[Aditya]

Tata Motors has stopped offering the 89 BHP diesel engine with the XM and XMS variants. Instead, they get the 74 BHP version and the XMA, XT and XTA variants are the only ones left with the 89 BHP engine. Additionally, alloy wheels are now restricted to only the XT and XTA grades of the car.



Link to Team-BHP News Article

[cyberwhizs]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Tata Motors has stopped offering the 89 BHP diesel engine with the XM and XMS variants. Instead, they get the 74 BHP version and the XMA, XT and XTA variants are the only ones left with the 89 BHP engine. Additionally, alloy wheels are now restricted to only the XT and XTA grades of the car.

This is an interesting move. Even after offering all the goodies, they were not able to to rake up the sales - indica/indigo figures continued to be higher than zest/bolt pair.

Question is, with the features cut down, will they cut down the prices and pass the benefit to the end customer. That may make the price differential with the competition more pronounced and that may translate to additional sales.

[Ponbaarathi]

Originally Posted by cyberwhizs

Question is, with the features cut down, will they cut down the prices and pass the benefit to the end customer. That may make the price differential with the competition more pronounced and that may translate to additional sales.

Checked with Concorde motors, OMR, Chennai. There wont be any price reduction. VGT is one of the reasons to consider zest over competitiors

[gauravdgr8]

Getting a 75PS engine on the initial 2 variants gives an indication that they might open it up for the taxi segment.

Another change that has taken place is the removal of ABS, Day/night IRVM and storage drawer under passenger seat too from the XM variant.

[RSR]

I'm not sure if this is a smart decision on the part of Tata Motors. The 90 PS state of tune gave the Zest the second highest power figure in the sub-4m compact sedan segment, and indeed the entire C1 sedan segment (after the 100 PS Aspire & Amaze). They should have retained the 90 PS state of tune at least for the XMS variant.

This decision can only mean that Tata are no longer going to actively discourage the Zest from being sold to yellow-board operators. I guess they want a part of the Uber & Ola pie, and aren't prepared to lose this segment to the likes of Etios, DZire & Tour, Xcent etc.

[gauravdgr8]

Originally Posted by RSR

I guess they want a part of the Uber & Ola pie, and aren't prepared to lose this segment to the likes of Etios, DZire & Tour, Xcent etc.

And what's wrong with Zest being offered by these operators. It's good for Tata even if they are able to sell ~500 extra numbers every month.

It's a better car than many. People at large might just appreciate once driven around and end up owning it.

Just last week, I got an Amaze from Uber. Never travelled in one and was surprised to see the NVH levels of a diesel being pretty low at the rear. However what put me off was the bumpy ride compared to a Tata.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by gauravdgr8

And what's wrong with Zest being offered by these operators. It's good for Tata even if they are able to sell ~500 extra numbers every month.

I never made a judgement about this move being wrong or right. I just noted that this is a change in strategy. Earlier they prevented (or at least actively discouraged) the Zest from being sold to fleet buyers and even stated the same publicly. Now, there seems to be a change of heart on their part. Almost every car in this segment is being pushed to Uber & Ola operators, and Tata are also doing the same now.

Having said that, I do believe it would be smarter to offer the XMS variant in the 90 PS state of tune, as fleet buyers mostly buy the lower variants. XMS is the most value-for-money variant in the range, and offering it with the 90 PS engine would give it an advantage on the power front over all its competitors (barring Aspire & Amaze).

75 PS XE & XM variants for fleet operators and 90 PS XMA, XMS, XT & XTA for private buyers would have meant better targeting of both segments.

[i74js]

This is an indication of accepting defeat in the market.

- They should not have done this before launch of Kite aka whatever; this gives negative signal to the new buyers

- Even if they would like to open up these cars for taxi segment; it does not give them any entitlement of removing a engine type. It is just not a trim level change, its change of heart and 90 PS is a lovely state of tune of 1.3 VGT

- I have no idea what is the real impact of replacement of alloy with steel rims; it should not be much but this was a clear differentiator for Tata's in the market

Anyways, the decision has been taken by the company and implemented. The only thing which I fail to understand that one can keep it secret when a new model / car is launched, why it is kept as a secret when they are pulling the plug from a model? They could have announced it ahead of time so that those who want this state of tune and are the "confused lot" so to say, should grab the opportunity when it is still available, may be the company might have observed a surge in sales and continued with the 90 PS tune ! who knows?

