[vinces]

1. Marketing.
2. Marketing.
3. Marketing.
4. Marketing.
The four key strategies determining the success or failure of cars and bikes.
Good vehicles with poor marketing examples:
1. TVS Spectra - failure. Honda Eterno - success. (Though TVS Spectra is the better scooter)
2. Maruti Versa - success: inspite of very poor mileage, uncomfortable seating, poor suspension; but very good marketing using the Bacchhans making it look like a premium car.

[pradkumar]

The Tatas for not getting Xover into production still. I had an Indica prior to buying a Baleno 6 months back. I was looking for a 6-7 seater MUV/van (call it whatever) but couln't get anything within a decent budget of around 6.5L. With a family of 2 kids, I need a vehicle with some extra seats when the guests come calling, but the Scorpio, Innova and Tavera are priced higher and are too big for my comfort. In Japan, the Versa is nothing beyond a goods carrier; its only in India that it is a people mover.

[maxbhp]

Originally Posted by vinces

1. Marketing.
2. Marketing.
3. Marketing.
4. Marketing.
The four key strategies determining the success or failure of cars and bikes.
Good vehicles with poor marketing examples:
1. TVS Spectra - failure. Honda Eterno - success. (Though TVS Spectra is the better scooter)
2. Maruti Versa - success: inspite of very poor mileage, uncomfortable seating, poor suspension; but very good marketing using the Bacchhans making it look like a premium car.

I am sorry I partially disagree on your view point. If you had said Marketing plays a key role , it would have made some sense . Just look around you will find examples . I dont think that 100 % of the Indian population zeros in for a vehicle purely for its brand . I'll just give one example.

• Hyundai's have done well with their Marketing but do you think its working with the Sonata Embrera or Tucson ? both are doing really bad. Now I am sure Embrera had more media coverage than anything in that segment. In this case sadly Sonata is not that bad a car .
• Marketing plays a good role . Thats more apt.

[sumitkalindi]

Originally Posted by vinces

. Maruti Versa - success: inspite of very poor mileage, uncomfortable seating, poor suspension; but very good marketing using the Bacchhans making it look like a premium car.

How can you call versa a success???? How many has been sold???

I mean look at its counterparts. ??? I don't see any compact van in the horizon, except one voyeger if that is compact, and Omni. Which is a success.

I understand that as a compact van Versa is really good, it died due to bad marketing/positioning by Maruti. A Blunder by maruti.

[Rtech]

The biggest blunder was made by our Government decades ago when they decided to clamp down on imports and any sort of competition in the market. We are now paying the price for that short-sightedness.

[ksethuram]

As a company PAL, Pugeot, Daewoo, Standard, Mazda, Toyota(DCM). If HM wants to sell the same old amby for a few more years we can include it on this list within short time.

Products - Standard 2000, Pugeot 309 GLD, Versa, Cielo, Nexia, Tucson, Terracan, Sonata, Swaraj Mazda, DCM Toyota, bajaj sunny, Fiat Uno, Enfield Mofa, Etc...
Could remember only these.... will post when i recall more.....

[maxbhp]

The Question is What you feel is the Biggest(one) blunder made by a manufacturer in the last 10 yrs thats post 1995 period. Try to be elaborate if you can.

[prabuddhadg]

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

Is it true that Tata wanted to launch Honda Accord in India in late 80s but couldn't?

Yes, you are right. Years back I had heard that Tata's were again getting into a JV with a foreign company, (earlier there had been Merc for trucks, I am not sure if it was for cars too) and this time we would get the Honda Accord, supposedly a polular car.
But then it sent on and on for very long and then the Standard 2000 came out; after that the talk of the Tata JV petered out.

[revharder]

i guess, Peugeots were trying to launch some other car after those 309s.
does anyone know anything about those cars which we missed by such a small margin!

[mxx]

Mitsubishi, for making all the wrong moves in Indian market.
1) JV with HM
2) Not upgrading lancer
3) Continuing to sell oudated versions of existing models
4) Not introducing new models

The award for the best blunder has to go to HM for continuing to sell an obselete stuff as a vehicle, the ambassador.

[veyron1]

Originally Posted by Rtech

The biggest blunder was made by our Government decades ago when they decided to clamp down on imports and any sort of competition in the market. We are now paying the price for that short-sightedness.

Amen...I just hope that the govt. sees the light soon; at least with Yamaha, since it seems to be the sole manufacturer asking them to scrap the duty and homologation structute off the SBK's...

Well, as for the blunders; if you don't count the time period, three legendary ones come to mind;

a) The launch of Sipani's Dolphin,
b) The launch of STD 2000, and
c) The launch of the RD 350....

[v12]

Maruti for being anti-diesel at the beginning and then after realising the market for small diesel cars launched the ZenD and then the Esteem D. Both of which were flops.

Mitsubishi for not upgrading the Lancer. Giving us generations old car. Hyundai is doin the same thing now. Wonder why its waiting so long to launch the new Accent.

Peugeot - everyone knows abt it.

Honda - discontinuing the old City VTEC. The OHC VTEC still commands a great resale.

