pricing actually took it closer to the Fortuner. At that price point, most look for big on road presence.

On the other hand, it has been sculpted in people's minds that the Indica/Indigo series was of sub standard quality and most used for taxis. Probably they should not have associated the Vista/Manza with the Indica/Indigo series. People still refer to the Vista as Indica Vista and so for the Manza too.

Now they will have to come up with a new series and new design, and totally disassociate from the existing ones and create a new image for the new models.

I agree, its important that they take a different design philosophy for each model. A different looking front for Vista as compared to Indica with better quality interiors would pull them back on track and similarly for Manza.

I think they must phase out Indica and Indigo, so people will stop relating these models with Vista and Manza. Also, I think its time Tata starts to focus on bringing more models to the market. Phasing out Indica and Indigo will help generate extra capacity.