Too bad Tata; I cannot qualify this move as strategic !

[Aditya]

Tata Zest XM, XMS get 75 PS diesel engine.

Posts moved to a new thread.

[GTO]

Just shows why there are so many nincompoops in Tata . Usually, when manufacturers roll out an update, it's an improvement. Tata is perhaps the ONLY manufacturer which takes SOMETHING AWAY from a car when it's updated.

What's worse, there is no price reduction! Same price, lesser power, FGT instead of VGT .

I'm sure some MBAs got together and made a powerpoint on why the Bolt has failed. From my Bolt Diesel review:

Originally Posted by GTO

Let me start this review off by saying that Tata has completely botched up the Bolt's pricing, vis a vis the Zest . The price difference between the top-end diesel variants of the Bolt & Zest is merely Rs. 31,000 (nothing in EMI terms). For just 31k, the Zest gives you 14 BHP more, 10 Nm additional torque, 86% more boot space, 10 mm fatter tyres, softer ride quality, dual-tone interiors, parking sensors, LED DRLs and the option of an AMT. It's a no-brainer, there is simply no reason to pick the Bolt XT over the Zest XT!!

Their solution - Don't improve the Bolt. Lets make the Zest worse.


Source

[mrbaddy]

Originally Posted by RSR

75 PS XE & XM variants for fleet operators and 90 PS XMA, XMS, XT & XTA for private buyers would have meant better targeting of both segments.

Tata should have done like the above suggestion from RSR if their intent is to target Fleet operators. They should also offer a AMT variant for the XMS. Alas, bad move from TATA.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Additionally, alloy wheels are now restricted to only the XT and XTA grades of the car.

I think the Alloy wheels on all variants was kind of a introductory offer which lasted only few months (till early 2015). I remember that Alloy Wheels were taken off the lower variants (XE and XM) a lot early somewhere during first half of 2015.

[Asifgrkhan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just shows why there are so many nincompoops in Tata . Usually, when manufacturers roll out an update, it's an improvement. Tata is perhaps the ONLY manufacturer which takes SOMETHING AWAY from a car when it's updated.

Their solution - Don't improve the Bolt. Lets make the Zest worse.

Given what we have see from the house of Tata Motors, are you even slightly surprised at this? I cannot even call this hubris because for that you have to be successful at some stage which after the initial Sumo and Indica successes in the late 90s and early 00s, they have never had the good fortune of sharing space with.

At a time when they should be providing features to entice buyers to their product, they are taking features away. Why would any prospective buyer look beyond the DZire or XCent or Amaze if there is no value proposition.

Do not be too surprised if the Nexon is priced way above the EcoSport and Brezza and then Tata Motors is surprised that they sell 18 copies per month.

I think Tata should take a leaf out of Hyundai of the mid 2000s in the US and shower their vehicles with features unheard of in their current segment. That is the only way to stand out in this market where automakers are increasingly bringing world class products (not looking at you GM or Fiat for that matter) simultaneously with their global debuts. That and a huge warranty of say 5y/100,000 entire car + 10y/100,000 drivetrain signifying their confidence in their product - again taking a leaf from Hyundai.

Short of that, they will continue to flounder until Tata decides to shut the passenger car enterprise down.

[AYP]

This decision clearly sends out the message that they have accepted their defeat in the compact sedan segment.
Zest with its good engine and all the other features was still not able to do the magic Tata was hoping for.
I guess that now they want to milk the Zest as much as possible.
I wish them luck for their future endeavours.

[Latheesh]

I think it is OK, I have seen many ZESTs on road and all of them are XMS, XMA, XTA or XT variant. Looks like demand for base variants is low. But they could have left XMS variant from engine downgrade list.

[vamsi2390]

As long as Tata doenst get out of the Vista shaped body shell, most people would have shied away from the ZEST/BOLT anyways.

Iv got no experience in sales, but from a longevity point of view, rather than now trying to aim at fleet owners, TATA should have changed the front end of the ZEST/BOLT to differentiate it from the VISTA image.
And yeah probably open up a different service/dealership network like that of NEXA to woo private customers in.

Getting out of a prejudiced TAXI image wont be that easy unless probably they do something like a brand differentiation say like a KIA from HYUNDAI or AUDI from VW/SKODA.


Ive got good hopes on the KITE/TIAGO though which do seem to have a design transition into a HYUNDAISH language. Lets hope the TAXI market doesnt grab them up and make it even worse for TATA.