[elf]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

... Nothing saw the light of the day. ... I guess they should spend more time, effort and money on improvising their current basket of cars or trucks, if I may say ... Concepts are just showoff pieces ...

You've got that wrong.

Concept vehicles are not just 'showoff pieces' from manufacturers - they're used to gauge public reaction to upcoming models, ideas & platforms, & are also used to display new technology, designs, themes, body styles, options, sub-systems, interiors, or even simply some new colours.

They also create hype around a manufacturer / product, & work towards increasing brand value & recall.

Technology / ideas displayed on a concept vehicle or the concept vehicle itself need not necessarily see the light of day immediately or at all. This may be due to various reasons, including public rejection, cost effectiveness, etc.

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

... If all Indian car concepts became production cars, we would have had the best cars in the world.

I think it's damn important, & due accolades should be given to Tata for trying to find out if their ideas & concepts would work with their target audience. It costs a tremendous amount of resources, including time, effort & money, to come up with a concept for a show.

And what do you mean by the 'Indian' bit? Nowhere in the world does every concept car become a production car.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Besides everything else, I am a bit circumspect about those specs. A car so heavy and macho looking with just 53 horses on the reign?!!! Uhuh... does not sound so good mate.

it will sound nice if it is priced under 4 lakhs & returns a FE over 18kmpl.

[salilpawar1]

The spy pic of the Ace based Van is in OD Dec issue. Is dimensionally very similar to Maruti Omni. Will try to post the scanned pics of the Ace Van and the Renault Traffic based MPV soon.

[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by elf

Technology / ideas displayed on a concept vehicle or the concept vehicle itself need not necessarily see the light of day immediately or at all. This may be due to various reasons, including public rejection, cost effectiveness, etc.

You said the magic word "cost effectiveness". This is one reason why most concept are just concepts and remain that way.

Originally Posted by elf

They also create hype around a manufacturer / product, & work towards increasing brand value & recall.

This is what I mentioned showoff - Banda!!!

Originally Posted by elf

It costs a tremendous amount of resources, including time, effort & money, to come up with a concept for a show.

I wished they spend this money to improve their existing models. TATA would sell better and earn more and we could have better cars to drive. Why need to showoff new pieces when they cannot better what they already have?? Indica is an awesome car, but wish it could shrug off that truck like build, drive and feel.

[rks]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Besides everything else, I am a bit circumspect about those specs. A car so heavy and macho looking with just 53 horses on the reign?!!! Uhuh... does not sound so good mate.

The specs do not look right to me. A 1.4 lit, 4-cylinder engine with just 53 BHP output? Is it petrol or diesel? Will surely not sell in Europe.

[vinod]

the model looks futuristic and don't think will go down well with indian buyers. Guess it'll be more succesfull if launched in europe, but have to beef up the engine for that.

[Mendi]

yeah, i also believe that is just a concept car and does indicate the kind of research that these automobile manufacturers are involved into. Its also meant to help these manufacturers in developing the upcoming breeds and variants of their already improvized models and technologies. That was way back in late 1999, at the annual Design and technology Seminar in Pune courtsey SDRC[Now called UG], a similar concept car was used to demonstrate the Innovated Seat of Indica on I-deas software.

[man23ish]

Nice Concept, Should give out more BHP if fitted with a DICOR intercooler engine. Tata must (should) be looking to enter the premium car segment market in Europe and Indiva provides just the right platform to do that..

Also, we should not ignore the recent alliance with Fiat, one never knows whats going on in Ratan Tata's mind. He may very well fit a Fiat Multi-Jet engine in the Indiva for the car to sell in the European and South American markets..

Personally, I would like to see a Skoda - Yeti-2 type convertible roof-top on the Indiva..