[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

And the Indian market would give huge preference to the Honda badge over a TATA. I feel Hexa would be miles ahead in engineering, features and build though. But it will have to give a very tough fight to XUV, BRV and Creta to pull some sales from any of these opponents.

Too little, too late perhaps?

Yes, there will be thousands of people running to Honda showroom to buy 20 Lakhs BRV which is developed on a 4 Lakh Rupee car (Brio) platform

[amit_snk]

All the Tata cars nowadays are good, but not excellent. I think the fastest way for Tata to reach at that level is to get into rallying in a big way. Get a team, develop existing products (bolt, zest) for rallying, develop new technologies fast, and use them in market products.

Tata has the capacity to reach at that level of finese in a normal way as well, but rallying can shorten that time, also success at rallying can give a big boost to the brand image of Tata cars and their desirability and marketability.

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Yes, there will be thousands of people running to Honda showroom to buy 20 Lakhs BRV which is developed on a 4 Lakh Rupee car (Brio) platform

Tells you how much brand and service experience changes customer opinions, right? If you can treat the majority with a carefully thought out strategy, then that reflects in what the product stands for. If you decide to lump all your customers from the 4L taxi driver to the 20L SUV buyer into the lowest form of customer experience you can provide, your customer service is possibly not designed well. For Tata, the challenge is that the 20L customer experience is as down-market as the 4L taxi driver.

The Hexa looks amazing and I hope that Tata revives its fortunes. Its a company I admire and will always want to be number one. They just need to clean up better on the service experience.

[ACM]

New of the HEXA launch drying up.

There were earlier rumours of Diwali and then Dec Launch, now it looks like 2016 launch.

I was thinking of about the perfect vehicle for me to buy and realized that Hexa is a contender. Love it.

But even more than the Hexa I would prefer to buy a shorter length version with just two rows of seats. (A sofa type Aria like bench seat in the second row rather than the Captain seats of the Hexa and NO third row at all.

Would want this type of vehicle (should I call it a Penta? ) with 5 seats in two rows and the same wheel base but a reduced rear overhang, with the same rear end looks in a shorter body)./ Would look perfect. Have better exit angles, and look more proportioned. I had the Aria for 2.5 years and did not use the rear seat on more than 3 occasions, but did use the large cargo bay a lot. So a 5 Giant 5 seater is what forms my wish list. It would be about 2L cheaper on road than the Hexa and in many ways would be a BMW X6 type of proposition. 4X4 modes essential.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by ACM

New of the HEXA launch drying up.

There were earlier rumours of Diwali and then Dec Launch, now it looks like 2016 launch.

I was thinking of about the perfect vehicle for me to buy and realized that Hexa is a contender. Love it.

I heard that it is not coming before June. Also, like Kite the actual name will be something else.

[WorkingGuru]

^Really!?

Honestly, why did Tata Motors raise hopes by showcasing Hexa through the AutoCar drive report ?

Very disappointed to read that the 'HEXA' is delayed. 6 months is a LONG time and this puts my plans quite off their mark.

As much as I don't want to say it, I guess old habits die hard. They did the same with the Storme (/'Merlin'), where they took 42 months instead of 18. They're Pro's at getting the timing wrong, aren't they ?

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

^Really!?

Very disappointed to read that the 'HEXA' is delayed. 6 months is a LONG time and this puts my plans quite off their mark.

As much as I don't want to say it, I guess old habits die hard. They did the same with the Storme (/'Merlin'), where they took 42 months instead of 18. They're Pro's at getting the timing wrong, aren't they ?

Yes, they are.
However, bringing Storme 400 was a surprise. I think they would want to test this engine on Storme before bringing out Hexa in the market.

[WorkingGuru]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

...Storme 400 was a surprise. I think they would want to test this engine on Storme before bringing out Hexa in the market.

I doubt there being any modifications to the engine. I guess its the same, maybe with a different map - tuned to extract more power.

