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Finally some good news coming in from Tata Motors. It seems that they have listened to all the rantings and feedback that has come their way about their cars, especially the Vista and Manza. Autocar India has this exclusive report about the new Tata cars scheduled to be unveiled at the AutoExpo next year.

source - http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...po-363463.aspx

Sounds good but I hope its not a case of over promising and under delivering. 1.2 Petrol Turbo sounds fantastic.

Turbo petrol on a newly launched hatchback sounds like fantastic news, but when 'Tata' comes into the equation everything changes.

They have had a decent experience with the Diesel one by now, so if they can come up with a mature product with most gremlins sorted, it might still stand a chance. But petrol would most probably help them generate some headlines only. I for one wouldn't go near it for some years at least :)

Hatchback segment anyway is way too crowded with manufacturers who have improved tremendously with time. Maybe it's a lost cause already. It's good to see them trying hard though.

Oh yes, this sounds good but it pretty much ends there. Team-BHP's render of the 2014 Vista is what you'll get in the Falcon 4. Falcon 5 is the same design with a boot strapped on. "All-new" is bollocks. Both cars built on the existing platform but with improvements all around is what we'll get.

"all-new" models, in the actual sense of the word will come in 2015.

Turbo petrol is a very interesting development. Some people say that J.Anand is involved in the 1.2 liter turbo petrol motor testing at Coimbatore. The 1.4 liter Fiat T-Jet motor isn't being considered due to excise reasons.

Cheers,

Jay

So is the Vista facelift the so-called "Falcon 4"? And the facelifted Manza CS the so-called "Falcon 5"? :eek:

Then why not just call them facelifts/refreshes, instead of giving them fancy project names? :Frustrati

Or are they actually speeding up the development of the new vehicles on the modified platforms, after coming to the conclusion that these facelifts are going to take them nowhere, and will not be able to stop the alarming drop in Tata passenger vehicle sales?

I think so too. We've seen many spy photos of camouflaged Tata cars undergoing testing in Coimbatore. They must be utilising the services of a Coimbatore based specialist in a big way.

The surprising thing is the mention of the 1.2 turbo petrol being based on the Xeta 1.2 engine. The Xeta 1.2's 475 SI is an ordinary engine to begin with. It's basically derived from their 1.4 NA diesel and has its limitations. It's an old school 8-valve SOHC design, unnecessarily heavy, very noisy at higher rpms, doesn't rev freely and is not fuel efficient either.

Unless they drastically change the nature of the engine, it isn't going to endear itself to petrol car buyers. A turbo would surely boost power and torque numbers, but the drawbacks of the engine will still be there.

The 101 PS 16-valve DOHC 1.4 petrol in the Indigo XL would have been a better choice to convert into a 1.2 turbo petrol. I don't understand why the Xeta's 1.2 was chosen over this more promising donor engine for the project.

Its ironic - one can't judge what TML is really thinking. They have a fire on deck - the existing models are not doing too well. And the reason is not that they don't have a competent product on paper - it is because their quality and service experience is just not up to scratch!

They are trying to solve the wrong problem!

But yes, I hope they get their quality issues sorted out with the Falcon atleast.

I think dropping the Vista & Manza names may be the right way to go. They have had a long innings and new names would mean a fresh start without the baggage of the negative perceptions.
The thing that surprises me is the sub 4 meter replacement for Manza. Does that mean they are only going to have a compact sedan?

Sick of hearing TML "planning" to launch any new product - it remains in the pipeline for years after any announcement and is usually stale by the time the product actually comes out of their factory.

They should stop announcing any intent, and stick to releasing products when they actually have a real saleable vehicle in hand. Not concepts announced with much fanfare in Geneva, not dummies meant to hoodwink the public at the Delhi Auto Shows, not 'disguised' test mules that seem to run around forever - just real vehicles in the showroom.

I'm surprised that they are yet to realise that the credibility of their 'new product' press releases are at an all time low - nobody takes these seriously anymore.

To be very honest, what would a turbo petrol do on current chassis. They need to build something like a Swift for that FTD factor apart from such engines.

Was checking on who J.Anand is and found out as ..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Anand

That's what they are good at! Hope Karl Slym will make some serious changes.

I read atleast 6 months back from a product manager or so from TATA that the product offensive will start in the next 1.5 years. If these are the "products" they plan to launch, then sure it is offensive; for the customers! :Frustrati

The Vista and Manza definitely broke away from the Indica/Indigo designs. I remember when I first looked at the Vista at close range, I was expecting an Indica facelift, but was pleasantly surprised to see the Vista didn't look much like the Indica. It was probably the partnership with Fiat but the design certainly was a pleasant surprise.

Then the Nano. It is another innovation by Tata, designed from scratch and actually serving its purpose quite well.

What Tata have to get right is offer the right product mix right at the time of launch. Specially with the Nano I have noticed they aren't fully equipped when it comes to offering the fully loaded version. Even with the Nano they missed out on essentials such as an integrated music system or a cigarette lighter attachment. It took them two years to get the basic features and ergonomics sorted out. I hope the products this time are more complete at the launch time itself.

Probably. But certain renders floating around Warwick didn't resemble anything like the vista family. More like the VW theme.
Yes. In actual and true sense.
There is a deep ongoing exchange with Jaguar on petrol engines. A lot of work is also happening on electronics, etc. The results of these joint efforts could be unveiled prior to the “all-new” range.

It seems Falcon caught testing in Video and pictures.

It is shown by Carwala.com, http://www.carwale.com/news/11485-ta...auto-expo.html

It does say the petrol engine is 'similar' to the Xeta, and not derived from it. So it would be a fresh design IMO.

From the profile of the car in the video, it is definitely a facelift of the current Vista. The photographs at Carwale seem to show a smaller gap between the wheel and wheel wells. Could indicate larger wheels, or wishful thinking.

A turbo-petrol will be brilliant just from the in-city driveability and FE perspective, and if the engine is derived from the Xeta engine, it won't hurt that it should be cheaper than something from a vendor.

A turbo petrol competing against the likes of the Amaze and the Dzire should be interesting, especially as the new govt post 2014 general election is likely to severely reduce diesel subsidy and cap the diesel-petrol price difference at around 5rs.

And with all the talk of engineering synergies between JLR and Tata Motors passenger cars, I hope this new family of petrol engines for Tata Motors has something in common with the new small 1.6/2L petrol engines being developed for small Jags and LRs.

Just to remind people, JLR developed a screaming 500hp 10,000rpm 1.6L twin-turbo engine for their CX75.