[sridhga]

I disagree with most of the comments posted here. I own two Tata cars. This is apart from my two previous cars from Suzuki and Toyota.

I bought Tata Cars because of the value proposition that they provided. I am happy with my decision. Recently when I checked the prices of Tata cars, I was horrified at the high prices. I think the current prices of Indica and Indigo are high and hence the company rectified the same. I do remember the earlier price revisions of Santro, A-Star, Alto, Spark. All those cars were revised downwards and upwards based on the market demand. I believe Nano is slightly overpriced but still, is not a bad value proposition at the current price.

I fully disagree with the comments on sharing the showrooms/service centers with Taxi guys. I found many of those investing in Tata Taxis as well as Tata Trucks are very sophisticated types that it is very hard to look down upon them.

Some Tata service centers fleece customers and, so do some Maruti service centers. However, I managed to get my cars serviced from local guys who are at times affiliated with Tata and sometimes are not. Some of these guys are good at their work and offer good service at reasonable price.

Will I buy another Tata car? Yes ofcourse if, I see value in it. Will I buy a car of another make? Yes again if it offers better value.

[ACM]

Japs grew in time from making what was called "Takladi Mal" (in India) to making what is the most reliable and best engineered products. In time Japanese products became costly and yet provided value due to its reliability and all the while British, German (European in general) and USA products became expensive and manufacturing too costly finally infact US Cars and even say Mobile Phones were considered to be the worst due to not keeping with the time. German products started failing in reliability (mercs etc. ) and Japs became the epitome of reliability.

Korea and Taiwan too went through this (Korea for Cars and Consumer Electronics and Taiwan for Computers and Communication Products). Today Korean products are considered on par with the world. Be it the Samsung phones taking on the iPhones of the world and beating them in providing better value and also selling higher number overall or in Flatpanel Screens beating Sony (Japs) or even in Laptops Acer (Taiwan) , Lenovo (now Chinese) taking on Toshiba (Japs).
We of course know the Korean cars all too well and yes Hyundai quality is ahead of that of Suzuki and however reliable the etios and liva may be they are closer to Indian and chinese build rather than anything from Japan. (Even Suzuki betters Toyota in the case of those to vehicles).

TATA has taken too long and M&M actually though doing well in numbers too is not any different in quality terms. Yep time and patience is running out for the Indians. There is no need for us to pay more for a TATA product if it is not as reliable and long lasting as any other. We of course can consider it if insipite of it's defects it provides better overall value - this is something it did all over the years but not right now, and that is what it attempts to correct by the price revision while it gets it's act together in terms of quality.

The problem is not ASS it is Product Quality and the price positioning for that quality. Pricing can go up but after a product proves it's quality in the market space, till then the Brand will comand the price that a product can be bought for.

[driven646]

Tata needs to realize that the modern, discerning Indian customer cannot be fed the same dated designs, low quality and reliability and the same sub standard fit and finish that all Tata cars are known for.

Sure a cheap price might attract some people but if you want a 'successful' product then it has to also have some semblance of 'quality' engineering behind it.

I personally loathe all Tata cars and jeeps - even when i sometimes have to book a cab - I ensure that it is a Maruti or a Toyota - I can't stand to even sit in a Tata product.

[anu21v]

I guess the reason why tata cars are not selling is because they have a broken partnership with Fiat.

You see, before that partnership ended, Atleast there were customers walking in Tata Showroom to have a look in Fiat Products which Saler Reps were able to divert to Tata Products ("SAAR why do you want to buy Punto/Linea when you can buy Indica/Manza and a Nano in the same money"). Now that they don't have the TATA-FIAT dealership, there are no more customers to be diverted from FIAT to TATA

[shankar.balan]

