[wanderlust]

Originally Posted by nehaagg

Aspects of Logic (AL).
Aspects of Passion (AP).
making happy our 13-year-old selves
and harking back to the 'reality check' I mentioned earlier, is price.

Brilliant use of words to describe our feeling when we just simply put it as heart versus mind. I may not use the same words, but I am increasingly listening to my 11- and 8-year olds' logic when picking up stuff. As recently as a couple of weeks back, we cancelled the booking of the XUV and decided to wait for the Hexa based on such a call. Listening to the kids not only tugs at the heart strings in the right places, but also aligns this logic that when we are spending close to 20 lakhs on a car that we will keep for at least 7 years, might as well listen to the heart, lest we start drooling at someone else's Hexa sometime later.

PS: I voted for the Tiago, proud that it won. Beautiful design and features, does not seem like it was built to the cost. Hope Hexa is also priced based ont he same logic

[Nav-i-gator]

Why some people have a problem with Tiago getting voted COTY here? All cars in the list are good, popular votes say Tiago is better considering all aspects. And we must keep in mind - we expect a lot from Tata. Even a small mistake, a small niggle is taken as a deal breaker. Which MS car does not rattle over time? But for a Tata, this is poor quality. We must criticize, but we must applause too, when deserved.

Have Tbhp COTY ever gone to a MS car? Does that mean MS cars are bad? NO. They sell, and how! But they probably lack romanticism (barring S-cross: that car is very unlike maruti in all aspects)

Best is not always successful and same vice versa. Let's dissociate talent with success and support system for once.

[punto_]

On one occasion I booked OLA, a new Tiago had come to pick me. Was excited to see how it is, however brand new car was having so many creaking noises from everywhere and ride quality was not great either. Its not even a good looking car!

I wonder what makes it COTY?!

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by punto_

I wonder what makes it COTY?!

Perspective.

Everyone has their own.

Let's take an example: you seem to have voted for the Superb. One might feel, how can a car that has an AT gearbox that is renowned to be unreliable and is backed by a manufacturer that isn't considered customer-friendly make CoTY.

Of course, I'm not getting into specifics. But it's just a perspective.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

And from what I know, JV still exists. It was abandoned only at the dealership level. Manufacturing is still shared.

That's what matters. Manufacturing shared or not, how does it matter?

Anyhow, only Manza used to be assembled at Fiat's Ranjangoan plant and it has to do nothing with any other product, let alone Tiago.

[NiInJa]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

And my point was since Tata owns such great companies and has great financial muscle, they could've taken their time and improved the engine, NVH and their after sales. But guess what? They know the Indian mentality.

Some of us Indians apparently care about better features in the car than a better car.

There's a reason why Maruti cars are such a hit. They have less features but their engines are always peppy and after sales are the best in business.

Nope, Tata does not have the financial muscle to take more time and resources on a market which is too price sensitive and not so profitable compared to export markets (which is not Tata's forte anyway). Toyota, VW ,Honda, Ford, GM etc all have that 'financial muscle' yet we don't see any global models or global tech that they have. Why single out Tata ?
And if we are to believe Tata, I remember them saying they are selling Tiago at a lesser margin compared to others. So it is not like they are not using JLR's profits to improve domestic performance. Read the team-bhp review again and you will see a lot of parts are sourced from abroad.

Wont comment on Tiago's NVH levels but having sat in almost all its competitors, (Celerio, Wagon R, i10 iRDE etc) I don't think they are setting any benchmarks either.
Also, talking about NVH, these two motors from Tata are new and hence it will take some time to improve. The fact that they have launched it now (and people buying it) means they capable of competing with other manufacturers. Biggies like Honda and Suzuki have failed to get it right the first time. Honda's Diesel engine has had its share of NVH issues, while Suzuki's experiment failed miserably (125 DDiS). On a side-note, Maruti Suzuki has not attempted to build a 3 cylinder diesel engine for smaller cars.

After sales service is patchy, but its not outright bad. Moreover, it has nothing to do with the product itself. Fiat cars did not fail because of A.S.S alone, that debate can be done on another thread. Not correct to comment on reliability of a car which is less than an year old, but haven't heard any major issues so far.

I don't see having better features as a bad thing, it is one of the reasons why Tiago's sales have increased, confidently competing with Celerio which is backed by Maruti's better sales and service network. Yes, some Indians care for better features, is there something wrong in it ? Didn't quite get your argument !

[Nav-i-gator]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

That's what matters. Manufacturing shared or not, how does it matter?

Anyhow, only Manza used to be assembled at Fiat's Ranjangoan plant and it has to do nothing with any other product, let alone Tiago.

On that, MS would be closer to Fiat than anyone else. Right from Celerio diesel till S-cross & Ciaz, all have the same fiat engine!

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

On that, MS would be closer to Fiat than anyone else. Right from Celerio diesel till S-cross & Ciaz, all have the same fiat engine!

That's little different. As in case of Manza, it was assembled in Fiat's plant unlike other vehicles which has their engines.

[vivee90]

Congratulations to TATA for the award.