Toyota - For discontinuing the Toyota Qualis and replacing it with the Innova. Toyota should have realised that the Qualis and the Innova cater to different markets.

BMW - for launching and struggling to sell a single cylinder BMW-badged motorcycle for 5.5 lakhs.

Hero Honda - Not upgrading the CBZ.

Yamaha - Still stuck with commuter (and wierd looking) bikes. And for true performance enthusiasts they are gonna import the R1 and the R6. What about those in between????

[Revvhead]

Here's my take on it

Its Daewoo panicking about their drop in sales post intoduction of the Ford Escort & Opel Astra and dropping their price by 2 lakhs overnight in an effort to win back buyers.

All the succeeded in doing was really upsetting their current owners (esp the guys who bought like a week before the drop) abnd driving away the potential buyuers coz suddenly it lost all its brand image , became the "discount car" and at that time the car market was still not that hot and not everyone could afford to buy these machines. So, the people who could were looking for status, which Daweoo had just slaughtered.

You ask any cielo owner / people who have beed driven in one- they love it. Still say its one of the most comfortable cars they have sat in.
The car itself was good

It got hammered in the milage dept, but then what milage does the Astra actually give?? Its the same as the cielo-
The spares were expensive so it got a bad name- but what about astra spares??
the less said about the escort diesel the better- That thing used to make one heluuva racket
and who ever heard of a petrol escort

Daewoo should have braved out the dip, maybe offered a slight discount , and some extra luxurious goodies \costing them 50K, rather than a 2 lakh price cut. they ate into their reputationa and prfitability and i'm sure impacted the sale of the Matiz in some was as well -(read owners who paid a high price for a cielo, whould have been mad enuff at daewoo not to want to buy the Matiz as their 2nd small car.)
They failed to aggressively deny/attack the claim of bad FE or market the high points of their cars .


GTO- while yr point on maruti is very interesting-hadnt thought of that- more being sluggish and lazy than a huge blunder. A loss for the consumer yes, but much less so for the company

the SIpanis in general also blundered in almost every step of everythinh with every car they brought out.

[maxbhp]

Originally Posted by Revvhead

Here's my take on it

Its Daewoo panicking about their drop in sales post intoduction of the Ford Escort & Opel Astra and dropping their price by 2 lakhs overnight in an effort to win back buyers.

All the succeeded in doing was really upsetting their current owners (esp the guys who bought like a week before the drop) abnd driving away the potential buyuers coz suddenly it lost all its brand image , became the "discount car" and at that time the car market was still not that hot and not everyone could afford to buy these machines. So, the people who could were looking for status, which Daweoo had just slaughtered.

You ask any cielo owner / people who have beed driven in one- they love it. Still say its one of the most comfortable cars they have sat in.
The car itself was good

It got hammered in the milage dept, but then what milage does the Astra actually give?? Its the same as the cielo-
The spares were expensive so it got a bad name- but what about astra spares??
the less said about the escort diesel the better- That thing used to make one heluuva racket
and who ever heard of a petrol escort

Daewoo should have braved out the dip, maybe offered a slight discount , and some extra luxurious goodies \costing them 50K, rather than a 2 lakh price cut. they ate into their reputationa and prfitability and i'm sure impacted the sale of the Matiz in some was as well -(read owners who paid a high price for a cielo, whould have been mad enuff at daewoo not to want to buy the Matiz as their 2nd small car.)
They failed to aggressively deny/attack the claim of bad FE or market the high points of their cars .


GTO- while yr point on maruti is very interesting-hadnt thought of that- more being sluggish and lazy than a huge blunder. A loss for the consumer yes, but much less so for the company

the SIpanis in general also blundered in almost every step of everythinh with every car they brought out.

No offense , but If you have read the Auto Biography of Lee Icoccca , you would have an Idea of how tough it is to steer a company at the time its making uncontollabel lossess . MAy be that Daewoo was denied supply of parts from vendors coz of cash crisis. They had no choice but raise cash some how .

Its there in every field..nowadays ..." 995 rs and lifelong validity - Idea started it but soon everyone followed it , when they need to raise cash I guess there isnt much of a choice" ....

I really feel bad for Daewoo...but I dont think they could have recovered. But what you had said where very relevant points . At times you need to answer mutiple choice questions with only one choice. I mean if Daewoo had stayed they would have really rocked with Optra and Spark...but sadly....they had to walk to their Grave too soon....

[Revvhead]

No Offence taken,
However,
I dont dispute that Daewoo were in trouble worldwide, but iirc the trouble started , or at any rate got to a head, Well after they ran the price cuts on the cielo and made a mess of the whole affair.
When i bought My Matiz in Oct 2000, there was still no sound of Daewoo being in Big trouble or closing down their India operation at all.

IMO all their cars well supeirior in most respects to their Korean counterparts
be it in construction or interiors.
You will not find a Matiz with a hanging bumper- you may find a dented one,that too only with a local dent, but to get it to hang have to tear it off- But sneeze on my baleno bumper and it will hang from one end out of fright.
In any case these are the factors that aggravated it,

But your main query was- Whats the biggest blunder by an indian Car manf- that was my answer to that specific query