[riteshritesh]

...Last week, I did a 700 km round trip in two days in my Crysta. Believe me, it is not really without its share of faults. There is considerable vibration transferred through the gear stick and the steering is a little too heavy (especially felt driving in the ghats)

What you have mentioned is absolutely true. Infact, it happens with most of the Diesel Vans/vehicles. Driving them extensively does cause fatigue. It happened to me when driving a Pajero from Mumbai to Goa too. And I have experienced the same on Innova too, that too for short distances like Mumbai to Pune and back to Mumbai the same day. Infact as a passenger too, the vibrations are invariably 'ábsorbed' and fatigue sets in.

HEXA, as a product, doesn't have that convenience. Therefore, Tata serves a completely different market.

Both, the Innova and the Hexa, are people moving Vans. From pictures, the Hexa looks much better than the Crysta, from both inside and outside.
The loyalty, the reliability and whatnots, that Toyota enjoys seems to have gotten to their heads shown by impractical pricing for the Crysta.

A lot of people are just waiting to find an Innova alternative and the Hexa has all the features to do just that. It will take time, but someone will surely take Toyota by surprise.

[DriveOnceMore]

Originally Posted by centaur

Apart from pricing it right, Tata should also try and protect it from fleet owners as much as possible, like say for e.g. not commercial registration for the first 2 years. That will ensure that more people buy it for personal use and that would build the image the Hexa would need.

Yes Toyota could not stop the innova too from being used by fleet owners inspite of being lesser powered and higher priced but TATA should do this if they want to separate out the taxi image and also promote it as a personal car

I really fail to understand why we always brand Tata as cab maker. I know their recent past has been gloomy, but they are changing now.
Also what's so bad in a car also being offered as a cab?

I see people accusing a Tata cars as a cab, just like old movie directors assumed Maruti Omni as kidnap car.

As far as I believe, 50% of Toyota's sale would be going in the commercial market. I have seen more number of MS Dzires and Hyundai Xcents, wearing yellow plates than the ones carrying white plates. Going a step further I found many Swifts nowadays with yellow plates.

But still, ONLY Tata Motors is cheap cab maker.
No offence to anyone but it's my genuine question.

[power ranger]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

A lot of people are just waiting to find an Innova alternative and the Hexa has all the features to do just that. It will take time, but someone will surely take Toyota by surprise.

Well, Toyota is already taken by surprise by our janta. who queue up to buy their products as though they are distributing the products free and obliging the Indian public.

Long is the question. This will be very long because of the so called resale value that people again associate with Toyota. It is like if you have Toyota Innova or Fortuner, you are God. Although my personal view is that Safari and Aria were equally reliable and probably even more comforatable

[centaur]

Originally Posted by DriveOnceMore

I really fail to understand why we always brand Tata as cab maker. I know their recent past has been gloomy, but they are changing now.
Also what's so bad in a car also being offered as a cab?

I see people accusing a Tata cars as a cab, just like old movie directors assumed Maruti Omni as kidnap car.

As far as I believe, 50% of Toyota's sale would be going in the commercial market. I have seen more number of MS Dzires and Hyundai Xcents, wearing yellow plates than the ones carrying white plates. Going a step further I found many Swifts nowadays with yellow plates.

But still, ONLY Tata Motors is cheap cab maker.
No offence to anyone but it's my genuine question.

You seem to have missed my point or probably I did not explain it clearly from my end. Let me make another attempt at it.

How many toyota vehicles from its entire line up are taken majorly as cabs (please exclude one offs because if that is taken into consideration then even the S class isnt spared from bearing yellow boards)? Innova+Etios/Etios Liva. Same for the TATA's would mean that apart from the Safari/Storme, most others are seen plentiful with yellow number plates. At any point in time, If you cut and take a sample of a crowded road, a majority of the yellow number plates will be from TATAs.

Now while others might look down upon this, as an individual perspective I feel that these are the safest ones to go with because, just the sheer numbers of the roads will ensure parts will be available for a long time in the market and every mechanic will also be aware of the different works the car might throw in at times. Add to this the abuse the car takes during its lifetime just implies its rugged built quality. This is what people who know about cars would relate to not others.

Other might find them very common on the roads and would want something that they dont have to ride in when they book a cab for intercity travel. Also they wouldnt want to be the butt of jokes when people equate them to cab drivers.

