[RavenAvi]

CarToq has posted a major scoop - the Vista D90 has been officially discontinued by Tata Motors.

This is the first major step taken by the company in lieu of introducing the Falcon range of redesigned cars with the Vista facelift being the first in the pipeline of new launches slated in the first half of 2014.

The new replacement is also expected to drop the "Vista" monicker as well.

The Vista D90, a hatchback that features the 1.3 liter Fiat Multijet turbo diesel engine in 90 Bhp-200 Nm guise, was the most powerful hatchback that Tata Motors ever built. With the Vista D90′s discontinuation, it is clear that the Falcon range of cars will be the new “performance oriented” machines from the Tata Motors.

Expect the facelifted Tata Indica Vista, a.k.a the Falcon 4, to be showcased at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. The car features revised styling based on the Manza Hybrid that was first seen at the 2012 edition of the Indian Auto Expo. The interiors will also be revamped with the instrumentation console moving to the right hand side of the dashboard.

Exclusive scoop and full report - http://www.cartoq.com/cartoq-scoop-t...ica-vista-d90/

[safari_lover]

That was quick indeed. Just as the car promised to be. Launch to exit was super quick.

Wonder if it makes the D90 the quickest car to be discontinued after a super publicized launch?

[amtak]

I have a strong feeling that this would make a comeback in the form of the Falcon. I hope I am proven right.

[swiftnfurious]

I hope they reserve the 75 bhp for the taxi "Indica Vista" market alone and provide 90 bhp on all other "consumer oriented" models with a new name. And is the spy shots are to be believed, the car might come with an MID too, atleast in the top variant.

Hope they retain the VFM proposition very well (keeping the market sluggishness in mind) and won't have to go thru all the discount drama right after launch.

[RSR]

This did come as a big surprise at first sight. It's so unlike Tata to discontinue a model, let alone do so after such a short while. The one exception to this so far has been the Vista Safire90.

I don't think the Vista D90 is going to disappear this early. It'll be back after undergoing plastic surgery, and will re-appear wearing fresh attire. Even if it gets a name change, it should be easily identifiable as a Vista, like the Siena & Petra from Fiat.

I believe Tata will do what Fiat and Nissan have done with the Linea and Micra respectively i.e. sell the facelifted Vista under a new name with the 90PS Quadrajet engine (even a turbo-petrol, if it's ready by then) in decently loaded variants. The existing Vista would probably soldier on as a variant family (much like the Linea Classic and Micra Active) with the 75PS Quadrajet, 65PS Safire and maybe even the 71PS TDi in lower variants, as a value for money proposition.

Stopping production of the D90 should enable the dealers to clear existing stock before the new version is unveiled next year.

[mints21]

Sales of Tata motors have been declining in the last few months. The major reason here is the quality. The cars tend to age very fast and require a lot of maintenance. I have spoken to a few fleet owners and they have also moved on to Maruti Dezire and Toyota Etios because of better resale and service. Tata must seriously consider bringing these customers back to their fold and ensure best product that matches international standard with best in class service. Since, Tata is an Indian company, their products do have a reflection on Indian automobile industry.

[lurker]

Tatas are one company who are genuinely fooling around in the passenger car segment. And they justify by their actions, the letter and spirit of the term 'fooling around'. They launch a new line of MUVs and most of the initial ones turn out to be lemons. Then their cars go high on maintenance and do not age well. Just two years down the line, their much hyped 'new launch' is going in for a model change. In a weak moment, if someone had bought into their glib ad-talk and bought into this new model, they would have had a no-longer-in-production car just one year down the line.

[GTO]

Tata definitely needs to consolidate the different trim levels & variants. Else, they run the risk of being permanently badged as "Variant Motors".

Quoting an older post of mine:

Originally Posted by GTO

Tata is not only making its customers confused, but is looking confused itself. Get this:

Indica variants (All info from their website):

eXeta : 8 variants
Indica eV2 : 4 variants
Indica V2 N/A : 4 variants

Thus, you have a whopping 16 variants of the 15 year old Indica!

Indigo:

eCS : 9 variants across THREE different engine options

XL : 3 variants

In all, the ol' Indigo has 12 variants!

