[PPS]

Media drive of the Bolt happening tomorrow in Udaipur! Hopefully we will stop seeing those camouflaged test mules now which everyone is tired of.

[Latheesh]

Blue for Zest and RED for Bolt! Pic from media drive, Udaipur.
Reviews will be out only after 10th Dec.
source:twitter

[rsquared]

WOW!! Those red Bolts look positively stunning!! Any info if the AMT is going to be available?

[JayD]

Autocar India mentiones that the Bolt will get only the 74hp motor and no AMT. If that's the case, it's a massive blunder from Tata. Especially the lack of AMT.

http://m.autocarindia.com/Article.as...pe=News&page=1

Tata should realize that they are almost at the bottom of the interest pile when someone wants to buy a family car. (only above maybe fiat and GM ) and their cars need some USP to pull buyers to the showrooms, and at least generate some interest.

The zest did the same partially due to the AMT box and the cheapest auto diesel combo, which generated massive interest and brought people to the showrooms. Many of them would eventually book the manual, but still it's a sale for Tata.

The bolt has suddenly gone from being a game changer to an Indica vista with a botox job.
I really hope Tata realizes this and gives us the auto box.

[Reinhard]

The Bolt no matter from which angle, always looks like a Vista with a mod-job (which it is). Yes the dashboard is better. The suspension setup may be more sporty. But still...I sincerely think they should have used the same platform (as Vista, Zest) but used a totally different body kit with absolutely NO body panel reused. They should infact have made a boxier car instead of the same curvy one. Or even something totally out of the world. Even whacky n weird like Ritz / Beat would have been better.

It will be pretty hard to get the Vista out from the Bolt & that might still turn customers away. I see this as a failure of the TML design and market analysis teams. They've primarily re-used most of the monocoque from the Vista in these cars and I feel it will not be too beneficial in the long term.

Okay it would have taken more money to design a fresher car. But the Vista wasn't making too much money on its own sales off late anyway (excluding the cab market).

[zenren]

Originally Posted by JayD

Autocar India mentiones that the Bolt will get only the 74hp motor and no AMT. If that's the case, it's a massive blunder from Tata. Especially the lack of AMT.

So much for the rumours about Tata pitching in Bolt as a sporty hatchback! 75PS as the only option means it is just going to be another of those people movers and Tata is unlikely to make a mark with it. Looks like a Brio-Amaze situation for these 2.

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by JayD

Autocar India mentiones that the Bolt will get only the 74hp motor and no AMT. If that's the case, it's a massive blunder from Tata. Especially the lack of AMT. Tata should realize that they are almost at the bottom of the interest pile when someone wants to buy a family car. (only above maybe fiat and GM ) and their cars need some USP to pull buyers to the showrooms, and at least generate some interest. The zest did the same partially due to the AMT box and the cheapest auto diesel combo, which generated massive interest and brought people to the showrooms. Many of them would eventually book the manual, but still it's a sale for Tata. The bolt has suddenly gone from being a game changer to an Indica vista with a botox job. I really hope Tata realizes this and gives us the auto box.

Originally Posted by zenren

So much for the rumours about Tata pitching in Bolt as a sporty hatchback! 75PS as the only option means it is just going to be another of those people movers and Tata is unlikely to make a mark with it. Looks like a Brio-Amaze situation for these 2.

The production cost of a Bolt with all of Zest's features would probably be 95% of the Zest's cost, if not more. Would the Indian public be prepared to spend on Bolt 95% of what it would spend on a Zest? Reducing features in Bolt would translate into bigger price gap between the two cars which is good from a product positioning perspective. Having burnt their hands with Vista 90 petrol as well as diesel, Tata is just being realistic in targetting the aam junta rather than the performance minded.

[ILTDrive]

It is really unfair to compare the bolt to the Vista even without having seen the car in real yet, except for the test drive mules. I encountered some of these test drive vehicles on my high way drive recently and they look real nice, and they over took me pretty easily though I was driving at almost 100kmph and there was no hint of black smoke anywhere.

My take, give them the breathing space and I am sure they are here to surprise us, hope TATA wont surprise me for saying this

[theredliner]

They had mentioned that the Bolt will get 75PS whereas Zest will get 90PS, the day these cars were unveiled for the first time.
But yeah, I agree that it is a bummer as I too had thought that they will change their strategy. I still have hopes that at least the top variant will get the 90PS motor.
IMO, Tata should try to get as many customers as possible and for that they should start giving more options to the customers even if it means taking a not-so easy path.
The pricing should be aggressive too, not just good.
If they try to make immediate profits by taking the easiest path, they'll be digging their grave deeper at a time when they have a good chance of climbing back.
They should try to make their products stand out as much as possible compared to their competitors. Otherwise, why would a buyer(esp. mass market) invest in the facelift of a car, famous for being a cab coming from a manufacturer with poor reputation, resale etc. when you have competitors offering proven cars with higher reliability, resale, good service and brand value?

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but had to say what I felt.

[chncar]

Originally Posted by zenren

So much for the rumours about Tata pitching in Bolt as a sporty hatchback! 75PS as the only option means it is just going to be another of those people movers and Tata is unlikely to make a mark with it. Looks like a Brio-Amaze situation for these 2.