Hi

I dont think any of us in this world have a right to "look down" upon Taxicab buyers.
They form a very important part of the "bulk purchase" community which keeps the manufacturers capacities used.
No Taxi buyer would buy a fundamentally unreliable vehicle simply because they cannot afford to. The same way that Taxis abroad could be Toyotas, Hondas, Skodas, Mercedes Benz's and even Beemers, depending on where one is travelling about. There is one common thread that runs through all these - reliability, running costs and of course, overall ease of ownership.
Most of these Taxi fleet owners are so well off that they can probably buy and sell the likes of me and you with their pocket small change and not even know about it!
It is indeed unfortunate that our Indian mentality is such that we tend to very easily "look down" upon others - anyone less fortunate or less well off than us is fair game for us self appointed judges, to "look down condescendingly at"!
Tata cars may be crude and so on but they are after all engineered to a price and provide excellent value for money at those price points. Same with Mahindra. If one doesnt want to buy these, then one can always vote with ones wallet and go to another brand!
Personally I would be happy for a reduction in the Indigo and the Manza prices. I also quite like the Vista and would not mind a reduction in price there too.
Quite interested in considering one of these for my folks as their next change.

Originally Posted by sridhga

I disagree with most of the comments posted here. I own two Tata cars. This is apart from my two previous cars from Suzuki and Toyota.

I bought Tata Cars because of the value proposition that they provided. I am happy with my decision. Recently when I checked the prices of Tata cars, I was horrified at the high prices. I think the current prices of Indica and Indigo are high and hence the company rectified the same. I do remember the earlier price revisions of Santro, A-Star, Alto, Spark. All those cars were revised downwards and upwards based on the market demand. I believe Nano is slightly overpriced but still, is not a bad value proposition at the current price.

I fully disagree with the comments on sharing the showrooms/service centers with Taxi guys. I found many of those investing in Tata Taxis as well as Tata Trucks are very sophisticated types that it is very hard to look down upon them.

Some Tata service centers fleece customers and, so do some Maruti service centers. However, I managed to get my cars serviced from local guys who are at times affiliated with Tata and sometimes are not. Some of these guys are good at their work and offer good service at reasonable price.

Will I buy another Tata car? Yes ofcourse if, I see value in it. Will I buy a car of another make? Yes again if it offers better value.

[lurker]

Tata's just need to keep one thing in mind.

When you look at the dashboard plastics and panels close-up, the fit and quality should be as precise and well-built as the best euros around. This will solve the major problem of image. They have made a start with Aria, but it needs to be further worked upon.

Secondly try to integrate bullet-proof electricals and electronics, even if it comes at a cost. The underbody should also be really clean with no bars or nooks jutting out.

that's it.

[hellmet]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Hi

Most of these Taxi fleet owners are so well off that they can probably buy and sell the likes of me and you with their pocket small change and not even know about it!

That is not the best way to talk about human beings. We are not products to be traded. "Tere jaise das aadmi ko khaareed sakta hai woh" type of talk from you is typical of the very mentality you are talking about.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Hi

I dont think any of us in this world have a right to "look down" upon Taxicab buyers.
They form a very important part of the "bulk purchase" community which keeps the manufacturers capacities used.

...

It is indeed unfortunate that our Indian mentality is such that we tend to very easily "look down" upon others - anyone less fortunate or less well off than us is fair game for us self appointed judges, to "look down condescendingly at"!

...

Tata cars may be crude and so on but they are after all engineered to a price and provide excellent value for money at those price points. Same with Mahindra. If one doesnt want to buy these, then one can always vote with ones wallet and go to another brand!
Personally I would be happy for a reduction in the Indigo and the Manza prices. I also quite like the Vista and would not mind a reduction in price there too.
Quite interested in considering one of these for my folks as their next change.

Absolutely.
I agree - with both points.

Transport guys are important (though their behavior many times puts most people off). And Tata cars are quite good on certain aspects - comfort, running costs, serviceability, etc. This weekend, one of my friend wanted to buy a second hand hatchback (budget 1.5 L max) and we test drove many Altos and Satros and Indicas (petrol) - Most of them were in pathetic condtion, but Indica felt the most roomy. In fact, there was one Indica Vista that was very well kept - the pick of the lot I would say. And frankly, I had no expectations from a petrol Indica, but it beats the Santro/Alto gang hands-down.

Originally Posted by hellmet

That is not the best way to talk about human beings. We are not products to be traded. "Tere jaise das aadmi ko khaareed sakta hai woh" type of talk from you is typical of the very mentality you are talking about.

The transport business is full of people who are not very well educated, are into local politics, etc. But some of them are real gentlemen and real hard-working.

