[stringbh]

Thanks parrys for much awaited thread. Bad bad time for auto industry. When will tata change plans? They really need some external input to turn things around.

Originally Posted by saurabhdadhichi

Volkswagen's attempt to boost sales for Polo (adding GT) does not seem to be working.

They aren't: VW never aimed at sales with GT. It is a niche product.

[achyutaghosh]

Originally Posted by wanderlustindia

Did we notice that the Swift nosedived from a healthy 17k odd units to a little over not-so-healthy 10k units M-O-M? What could possibly be the reason for such a fall?

I think many of the top end Swift bookings have moved to Ecosport, i addition to entry level Duster ones. The Ecosport is brilliantly priced, base Ambiente variants correspond to top end Swifts.

[ramesh]

Originally Posted by Aditya2703

Any idea why the Ritz is not selling? In my view it's a competent, VFM product. In fact it's just a tall boy sibbling of the Swift. Under the skin everything remains same.

Need to see what is the waiting time for swift now , IMHO Ritz is bought by only those who come looking for Swift but cant wait for long delivery periods.

[KrishD]

I agree with a lot of you.... its really sad to see Tata slipping further yet again. The Storme also does not seem to be doing well.

On the other hand, the Duster has clearly been whacked by the Ecosport's launch, while the XUV recovers somewhat from its June low

[rahul4321]

Who are the 276 people still buying the discontinued Fabia? And i am really saddened that the Estilo sells more than the A-star. The latter in my opinion has strong character, the Estilo is a neither-here-nor-there car. Sad to see the Santro+ i10 sales combined still falls way short of the WagonR Sales; i guess it just shows the brand's popularity with it being the 'Splendor' of cars.

[ramesh]

Originally Posted by cdrin

Tata needs a serious partner from Korea,Japan or even US .Co Branding must. Days of buying Indian brand Car for patriotism is over. It is a global warfare out there. Survival of the Fittest.

Can't their own JLR help ? , or they don't have small car expertise ??

[KrishD]

Originally Posted by ramesh

Can't their own JLR help ? , or they don't have small car expertise ??

JLR definitely doesnt have small car expertise. At the same time, even for SUV's, which is a LR forte, they really play at very different ends of the spectrum. The Safari Storme does have some LR influence in design, but what Tata is really suffering from is image.
Also IMHO, i think they are spread across a very diverse spectrum, starting from the entry level Nano all the way up to the Aria and Storme. One way of addressing their problems could be to identify some specific areas of focus.

[Skyline GT-R]

JLR themselves depend on Ford for Engines, I guess Tata should launch brand engineered versions of Ford cars which sell decent numbers. Tata Tigo & Tata TechoSport anyone?

Apart from the times they launched Indica & later Nano, TATA seems to be off track. trying to sell SUMO to young crowd will not work neither will launching Storme in the decade old shape help things.

I honestly feel sorry for Aria though.

[dreadknight5]

Originally Posted by achyutaghosh

I think many of the top end Swift bookings have moved to Ecosport, i addition to entry level Duster ones. The Ecosport is brilliantly priced, base Ambiente variants correspond to top end Swifts.

I feel it has been better marketed than priced. Ecosport was branded as a compact SUV. It does look good , but in essence it is nothing more than a large hatch. It does look more butch than Swift, but to be honest, thats all there is to it. Again, I am talking about the base model.

What the marketing strategy did was to give people the impression that Ecosport is an SUV. Now when they priced it at 5.99 -9.99, it was an instant hit because people aren't thinking the Ecosport to be a large hatch. They are considering it to be an SUV.

If you look at Nano, the marketing failed and it got projected as a Cheap car. People instantly didn't want to be associated with a "Cheap car image" and they felt that the quality will not be there due to its cost. The niggles and the spontaneous combustion of Nano didn't help its case either.

So, in my opinion - A good Marketing campaign to set people's perception is whats needed to get new customers.

Originally Posted by KrishD

I agree with a lot of you.... its really sad to see Tata slipping further yet again. The Storme also does not seem to be doing well.

On the other hand, the Duster has clearly been whacked by the Ecosport's launch, while the XUV recovers somewhat from its June low

The Storme could have created a storm if launched 4-5 years ago. They waited too long to release the Storme and they ended up releasing it when the market was competitive with the presence of XUV, Scorpio, Duster, Bolero, Xylo, Innova etc.

Originally Posted by Skyline GT-R

JLR themselves depend on Ford for Engines, I guess Tata should launch brand engineered versions of Ford cars which sell decent numbers. Tata Tigo & Tata TechoSport anyone?

Apart from the times they launched Indica & later Nano, TATA seems to be off track. trying to sell SUMO to young crowd will not work neither will launching Storme in the decade old shape help things.

I honestly feel sorry for Aria though.

If TATA could move away from designing all their cars based on Indica's front looks, they would not hurt their case.
Aria looks like Vista's bigger brother and Vista looks like a re-badged Indica.
They seem to be placing the looks department as their least priority item while designing new vehicles. That and their niggles in the new and existing vehicles are driving customers away.