Manza

8 variants (the only sensibly positioned car here). 4 each for petrol & diesel.

Vista

TWELVE variants with FOUR engine options.

If I were a potential customer, I'd be sure as hell confused in a Tata showroom . I mean, seriously, does the Vista need FOUR engine options?

Meanwhile, Maruti keeps it simple. The Swift has 3 variants (entry, mid, top) for each of the two engines (petrol, diesel). The Swift & Dzire have sold 20,000 and 10,000 units respectively in some of the recent months.

I can just imagine the scene:

Tata Junior : Sir, our sales are down / flat in the last quarter
Tata Senior : Lets release some more engine options and variants. That should solve matters for sure.

I don't think anyone's going to miss the Vista D90. Seriously, who buys a high powered Indica?

[GrammarNazi]

Not surprised. Somehow, this was because the Vista wasn't placed properly as an offering. Whether taxi or private, people associate Vista as a spacious hatchback meant for the Family, whereas the ads showcased it as a 'sporty hatch' meant for adventure!

As AutoIndian reported, they discontinued the production long back :

...We could have done that, but to tell you the truth, expecting high demand the D90 was produced in large numbers in Q4-2012 & Q1-2013. However TML soon realized that this variant being at premium (compared to the 75ps version) is not moving that fast. Somewhere around Q2/Q3-2013, they have stopped the production of this variant. (confirmed from reliable sources within the factory). Hence even if we shifted the dealer, it was highly unlikely that we could have laid our hands on a recently manufactured car...

TATA had this huge disconnect with consumer sentiment. With people moving to petrols, I guess they read the obvious change and are planning to offer a turbocharged 105bhp petrol hatch - Falcon. (I guess it'll be like a more affordable version of VW Polo GTI. Not many people like VW after sales, and seems they haven't done the deliveries on time too, so there's no 'First Mover' advantage to beat).

[safari_lover]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Not surprised. Somehow, this was because the Vista wasn't placed properly as an offering. Whether taxi or private, people associate Vista as a spacious hatchback meant for the Family, whereas the ads showcased it as a 'sporty hatch' meant for adventure!

As AutoIndian reported, they discontinued the production long back :


TATA had this huge disconnect with consumer sentiment. With people moving to petrols, I guess they read the obvious change and are planning to offer a turbocharged 105bhp petrol hatch - Falcon. (I guess it'll be like a more affordable version of VW Polo GTI. Not many people like VW after sales, and seems they haven't done the deliveries on time too, so there's no 'First Mover' advantage to beat).

Is that power figure confirmed for the petrol?
OTOH, Tata may still carry the 90BHP Quadrajet onto the Falcon, as it bodes well for it's supposed sporty nature.

[saket77]

Surprised by the exit of D90. However, not a good move by Tata Motors I guess. Rather than discontinuing the car even if it was a market dud, TML should have let it die a natural death going through its lifecycle. By killing it, Tata has again reaffirmed its image as treating the customers as Guinea pigs. You name any passenger car and it will show up: be it the first generation Indica petrol, Indica Diesel, Nano, Ingigos, Vista, D90...whatever. The people first to buy these cars have always suffered.
People will be reluctant to pick up cars from the new range too. Sorry for being ignorant, but do the 'new range of cars' look any different from the trademark Indica face or will it just be another D90?

[GrammarNazi]

Originally Posted by safari_lover

Is that power figure confirmed for the petrol? OTOH, Tata may still carry the 90BHP Quadrajet onto the Falcon, as it bodes well for it's supposed sporty nature.

No confirmed figures, I'd read it somewhere. The Fiat 1.3mjd (Quadrajet/DDiS etc) is a time tested engine, no doubt they should choose anything else for Diesel option. I don't think its unfriendly to high revving. But diesels being mostly about torque rather than outright power, I think the main feature would be the turbo-petrol.

Originally Posted by saket77

Surprised by the exit of D90. However, not a good move by Tata Motors I guess. Rather than discontinuing the car even if it was a market dud, TML should have let it die a natural death going through its lifecycle. By killing it, Tata has again reaffirmed its image as treating the customers as Guinea pigs...