In any case, they are an important segment of the hatchback market. I thought what Shankar mentioned was about their financial clout on the market and not the social mess that some of them do create. But not sure if I misunderstood the post or something...

Cheers!

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

No Taxi buyer would buy a fundamentally unreliable vehicle simply because they cannot afford to.

I use call-taxis quite often. Till a couple of years back 9 out of 10 taxis here in chennai were either an Indica or Indigo. Today the number of people using taxis has multiplied. Obviously the number of taxis too have gone up in number, but 9 out of 10 new taxis are non-Tata vehicles. The Veritos, Figos, Dzires, Etioses and Xylos and have completly overtaken the Tata twins.

[shankar.balan]

The intent was not that at all. Some of those guys are really at a different level in business or financially. Most of us wont even realize the kind of funds that they can command. My intent was to show that most of those cab company owners are so much bigger than the average working bloke like myself, that they could, if they wished, literally buy or sell people like me with their pocket change without even realizing it. The intent was to show how big they could be, vis a vis people like me or us, who tend to judge them as cab owners! Not meant derogatorily though you might have got the wrong impression.

Originally Posted by hellmet

That is not the best way to talk about human beings. We are not products to be traded. "Tere jaise das aadmi ko khaareed sakta hai woh" type of talk from you is typical of the very mentality you are talking about.

[TechNomad]

It is the market that has forced TATA to slash prices for two very popular car brands Indica, Indigo. If TATA can command the market forces then their car prices will get a premium - How to do that is something TATA Motors need to think about!

I have owned both Maruti and TATA cars and I do not find much difference between them - for that matter Maruti Servicing is -in some cases-worse than TATA. So the opinion that TATA servicing is always worse than Maruti's (or any other for that matter) is probably biased as well.

[rock75]

The real problem, IMO, with Tata products is not as much as Quality but more of perception.

They have increased prices drastically in last 3 years to be nearly at par with more reliable competition, consider vista , i think it started around s 4.3 lacs for diesel and now it is Rs 5.5 lac and above.

They need to drastically change their design language. May be keep vista as it is and introduce a fresh and modern desingn model of hatch and sedan with new names.

Manza CS is in talks for last 2-3 years and whereas Maruti has introduced the Dzire and taken over the market.

Tata needs to quicken their new product design and time taken to introduce it. I think the nano project took a lot of time and attention and as a result other more viable projects got delayed. Everyone knows what is happening to Nano.

Aria: Accept that it's a failure, use the platform to design a new face and introduce it with a new name at a lower cost.

[getsurya]

My view - The business model disconnect is the reason for TATA motors low sales figures. TATA generally keeps the price range of the products low, however does recover in the long term with service revenues. We used to have two TATA safari's in the stable within our family, both of them are great highway mile munchers, but were very burden some on the wallet!
Quality of Indian cars in general, is pathetic. M & M too is not very great in terms of quality, niggle free performance. They are trying to atleast 'race' with the global brands, where as TATA seems to have developed complacency in the motor division.
Make us proud - TATA, we still respect you as a great Indian brand!

[lurker]

Aria on second thoughts could have been a monocoque chassis. In keeping with the XUV's, Ertigas, Yeti's, Xtrail's, Tucson's etc. It should have been positioned as a soft-roader.

Mission critical parts of Tata cars should be made fail-safe and redundant. Toyota has some of these features built into them corollas. Even if the radiator fails there is a bypass which enables the car to go on. A Tata car should be able to start and go wherever required without any fuss or drama, there shouldn't be even any small niggles on that front. Built-to-a-cost philosophy doesn't work with passenger cars anymore or at least 'Built-to-a-cost-by-Tata' doesn't work anymore. Perhaps 'Built-to-a-cost' Toyota's are the only one's that work.

[volkman10]

Due to the sluggish market condition,Tata Motors wanted to offer attractive prices to our customers to induce buying," said a person close to development.
"The company has slashed prices by 50,000 straight from maximum retail price of Indica and Manza.

According to the dealer, the company is currently sitting on an inventory of 25,000 to 30,000 units at present and it wants to liquidate it before the beginning of the next fiscal.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/18802819.cms