Toyota has very clearly tried to address this problem in the crysta if you notice in terms of pricing the cars and mixing it with the engine capacity and AT boxes. Its something similar that I am speaking of.

There is no problem in a car being offered as a cab but many dont really prefer to see 2 other similar cars alongside them at the signal with a yellow number plate.

I hope I am able to drive the point through this time around

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by centaur

How many toyota vehicles from its entire line up are taken majorly as cabs (please exclude one offs because if that is taken into consideration then even the S class isnt spared from bearing yellow boards)? Innova+Etios/Etios Liva.

Etios and Previous Generation Innova sales came majorly from yellow board. Sheer numbers of Etios and Innova taxis are testimonial to this fact. A good amount of Corolla Diesel ones and Camry are part of the yellow board fleet. So if Indica is sold as a Taxi why is TATA brand is being attributed to cab manufacturer image. A good amount of Dzire sales comes from yellow board (Dzire tour + the 4m dzire). But none of these are treated the same way as the TATA is being treated.

Toyota has very clearly tried to address this problem in the crysta if you notice in terms of pricing the cars and mixing it with the engine capacity and AT boxes. Its something similar that I am speaking of.

Innova has certainly addressed this by upping the asking price for the higher variants and making it not affordable to the taxi fleet and in return milking the white board customer.

I have said it earlier, no matter how good the Hexa is, how it is priced, it wont sell anywhere near the Innova Crysta numbers. But it would be very good alternative to people who are not averse to trying other brands apart from Toyota. TATA should make the Hexa affordable so that more people would start evaluating it for a purchase and that should be a good start point.

[centaur]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Etios and Previous Generation Innova sales came majorly from yellow board. Sheer numbers of Etios and Innova taxis are testimonial to this fact. A good amount of Corolla Diesel ones and Camry are part of the yellow board fleet. So if Indica is sold as a Taxi why is TATA brand is being attributed to cab manufacturer image. A good amount of Dzire sales comes from yellow board (Dzire tour + the 4m dzire). But none of these are treated the same way as the TATA is being treated.

Its not just the indica but the vista and manza too and its about the number (read exclusivity) that you see on the roads. Yes the etios and liva too are sold in huge numbers and there too you dont see many buyers for them either. Corolla and Camry and not as sizeable in the commercial market as is the Indica/vista/manza. Mumbai meru is majority of the manzas with an occasional Logan/Esteem thrown in and that is what I am talking about. Dzire and Dzire tour started to make way to the commercial fleet late and still their numbers are lesser than what the TATA vehicles account for. If you take a sample of 100 vehicles with 50 as commercial ones, TATA would easily make up around 25 or more of the 50 and that is what drives the perception

Again to clarify, I am not saying that TATA is just a cab manufacturer. You are probably reading my posts with that mental block and thats why you feel it to be wrong. What I am saying is that if TATA wants to protect the hexa from the fleet image, it should surely do something about it.

The only point I am trying to make is that, TATA should do something to ensure that lesser fleet owners purchase the Hexa and drive it more towards the personal car market.

I rest my case here reiterating that I am not saying TATA is just a cab manufacturer. Infact it hurts when products like the storme and aria, inspite of being good vehicles are shoved aside by Innova and the likes. I would be extremely delighted to see the Hexa be a runaway success

[kaviprem]

Guys, Enough of taxi v/s personal. Its a never ending one.
Lets get back to the intended topic.
I think, we are fine even if we dont get any proper updates on the thread that is started for !

Prem.

[studedude]

IMHO, most buyers purchase a car on brand perception and sorry to state this is the dept that TATA has missed out the most. We have this opinion that anything Indian cannot be as good as its rivals but the fact is they are as competitive and as good. This is exactly why Tata and M&M have found it tough going.

[kalleo4]

TATA HEXA spotted yet-Again testing before its Launch..
Love the way the Rear Led-lights spread, Best Rear & Its Road Presence

& the playing Background Song adds to our Long wait..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWK8hHmnszI

[discoverwild]

Looks well planted, not much roll and pulls without effort. No top heaviness.

[m3_07]

Originally Posted by kalleo4

TATA HEXA spotted yet-Again testing before its Launch..
Love the way the Rear Led-lights spread, Best Rear & Its Road Presence

Always wanted to see the illuminated tail lamp. Looks nice. Will someone have a pic of the functional DRL

May be it could be me, but i notice a tiny weeny turn indicator flashing??