There can be a different opinion too. I'd rather its a good thing they don't want to continue more variants in the SAME segment. Like GTO says, they've go SO MANY variants in the same segment that its confusing to the brand image. Point being that they have to move on, whether they want it or not!

Let me put it this way, say you're given 30mins to write an essay, and within the first 5mins you feel its a bland plot and decide to shift to another topic where you believe you can spice things up abit and make things interesting. What would you do? Would you continue with the bland cliche' story and 'let it die its slow natural death' in the end?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Let me put it this way, say your given 30mins to write an essay, and within the first 5mins you feel its a bland plot and decide to shift to another topic where you believe you can spice things up abit and make things interesting. What would you do? Would you continue with the bland cliche' story and 'let it die its slow natural death' in the end?

Appreciate your point of view, but my matter of concern is that if that particular student every time keeps messing the first plot, there will hardly be any readers for it, especially when there are better writers in the class who all get it fairly accurate in the first go itself.
The other problem here is that the student does not confines the first messed up copy of the essay with himself; he publishes it for everyone and let the readers form an opinion that this is a dud. He then reaffirms that opinion by either pulling the plug or releasing another 'version'.

If that happens repeatedly, there will hardly be any takers in future, even if for a change, he gets it right in the first go. Because people have lost faith in the company, or at least the first version of the product of that particular company.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

There can be a different opinion too. I'd rather its a good thing they don't want to continue more variants in the SAME segment. Like GTO says, they've go SO MANY variants in the same segment that its confusing to the brand image. Point being that they have to move on, whether they want it or not!

This is a strategy that should be thought of before the launch of n number of variants in the same segment. It is not recommended to test the depth of water with both feet in it. Hence, in my opinion, it goes on to show poor product portfolio planning. But the actual fact is that TML in desperation to sell, places it's product all over the shelf without realizing that 2-3 good products or versions should be more than enough to turn the fortunes, given that the product is good & bench-marked to competition segment standards .

[ajay_satpute]

Either something is major wrong with Tata's Sales & Marketing department or Karl Slym sir has something really great up his sleeve to replace the D90 model. He and his team better do something quick and better to retain some pride.

GTO, agree with you. Tata has amazing potential to confuse the customer to death with a 'mela' of models and variants. However, I have realized they are not the only one. VW is surely following the suite of having multiple variants, engines and special editions lurking around the showrooms at the same time.

Just have a look at current offerings of Polo & Vento:

VW POLO:
Polo 1.2 Petrol:
1) Trendline 1.2 P
2) Comfortline 1.2 P
3) Highline 1.2 P
4) Trendline 1.2 D
5) Comfortline 1.2 D
6) Highline 1.2 D
7) Polo 1.2 GT TSI: Highline
8) Cross Polo 1.2: Highline
9) Polo 1.2 SR: Highline
10) Polo 1.6 GT TDI: Highline

VW VENTO:
1) Trendline 1.6 P
2) Comfortline 1.6 P
3) Highline 1.6 P
4) Trendline 1.6 D
5) Comfortline 1.6 D
6) Highline 1.6 D
7) Vento TSI: Highline
8) Vento STYLE: Highline

That's 10 options for Polo and 8 options for Vento. If I were to buy a Polo and if I am not a TBHP member, I would not know in hell, what is the deal with so many options. And in spite of having a good fan following behind them, VW has one of the highest stock piles.

Hoping the Falcon range would be better than the current lot and brings a fresh change to low-key performance figures of Tata Motors passenger vehicles segment.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by GTO

Tata definitely needs to consolidate the different trim levels & variants. Else, they run the risk of being permanently badged as "Variant Motors".

Absolutely! From my experience, TML (and the Tatas in general) tend to be a risk averse company, and tend to hedge way too much, even when their choices are clear. I get the feeling that they're planning to attempt the santro/i10/i10 grande positioning strategy with this. Who knows, they might even call it the Vista Grande!
But one of these three generations needs to be trimmed. It makes no sense!

I don't think anyone's going to miss the Vista D90. Seriously, who buys a high powered Indica?

I did, and if they fixed their quality and service issues, I just might again!