Practically speaking this makes almost no difference. The difference is mainly on paper and to an extent at high speeds on the highway (where the 75 PS engine is no slouch either). On 90% of Indian roads the 90 PS engine has no real advantages, and might actually have more turbo-lag, if the Punto test drives are anything to go by.

Originally Posted by Reinhard

The Bolt no matter from which angle, always looks like a Vista with a mod-job (which it is). Yes the dashboard is better. The suspension setup may be more sporty. But still...I sincerely think they should have used the same platform (as Vista, Zest) but used a totally different body kit with absolutely NO body panel reused. They should infact have made a boxier car instead of the same curvy one. Or even something totally out of the world. Even whacky n weird like Ritz / Beat would have been better.

It will be pretty hard to get the Vista out from the Bolt & that might still turn customers away. I see this as a failure of the TML design and market analysis teams. They've primarily re-used most of the monocoque from the Vista in these cars and I feel it will not be too beneficial in the long term.

Okay it would have taken more money to design a fresher car. But the Vista wasn't making too much money on its own sales off late anyway (excluding the cab market).

I think this is a bit harsh, the Bolt and Zest are stop-gaps anyway according to TML, till they come out with the completely new products. Under the circumstances, budget, and timeline, they have done a heck of a job. The main complaint about Tata was quality and they have almost done a complete 360 turn on that front, with the Bolt and Zest. There is a long way to go, but this is as good a start as one can expect.

[sachinayak]

Originally Posted by JayD

...the Bolt will get only the 74hp motor and no AMT. If that's the case, it's a massive blunder from Tata. Especially the lack of AMT.

Zigwheels mentions otherwise. Lets wait and watch.

Bolt will be available in both petrol and diesel engines and an automatic option for the diesel version.

Source -
http://www.zigwheels.com/gallery/sli...ery/20392/1/10

Further, the gallery shows an all black interior, so all the complaints about the funky orange interiors should be put to rest (though IMHO it looked really good). And does it show in-built navigation, that was missed in the Zest?

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by chncar

I think this is a bit harsh, the Bolt and Zest are stop-gaps anyway according to TML, till they come out with the completely new products. Under the circumstances, budget, and timeline, they have done a heck of a job. The main complaint about Tata was quality and they have almost done a complete 360 turn on that front, with the Bolt and Zest. There is a long way to go, but this is as good a start as one can expect.

The Vista was also pretty good on quality. It isn't / wasn't as bad as people perceived it.
In fact, my version - the Drivetech4 (last before Manza face was launched) has proper premium soft touch dashboard and door trims. No other hatchback has it. Sadly, nobody even in TML showrooms / workshops know about it . It was discontinued in the next refresh (sedan class).

As for the "stop-gaps", virtually ALL cars in TML's line-up are now stop-gaps. Absolutely none are setting any sales charts on fire except for the moderately successful Zest. So if they are going to launch a car - Bolt - 1 year after it was unveiled in the previous Auto-Expo, thats quite a disappointing stop-gap. They should once look at what all arrived in the showrooms of other auto makers in the same duration.

So no, I don't think the "stop-gap" and "they are getting there or there about now" excuse works any more. The complete product portfolio was wonderful always. It was the horrible marketing & sales staff and disastrous pricing gimmicks that have left them where they are. The Bolt should have been launched much earlier. With time, people are now noticing that the Zest and Bolt are really almost totally Vista from outside & that will impact the Bolt sales for sure. It was a poor attempt to claim Zest was born first & Bolt came later. I hope it is the last of their marketing mistakes.

(PS - All said, if I was in the market for a hatchback - it would be the Bolt. If I was shopping for a notchback - it would be the Zest. I wouldn't visit any other showroom.)

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by chncar

Practically speaking this makes almost no difference. The difference is mainly on paper and to an extent at high speeds on the highway (where the 75 PS engine is no slouch either). On 90% of Indian roads the 90 PS engine has no real advantages, and might actually have more turbo-lag, if the Punto test drives are anything to go by.

Yes, maybe in the Swift, but in the Vista the 75BHP was relatively slow, even the 90bhp Vista couldn't match the Swift in performance (kerb weight playing here).

The Bolt could very well do good with the 90bhp especially with the present rivals, but then product differentiating between the Bolt and the Zest would play havoc.

[rki2007]

Design = Zest in the front and Vista all through out!!!! Very disappointing. Some what looks unfinished and unappealing to me.

Interiors looks neat and good.

If the specifications of Zest is the same for Bolt, then which one will sell , Zest or Bolt. What will be the difference!!!!

Happy to note that AMT in the Diesel version is available. But what about Petrol??. Neither it is available in Zest too.

Pricing will have to be very competant and also there should be a considerable amount of difference in price between Zest and Bolt which will make sense for a car buyer to select Bolt

All the best Tata.

[sachinayak]

Originally Posted by sachinayak

And does it show in-built navigation, that was missed in the Zest?

Answering my own question, YES IT DOES, but with some limitations. Not bad, i say !!!



Source : TAI forum
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/fo...0-45-a-57.html