[SVK Rider]

This is an awesome thread, though I am a newbie here would like to add up few more for this thread.

Yamaha R15

This is one of the most important motorcycle from the last decade. In 2008 for the first time we Indians felt the essence of a true sports bike. In India full fairing motorcycles do receive special attention and for Yamaha the twin headlamp setup, the Deltabox frame (also known as perimeter frame),Dasil cylinder, Forged Pistons and the sticky tyres gave us the true feel of sports bike for the first time. Till date many of us remember the feel when we sat for the first time in the motorcycle.
From the inception till date it is still now hot favorite among the youth and a true R-series DNA affordable sports bike in India.
The current Generation Yamaha R15 V3.0 is also a masterpiece from Yamaha.



Honda CBR250R

Though many of us might not agree with me in this point however this is one of the most potent motorcycle after Hero Honda Karizma
The single cylinder 250cc motor gives enough punch for those highway runs and it is arguably most desired and practical sports tourer in the segment.
This motorcycle gave boast to a specific segment of the market, specially when motorcycling and road trips were gaining popularity in the country.
The Relaxed riding position and the full fairing look was instant hit in the market. This is a motorcycle which gave us the look of a faired bike along with comfort position. Moreover the cheap maintenance and good mileage made to fall in love with the bike for many of us. However Honda still sells the same CBR in India where as other parts of the world got a new updated version which is not so smart movement from Honda looking into the current market scenario.

P.S. All the pictures are not taken by me, took help from google for some.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by Samba

10)
Following the suit of the Tata Sumo, Mahindra came up with the more rugged Bolero. In 2018 Tata sumo is almost at the verge of phasing out, whereas the Bolero is still selling in numbers.

IIRC, Mahindra was there first with Armada. When Tata launched the Sumo Spacio in 2000, Mahindra launched the Armada Grand LX, which when went into production, was called the Bolero.



source

[vivee90]

I feel the Merger and Acquisition teams of our homegrown automakers deserve a huge mention here. Just look at the track records so far! Some are,

Mahindra's acquisition of Reva. Although it is not a successful investment financially (yet), it has provided the necessary return in terms of technology experience and reputation.

Mahindra's latest purchase of Pininfarina. One can clearly see the difference in Marazzo's clean design against the first XUV. Thanks to that move.

Tata Motors acquiring JLR. Enough said.

Next is Mahindra's strategic decision to be involved in Formula E and MotoGP. Formula E may not be as popular as Formula 1, but it is getting there. And the company is getting a lot of insights by working with top EV component suppliers which could provide a great leverage in the EV race.


Source: Mahindra racing


Source: Google Images

TATA motors introduction of the Prima series and stay very much in contention against the onslaught of the mighty Germans and Swedes.

TATA motors launch of Ace! It turned out to be what the market just needed. Rivals could only mimic the product but not the market share.

[prashanthyr]

The Indigo CS gets my vote for the smartest move by an Indian Manufacturer. Tata spotted an opportunity due to the new 4 M rule and moved with great speed to address it. They had the market to themselves for some time before the Dzire came into being.

Its sad that Tata essentially let go of a segment they created.

[bkc]

1) Introduction of chick looking Tiago by TATA.
2) The bold step in designing the Nexon very differently, with good 1.5 diesel, which, maruti is yet to design.
3) Introduction of MPV Marazzo by Mahindra.
4) Bringing the Santro name back by Hyundai.
5) Localisation of Ninja 300.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by payeng

Don't know which one is a bigger automotive 'faux pas' from the house of Mahindra

Buying out Kinetic's 2 Wheeler business only to pile up loses year on year
Burning cash by fielding a Moto3 Team (for what?)
Or Mahindra's Obsession with Names ending with "O"

Originally Posted by glikithvinayaka

The most recent would be Mahindra introducing the marazzo. It is slotted well in between Ertiga and Innova, taking a slice from both of their markets. It has already taking the third spot from TATA, and with increasing marazzo bookings looks like it's gonna keep the position.

Talking of Mahindra, they did certain things wrong (buying out Kinetic without much thought about what the market would look like 5 or 10 years down the line), and some things that I don't think have mattered (naming all cars with an 'O' at the end - the Scorpio would have sold just as many if it was called the Tahr - as opposed to the Thar). Whether the Marazzo is a smart move, only time will tell.

However, I think the smartest moves they made were to take over Reva and Ssangyong. Reva, because electric vehicle technology makes Mahindra future-proof (a major disadvantage for most of the other manufacturers). And Ssangyong, because of the technology transfer.

[mmxylorider]

1. The advent of the early auto geared 2 wheelers - Luna and Hero Majestic followed by the more powerful ones (Sunny Zip, Kinetic Honda) enabled a lot of women to be self reliant and empowered.

Real smart to penetrate this hitherto untapped market.

2. Can we talk heavy duty here? M&M started tractor exports mainly to tap into other 3rd world countries, but small tweaking also allowed some (US) airport handlers to use M&M tractors for apron duties. Low cost, ease of maintainability and lot of torque proved mighty useful.

3. Through true value model, Maruti was able to continue with retaining brand loyalty, get competitor cars off the road and also get into the user car business - Making money in all aspects.

[shreevishnu]

Also worth mention is Mahindras JV with Navistar for trucks, they have a heavy truck product range from that.