[urajkumar]

Amaze is doing well! Swift sales has dropped but Brio is doing well. If Brio gets diesel, that will be the next leap for Honda. Honda is dangerously close to Toyota and will leapfrog soon to top3 if this continues.

Eco-sport seem to have effected Duster and Balero sales. Need to watch trends more closely to see if it continues in the long run.

The new launches are shifting the dynamics of the market. The petrol to Diesel mix is getting better now which is an another interesting trend.

The overall market is not doing too well which is not good news in the long term. Only silver lining is that people who buy cars now will get the best deals.

[GrammarNazi]

Maruti as usual on the top because of the trust its won & good product placement, but its showing strain with decline in sales of the auto industry.

Hyundai being 2nd is giving a strong fight to others. Dear Hyundai, the "Accident" is out, you need a proper C1 segment sedan.

TATA is falling, some say it'll do well over the long period after better product launches, critics say cheaters never prosper.

I feel they're trying to provide tremendous value but (IMO) have an "over innocent" management system that cannot devise the kind of internal controls that are needed to keep up with the times. Hence you'll find quality control issues and service related issues. They need to develop a method of cross checking things, like have a squad in every city to do a sample survey of which dealer is providing good/bad servicing on a regular basis.

Renault made hay while the sun shone, now its time to provide better value. Better if they choose to keep the brand value high so it commands better value with the newer products. Update the interiors, equipment levels and improve part availability at service centers.

Skoda, down but not out. People will obviously remain scared once they see the horror stories all over the Internet. But VW doing comparatively well, almost x2.5 times Skoda's business.

Chevy Enjoy is enjoying Mahindra Quanto for dinner. Mahindra doesn't look like it'll be able to do anything much anytime soon. It also seems to be trying to fetch some Maruti Ertiga customers. And maybe some Innova Taxi customers.

Nissan only seems to have Sunny & Micra, they need new products, but not half-hearted attempts like the Evalia.

Toyota : What AFTER the Innova? Or do they plan to keep selling it for the next 10 years? Products & Services are excellent, but they do need to update their product portfolio from time to time. Will the next gen Corolla (with the same engine & gearbox options) be priced above the current gen (overpriced) Altis?.

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by cdrin

Tata needs a serious partner from Korea,Japan or even US .Co Branding must. Days of buying Indian brand Car for patriotism is over. It is a global warfare out there. Survival of the Fittest.
One other reason for sluggish car sale not reported in detail is impact of limited offtake through the Canteen Stores Departement,for use by Defence Personnel.Now for purchase through CSD approval at Army HQ requried. This is a dampner

Read on this month's Autocar India mag that Skoda tried selling the entire Fabia car platform (dies, tools, everything) and they were in discussions with Tata for the same, but looks like the discssions didn't go through.

Partering with another global auto manufacturer is fine but independently, they must also look at improving their vehicle and parts' quality. Why is it hard for them to do that when other manufacturers who have localisations above 85% can easily achieve it??

[nmo]

Originally Posted by S.MJet

Yes, Linea nos are improving.
But I am surprised it's not T-Jet effect. Only 35 Petrol Lineas are sold in July. Refer petrol-diesel split on first page.

This is the '1 Lac Exchange /Loyalty bonus effect'. Further, stock clearance offers on 2012 Linea stretched to Rs 1.6 - Rs 2 Lacs which made the MJDs quite affordable.

[HighwayofLife]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Sad situation at Tata. BTW need quick interpretation for a buyer of Storme:

1. Does the sale of Storme going down can result in new and completely revised version soon?
2. Can this sad situation be used for demanding more discounts?
3. What will be the future for the car and the owners, if it continue to go down on sale chart?

You can try your luck. However, when I last checked about 3 months ago, when a similar situation existed, Tata dealerships in Gurgaon were claiming a waiting period for the Storme and offering only INR 30,000 as a exchange bonus on the old Tata Safari.

Not sure what Tata's problem is. Even Mahindra, which has much better sales figures on the Scorpio and other models, is offering big discounts on both insurance, or as discounted pricing.

At this point of time:

1. Given the low sales situation with Tata
2. Tata's poor quality of after-sales services
3. Given the fact that the Storme is both higher priced and without any discounts
4. Given the fact that all Tata vehicles have a lower resale value

It makes all the more sense to go for a Mahindra vehicle

[narayan]

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Sad situation at Tata. BTW need quick interpretation for a buyer of Storme:

1. Does the sale of Storme going down can result in new and completely revised version soon?
2. Can this sad situation be used for demanding more discounts?
3. What will be the future for the car and the owners, if it continue to go down on sale chart?

1. No way. Remember how long Tata took to launch the Storme !
2.Every situation can be used to extract disscounts. Till May there was only a 5k corp discount + 20k exchange ( which is useles because they anyway undervalue your old car ). June - there was 30k loyalty bonus for existing Safari owners. July- 30k for all Tata vehicle owners. Aug - it could be 30k if you can pronounce Tata properly. I got 30k loyalty ( for owning a Vista ) + 15k corporate discount and this is with extremely pathetic negotiation skills.
3. Don't see an issue there. Tata have always supported their cars well with parts