[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by chennai-indian

In the Hexa website, they mention Optional AWD for XT (Automatic) - is this true? Did not see any mention of this in reviews

You mean this?

The AWD is optional for the XT variant, not the XTA. It will be the topmost variant at launch.

The XTA AWD will be launched at a later date - possibly 5/6 months down the line.


Take a look at the latest Google Search Trends chart:

This is worrying. Public interest had peaked when the media drives were in full swing, but that has gradually come down to drastic levels (although a small rise in the end can be seen, which is after the bookings began).

Tata needs to keep their future flagship in the limelight as much as possible, and while the complete absence of an ad campaign is worrying, at least the Rock-On 2 team is doing their best to highlight their association with the Hexa, through the Rock On 2 Meet and Greet contest.

Make no mistake - the Hexa is absolutely crucial for Tata Motors' turnaround in sales numbers, and also their chances in the D-crossover segment. With the current storme (pun intended) boiling in Tata's ranks, I think the best thing to do would be to give a free hand to a Hexa publicity/media campaign/PR team and highlight the SUV-crossover in all Tata showrooms nationwide as much as possible, so that it's the first thing a customer sees when he/she enters a Tata dealership.

[anthiltg]

As a consumer, I expect a few things from my car maker.
1. Be highly planned and organized during a vehicle launch.
2. High visibility to the new product and keeping all your dealers prepared for the same.
3. If you are soliciting user information when visiting the product microsite, ensure someone promptly attends to the user leveraging the information provided and follow it up to closure.
4. Provide high level of visibility and clarity on the booking process and the expected delivery timelines.
5. Reassure the consumer on how the ASS and Warranty aspects are going to be covered satisfactorily post buy.

As prospective customer of Hexa, I definitely experienced Tata failing on all the above counts. A great product alone does not win the game for a Company. Approach to consumers and the professionalism also go a long way in sustaining the demand for the product. I have seen Maruti Suzuki do that when Swift was launched way back on 2005 and they still reign tall.

I don't know if the current leadership chaos at TATA is in anyway responsible for this mess. But this is definitely a poor start from TATA in my honest opinion.

[Palio_2005]

Tata's have never been organised for any product launch which is why they are lagging behind in sales. They should have the product ready for sale immediately after the media drives. I think the buzz will die down by the time the prices are announced. There are many options available. Strange given the fact that Mayank Pareek is the head of S&M.

[aayushnair]

A few of the reasons why i feel we don't have a launch this calendar year is probably due to:

1. 2016 mfd models - again something not many would want to go for considering its Nov already.

2. A dip stick strategy to test the waters and be conscious of demand and accordingly decide the final price

3. Take the feedback from the media drives and incorporate changes

4. Stay active on forums like ours and stay up to date with more feedback from us and maybe incorporate / or look to atleast these as well

5. Or just something someone thought would work.

All in all actually whatever Tata does will be looked at under a microscope whether good or bad. Which is good for a company looking to improve!

So lets keep the list long!

I want the 4x4 auto in a 7 seater option! 😂 (Hoping they're reading)

Cheers,
Aayush

[ptushar]

Originally Posted by aayushnair

2. A dip stick strategy to test the waters and be conscious of demand and accordingly decide the final price

I would say that this would not be a good move. They have invested heavily into the product and they need this to succeed for them to stay in the reckoning. Tata needs to go all guns blazing on the Hexa. Make it visible to the target audience. And launch when the buzz is the highest. Post launch they need immediate bookings in the first month to be able to garner an image of a successful product. I think they are going too slow with it. I do (at least) hope that this delay is to ensure that the product is completely niggle-free.

Originally Posted by aayushnair

I want the 4x4 auto in a 7 seater option! 😂 (Hoping they're reading)

+1 to that. In fact +1000 to that. I am at a loss to understand that after seeing the beating that the Crysta took on this front, how could Tata go and make the same decision? At least the Crysta buyer will ignore this and still buy the vehicle, but will a Tata buyer who is looking for a 7 seater not choose the XUV instead? Someone really really needs to put in some hard thought on this one before they launch. Maybe they could offer this as an optional component in the XT and XTA.

Seriously Tata folks, this launch is like a movie launch. You have the first four weeks to make this a success. If people walk away from the vehicle in the first four weeks then you have a lot to lose. I really do hope and wish that you get this right in the first attempt. Just look at the number of comments on a 7 seater version for the XT & XTA on this forum. Make it happen folks; for your own good.

[aayushnair]

Originally Posted by ptushar

I would say that this would not be a good move. They have invested heavily into the product and they need this to succeed for them to stay in the reckoning. Tata needs to go all guns blazing on the Hexa. Make it visible to the target audience. And launch when the buzz is the highest. Post launch they need immediate bookings in the first month to be able to garner an image of a successful product. I think they are going too slow with it. I do (at least) hope that this delay is to ensure that the product is completely niggle-free.

Totally makes sense to me too! Maybe they shouldve just waited to do the media drives and do this in Jan and directly launch the car post.

Anyway, I'm so not into picking up an XUV, may just lean towards the Hexa XT manual (so don't want to). I haven't booked it yet though, need more information before I put my foot down.

Cheers.

[arit.mondal]

If you look at their launch date of first week of January, it's clear that they didn't want their first two months' numbers to look bad.
Many customers would wait out two months just so that they get the new year registration benefit while reselling.

The only thing TATA has to ensure is that they also do some activities at least in second half of December, to revise the buzz again in pre-launch period.

I also wish TATA kept booking amount not too low so that they are able to gauge customer demand more accurately and price it more sensibly. If booking amount is too low, demand would be over-estimated and pricing would be higher which will hurt sales.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by aayushnair

...A few of the reasons why i feel we don't have a launch this calendar year is probably due to:

1. 2016 mfd models - again something not many would want to go for considering its Nov already. ...