[Jyodi Backster]

Originally Posted by kalleo4

TATA HEXA spotted yet-Again testing before its Launch..
Love the way the Rear Led-lights spread, Best Rear & Its Road Presence

& the playing Background Song adds to our Long wait..

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=iWK8hHmnszI

Well... the birdies told me that the media launch is planned for this month,
and the vehicle launch is before Diwali.
The Automatic is a Six speed Torque Converter unit with manual override.
and the Automatic is likely to be launched in the top minus one trim level.
The top trim level is a stick shift unit with All wheel Drive.
All models have disc brakes all around.

I saw the Automatic variant on road without any camouflage and with just the Tata badge, Hexa name etc masked with a black tape.
The test car had Varicor 400 badge on the side.
also had DRLs up front.

It's got amazing road presence.

The fit and finish and material quality was top class.
On the test car, there was an extra cotton seat cover on top of the OEM cover, not sure if the OEM all black seat cover was natural leather,
but quality looked good.

When my father asked him if it is more comfortable than Innova, He said, don't even compare it with Innova, it is way way better in both comfort and handling than Innova,
and that they daily do more than 1000 kms in Hexa without any problem!! :-)

[WorkingGuru]

Originally Posted by riteshritesh

...Both, the Innova and the Hexa, are people moving Vans. From pictures, the Hexa looks much better than the Crysta, from both inside and outside.

The loyalty, the reliability and whatnots, that Toyota enjoys seems to have gotten to their heads shown by impractical pricing for the Crysta....

I'm not pro-Innova, I'm saying on the basis of what seems to be the thought process among my circle of friends & family.

They'd rather cry by sacrificing a premium price of 18L - 20L on a basic variant Innova. Why? Because they believe it runs well with least problems for over 3L kms, that they're unlikely to face any issues on road or face questions on service. They consider its the value of the assurance of reliability that the brand generates.

Like this :

...Last year a friend sold off his 2005 Innova and categorically said to me he will not buy another Innova as it is insanely priced. I agreed with him wholeheartedly then and Innova was never on my shopping list. And now when the Crysta has been launched and I am in the market for a long distance comfortable commuter, I am just unable to find value in any other product. I have owned a scorpio for 8 years (2005-2013) which clocked close to 3 lacs km, but today the OTR difference between the S6 and Innova GX MT is less than 3 lacs- the reliability factor is worth at least this differential to me. The Scorpio had its fair bit of break downs, and every time I was in my friend's service center, he would always speak of Innova's reliability and comfort over the scorpio (he is an automobile engineer, and has completed almost every certification/training Mahindra has to offer).

Infact I believe that, given the price, the Crysta falls short on some of the interior panel-quality.

Comparatively how the Hexa holds up WRT,

• interiors (look very premium) but will they hold up - time will tell.
• Mechanical components - time will tell.
• Service Experience - time will tell.
• Brand Re-sale Value - time will tell.

Till this uncertainty prevails, the Innova would be considered the mechanically 'safer' option.
And that could be a pretty long time.

Also, some members mention that their service is "getting better" & that the new CEO is "bringing changes soon". Well, its been almost 5 years since I've been reading that here. Till the day that "soon" comes, its the consumer who has to bear the brunt of a bitter experience at the ASC, feeling betrayed after having plonked big money on a false brand promise.

[RavenAvi]

Caught testing on the Rohtang Pass by Ritesh Madhok.

Quite possible that the "Terrain Response System" of the Hexa was going through the paces.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by Jyodi Backster

and the vehicle launch is before Diwali.
The Automatic is a Six speed Torque Converter unit with manual override.
and the Automatic is likely to be launched in the top minus one trim level.
The top trim level is a stick shift unit with All wheel Drive.
All models have disc brakes all around.

Almost surely eliminates me and a lot of others as customers due to

1) AT not being on the Top Trim
2) AT + AWD combination not being available.

Leaves only the Endeavour as an option. (60% more to shell out for Brand, Bigger Engine, Better Infotainment, At +AWD, Power Boot, Power Last Row Seat Fold, Auto Park Assist, Panaromic Sunroof etc..) Even the New Fortuner while having the AT + 4x4 combination does not have Full time AWD.

Maybe am no the TG. Always missed the AT on the Aria Pride AWD. Always drove it in AWD mode only.

It no doubt is a very tempting vehicle but just falls short. Also in this segment if not looking for a VAN/MUV (Innova) then from lifestyle perspective a Panaromic Sun Roof would have been good to have.