Given that they've put out the new 6-speed gearbox, I'd imagine all the testing for the above 2 has been done completely.

I'm not comfortable with the front seats of the current Storme & although I presently don't need 2 front facing 3rd row seats, that requirement may change in a year or so. Hence the Hexa preference. Else, even the lack of gadgetry isn't an issue.

Maybe they're testing the suspension & tuning it for an MUV or maybe they're contemplating the interior options to package the variants better.

Don't want to make a choice of going with the Xylo (IMPO it just wont suit me) .

Anyway, lets see.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

Don't want to make a choice of going with the Xylo (IMPO it just wont suit me) .

Anyway, lets see.

Xylo is aesthetically challenged IMO. Wait for Hexa, if you can wait or Innovative is anyways evergreen option.

[rosaf]

IMO its very unfair to say that TaMo is testing the new six speed gear box with 400 Nm torque of the Storme (on its customers) before launching it in the Hexa!

TaMo has come a long way and they would not do such a thing , in fact i think they must have planned to launch the 400 Nm Storme at earlier stage itself with all the interior changes(mostly the Harman audio setup) , but refrained from doing so due to some tests pending.And have rightly launched it after ironing out the issues.

Kindly delete the post Mods if its off topic.

Thanks!

[Rajeevraj]

A camouflaged prototype of the Tata Hexa on the Mumbai-Pune highway has been caught testing as per a report in IAB. Only the rear.

Expected to be unveiled as part of AutoExpo 2016 with a launch early next year. As per this earlier report, it will be offered with a GM Sourced 6 speed AT transmission (Potentially the same one used on the Chevrolet Trailblazer). Now with the XUV500 AT, I guess this has to be a given.

150 BHP, 400NM Torque, a good 6 speed AT. Sounds like a very good proposition.

Source: IAB

[WorkingGuru]

I wonder how they'll manage the pricing of the 6-Speed Automatic.

They've to compete with a brand like M&M, and a layman won't know which transmission & what. They should develop the product brilliantly for normal people to be willing to take a chance with TATA.

Zica will launch in the starting of next quarter & even the expo is in Jan IIRC, they must launch it soon thereafter.

[damodar]

Originally Posted by ACM

I was thinking of about the perfect vehicle for me to buy and realized that Hexa is a contender. Love it.

In your ownership thread of Aria you mentioned the need for a better designed front bumper to improve the approach angle. From whatever photos available on the internet do you see any changes made to the front bumper design to improve on this aspect?

[ACM]

Originally Posted by damodar

In your ownership thread of Aria you mentioned the need for a better designed front bumper to improve the approach angle. From whatever photos available on the internet do you see any changes made to the front bumper design of Hexa to improve on this aspect?

Yes I felt that the approach angle has improved with a higher placed front Bumper &

Also in the Aria that Tata used internally for off road trips (Tata Experience Programs) they had placed the Radiators higher so that they would not be impacted by going over something high upfront, I feel that change would have been incorporated in the new design considering that they now have a higher Bonnet.

There though is a compromise in going in for a better approach angle as this impacts high speed stability and the lower front bumper also directs the air better to aid with this.

But can't be sure of either points being covered in the Hexa and only a close real life inspection would verify that.

[apachelongbow]

observed a mule Hexa on the NH4 near Hinjewadi yesterday, what struck me is that the overall proportions still remain the same. Even under camouflage it still looks like a large MUV, the overall SUV elements seem missing. Not sure if it will look like a cross over/SUV once camouflage is removed. The wheel arches are huge and the basic steel wheels also seemed 18 inchers with big side walls. The bonnet is higher than the van like Aria but still slopes down like a MUV. Interiors are a mix of blacks/greys and looked classy compared to the current iteration.
The big change is the roof is lowered and the car looks squarer and squat compared to the Aria, the seats too must be lower down since I was peering down the driver/co driver from my perch in the Storme.