[SnF] Doesn't hold, as I wrote before. Most companies have a launch during Diwali and people lap up the hot products the MOST during this period of the year. Remember that manufacturers push additional inventory to the dealer to meet the demand for the festive season. It's unfortunate if TATA thought people bother about the month of ownership.

Originally Posted by aayushnair

...2. A dip stick strategy to test the waters and be conscious of demand and accordingly decide the final price ...

[SnF] As I understand, the prices are mostly decided during the conceptual phase itself. A company like TATA should know their worth by now and not wait for the final prices to be "decided" based on the product. They should go with the "correct" price (based on worst case scenario) irrespective of the product being average or extremely good and build on the price later as per the bookings and interest. I say "build on" because they can't afford to do a "discount" game after pricing it more than it should be.

Now, 250 bookings (as RavenAvi posted) is not a great number honestly. Lets rewind 5 years and it'll be nice to remember how XUV 500 bookings closed in flat 3 days with 10K bookings(?) made on the VFM price announcement + launch. 250 vs 10,000 - you get the gist.

For the number of enquiries / bookings done, am sure a much higher population hasn't bothered since the prices are not announced. Trying to judge the interest without a price point to baseline is stupidity if you ask me, especially in the Indian market where we have established players to pitch against.

Originally Posted by aayushnair

... 3. Take the feedback from the media drives and incorporate changes ...

[SnF] I don't think there is too much scope. They should have tested the product well enough. First impression is the last impression; it doesn't change over a short period of time. For example, take the two points

1. 19" alloy wheels + tryes ; I guess the entire forum knows it's going to be an expensive affair to have these changed. TATA doesn't have a different alloy for the lower versions - could have been done on offer at the launch right? Now, can they come up with one in 4 months after an extensive testing? No!

2. Seat configuration : We have been reading about the non-availability of a 7 seater on XTA(?). This is an easy one but if TATA never wanted to offer, there are low chances it'll be introduced in a short while. Looks like a blunder to me personally to restrict this on the top variant.

Originally Posted by aayushnair

... 4. Stay active on forums like ours and stay up to date with more feedback from us and maybe incorporate / or look to atleast these as well ...

[SnF] Taking feedback from the forums is a passive approach. What are they doing to keep up the spirits high? I don't think they have anything in their kitty and that tells us the waning interest.

[tifosikrishna]

Doubt regarding 'hydraulic brake assist' - As I understand when cruising at high speeds when one suddenly lets off the accelerator, car anticipates an emergency braking and so hydraulic pressure is increased for better braking (for the same brake input).

Now, the question is, how does one ascertain "sudden" let off? Imagine 2 scenarios as below

a. Cruising at 120 kmph, I see a "1km to toll" board, I decide to cruise and so takes my legs off the A pedal

b. an actual emergency where I want to apply emergency brakes.

In (b), I immediately downshift, apply brakes and in (a), i just coast and apply brakes when I near the toll.

Since letting off A pedal is same in both the cases, how can system identify b? if not, it can lead to lots of false positives right?

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

Doubt regarding 'hydraulic brake assist' - As I understand when cruising at high speeds when one suddenly lets off the accelerator, car anticipates an emergency braking and so hydraulic pressure is increased for better braking (for the same brake input).

Now, the question is, how does one ascertain "sudden" let off? Imagine 2 scenarios as below

a. Cruising at 120 kmph, I see a "1km to toll" board, I decide to cruise and so takes my legs off the A pedal

b. an actual emergency where I want to apply emergency brakes.

In (b), I immediately downshift, apply brakes and in (a), i just coast and apply brakes when I near the toll.

Since letting off A pedal is same in both the cases, how can system identify b? if not, it can lead to lots of false positives right?

the answer lies in your question itself.

In scenario (a) when you see the board of toll booth 1km ahead, you are just taking your right leg off the "A" pedal so as to coast till you reach the toll booth. You are not applying the brakes. So the hydraulic brake assist won't come into play at all.

In scenario (b), when you take off the right leg from "A" pedal and apply pressure on "B" pedal, it will sense that you want to stop and the hydraulic brake assist will come into play, reducing the braking distance.

Hope my comments above make sense.

[tifosikrishna]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

the answer lies in your question itself.

In scenario (a) when you see the board of toll booth 1km ahead, you are just taking your right leg off the "A" pedal so as to coast till you reach the toll booth. You are not applying the brakes. So the hydraulic brake assist won't come into play at all.

My understanding of hydraulic brake assist is that it will pre-fill even before one applies the brake in anticipation of emergency braking.

[anumod]

Attaching my booking note. The dealer sent me another message saying that there will not be any cancellation charges.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

My understanding of hydraulic brake assist is that it will pre-fill even before one applies the brake in anticipation of emergency braking.

What do you mean by "pre-fill". If you mean that it will automatically apply brakes once the accelerator pedal is released then that would be a disaster. We normally release the accelerator pedal when we want to upshift. How will the computer know that you have released the A pedal for changing the gear or braking?

[Guna]

Originally Posted by tifosikrishna

Since letting off A pedal is same in both the cases, how can system identify b? if not, it can lead to lots of false positives right?

It is possible to detect 'gently easing off' the accelerator and suddenly taking the feet off.

[Black_Beast]

Was told by SA in Concorde that cars will start from plant by 8-10th of November. These guys also going for one more training next wewk for Hexa (this time in Bangalore).

On "hydraulic brake assist", how would a user or technician know or check if this concept is really working
Hope they have some indications like ABS for this