I didn't vote for the Tiago since I am not directly connected to the market as a customer but, being a close observer with technical interest E20 Plus stood like a remarkable effort by M&M. I am happy 13 other bhpians share the same thought.(Cheers!!) Hopefully, one day M&M efforts in pushing the almost non-existent market for e-cars will pay off.

COTY is a result of a democratic voting, since most of us believe in democracy as a system it is natural to also accept the result of the system.

What makes this COTY unique is that the Tiago is more of an evolutional product than a revolution. By that I mean, it was not an altogether segment-breaking or segment-creating product like the KWID or Duster when launched but more of a "boy next door" car that no one thought will be so well developed in most aspects that matter to the consumer. TATA did a great job in creating a 'non-niche' product stand out among competition.

For sure, we have restored TATA management's faith on Indian consumer that a good product will be embraced irrespective of the brand.

[nehaagg]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Somehow I couldn't sense the tone in your post. Are you being Sarcasic about the Brezza? If you were
I think you pulled a good one. And if you weren't I think the praises heaped on the Brezza is very much over the top! Pure genius? Extraordinary? Really?
To each his opinion for sure and that's why we are part of the community, but to put forward an one sided opinion just because one owns the same car is something I cannot agree with. You may disagree, that's ok as well, I don't expect your views to match mine.

If you read my post about AP and AL, you will find that I am an AP person, while your choice leans firmly on AL.

I also mentioned that excellent AP cars lose out by the lukewarming nature of the populist view. Which is why we should listen to our hearts and not let good-hearted cars fade; because by voting for AP compromise packages such as the Brezza, we spread the classic Indian sheep-herding syndrome and ultimately divert credit from some cars who at least don't deserve slow, painful deaths.

I have a strong, sarcastic opinion against the Brezza because I believe that such 'means-to-an-end' vehicles are depleting the richness of the automotive-cultural ecosystem in India at an alarming rate. An ecosystem thrives only when there is sufficient variety, especially mid-pyramid, and without fighting for the endangered, beautiful, gentler creatures, the motoring landscape will soon be awash by the ALs, resembling a wasteland.

So yes, I fight against this relentless blandness.

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

On that, MS would be closer to Fiat than anyone else. Right from Celerio diesel till S-cross & Ciaz, all have the same fiat engine!

Celerio is running with Suzuki in-house designed DDiS 125 engine. It is not from Fiat. S-Cross and Ciaz diesels are from Fiat.

[RSR]

I knew the Tiago was going to win this year's Team-BHP COTY award, although I did expect the Vitara Brezza to provide very tough competition.

Just FYI, I didn't vote for the Tiago. I was quite confused whether I should vote for the Tiago or Vitara Brezza or Tucson. In the end, I cast my vote for the S90 instead! The S90 is a lovely car, but (like other Volvos) doesn't / may not sell in the deserved numbers solely because the Swedish brand doesn't have the "pull" of its German rivals.

Congratulations to Tata for their Tiago!

If the Zest's launch was the turning point in Tata Motors' fortunes, then the Tiago's introduction serves as the launch pad for their take-off. The Tiago has already helped to make Tata the No. 3 car manufacturer in India (in Nov. 2016) - it's a worthy recipient of a worthy award!

[punto_]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Perspective.

Everyone has their own.

Of course, I'm not getting into specifics. But it's just a perspective.

Yeah I agree but still surprised with Tiago!!

Also, I wanted to vote for Brezza, ended up voting for Skoda by mistake.

[Burn_out]

Wow, what a surprise! A second Tata in 3 years. Karl Slym must be proud of the achievement. Definitely a worthy contender.

Somehow I feel, Tata (sales / service) staff will find innovative ways to royally mess it up. Happened with the Zest, which was a huge turnaround for Tata Motors.

This year there were better cars that appealed to my heart and soul. Unfortunately, the Tiago was not one of them. It felt like a "jack of all trades" car, that does a lot of things well, but never excelled in any. I say this after driving a top-spec petrol Tiago for around 2000 KMs. For me, the Endeavour was the one that made all the right noises. Now that left an impression, after only driving only for 5 KMs.

Overall a great year for enthusiasts. 2016 gave us gems like the POLO GTI and Isuzu D-Max V-Cross. Even fantastic updates to our staples, like Elantra, Superb, Fortuner and Innova. Tiago coming on top and with a huge margin says something about us enthusiasts. We want a GTI or an Abarth, but end up getting a Tiago. Again, I say this as I personally own 2 Hyundai’s.

[carwatcher]

It seems I unintentionally offended many fellow BHPians by mistakenly using the word 'Connoisseur' while I actually wanted to convey enthusiast. I sincerely apologise for the goof-up.

I mentioned the reason for my not voting for Tiago is being the mention of not-very-great engines in official review thread (which we all regard as very high). Also I haven't seen many Tiagos on road here in Goa.

I voted for Toyota Innova Crysta despite it being Non-VFM.

I would also like to mention that there is absolutely No single criteria apart from VFM which can Guarantee any car to be COTY. The car which crosses the 'mind' hurdle of VFM then moves to the next hurdle of 'heart' and which car pulls the strings gets the vote.