Much like Mahindra, Eicher also has managed a good product tech transfer with Volvo on the Pro series of trucks. Otherwise, they too would have been struggling like SML.

[sandx]

The Hero Honda CBZ was one smart move by a motorcycle manufacturer. Now before the break up they were doing pretty well with splendors and CD 100s but the launch of CBZ heralded a new era of sporty (or rather good looking) motorcycles in the Indian Market.

And then the launch of the Karizma took the market by surprise. In a world of puny 100 CC's ruling the roost here comes this bike with a 223 cc engine, an edgy, futuristic design and with a proper plastic cowl to boot for. The mileage was disappointing, some folks said it was less than even a Maruti but with Hrithik Roshan in the TVCs chasing jet fighters, it had everyone drooling over.

Those were the bikes to buy at that point of time. But alas, these two competent products were ridiculously carried through in their later iterations. And then the Bajaj pulsar came, and saw and conquered, while the Hero bikes became uglier and uglier and unpopular day by day. It pains to see what they did to 2 of the most iconic bikes. Makes for a good case study on what the hell they were thinking.

[blackasta]

WagonR, the couple of generations older one, had a (50:50?) split (and reclining too??) rear seats. That was a smart move.
But then Hyundai started another smart move by marketing Santro as a 5 seater against the WagonR being a 4 seater, which saw both of these cars pick up a legendary sales fight that lasted till the Santro was demoted & finally pulled out.

[giri1.8]

Not sure if someone had mentioned earlier, but TVS 50/XL mopeds changed the way rural area travelled, not to mention their weight hauling capability! Models like Bajaj M80,TVS XL not only brought cash for those companies, but also changed the landscape of certain regions of economics.

Recent smartest move by an Indian maker outside of India is surely Mahindra's Roxor !

Few Bajaj models have good fan following in the south-east Asian region. Always great to see an India made machine abroad

[arin_12]

Not sure if we can say this is smart move or blunders.

[SVK Rider]

Add on to the thread
Royal Enfield
This manufacture do have a special place to all of our hearts arguably.
While I am refraining on going back to time for its history, the introduction of the Machismo along with Electra was indeed a smart move in late 90s and early 2000.
They gave back royal Enfield the much needed push from the sales point of view and was success owing many hearts.
Royal Enfield Machismo


Royal Enfield Electra

Later in the year 2009 Royal Enfield played a master stroke by introducing the Classic series which became hit instantly and till date it is the most sold Royal Enfield.
The classic design along with the UCE engine was more reliable and also have that retro feel which lured a lot of customers from a wide age group.
Royal Enfield Classic


Lastly The Himalayan from Royal Enfield actually opened a new segment in the country, the affordable and capable adventure / Dual Sport category in 2015.
This made the industry move in a new direction, the affordable dual sport motorcycles are in the game now. The BMW, and Kawasaki joined the league and many more are expected to join soon.
Royal Enfield Himalayan

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Samba

10) Tata Sumo

Around 1995, there were no comfortable people movers. The Mahindra Commander used to do the duty. The introduction of the Tata Sumo in the open market was a smart move by Tata. People used to swear by Sumo. Starting from metro's to villages, this car was a hit everywhere.

Attachment 1804937

11) Mahindra Bolero

Following the suit of the Tata Sumo, Mahindra came up with the more rugged Bolero. In 2018 Tata sumo is almost at the verge of phasing out, whereas the Bolero is still selling in numbers.

Attachment 1804938

12) Mahindra Scorpio

The Bolero, Sumo were much of a bare-bone people movers. Then Mahindra came up with the Scorpio which had all the creature comforts (though it never had a plush ride) with the ruggedness of a SUV and a 4x4 model which were easily available to customers. At that time it's only competitor was the Tata Safari but many owners reported of niggling problems on their Safari.

Attachment 1804939

Bolero certainly is one such case.

Bolero's popularity always amazes me, existing owners swear by it and it's the first choice when you want a UV. May be there are no alternatives as someone in this forum pointed out earlier.

Sumo established that people mover no longer have to be based on a relic from the world war or a Van.

Armada and Armada grand which was positioned against Safari (yep, shift on fly 4x4) did not do all that well.

And they changed Armada grand a bit and launched it as Bolero. Bingo sales success.

Bolero came with cramped interiors, uncomfortable ride etc but it's sales have done wonders for Mahindra, I remember one of their execs saying to a reporter on TV that their sales is largely attributed to the vehicle's styling. Gen1 perhaps is still a head Turner with some nice wheels.

Bolero Power+ reduced the prices even further and bringing in a bit more refinement and mileage, results in even more sales. Existing bolero owners are buying it again, it's also the default official vehicle for many firms.

I somehow felt that if Qualis had come with bigger tires and 4x4, like older gen LCs what would have happened to Mahindra. Missed opportunity perhaps for Toyota

[Varun_HexaGuy]

Ford Figo (1st Generation) :


This car was launched at a time when B+ Segment hatches were selling like hot cakes (like the Compact SUVs now). Cars like i10 and Swift had ridiculous waiting periods. Swift in particular had an eight-month waiting period! I still remember how a close relative of mine got hold of one after paying a princely sum as an extra over the On-road price. The Figo was launched at this time with the right price. The package was surely a VFM and this pricing was very un-Ford like because Ford was considered as a premium and expensive brand then. The pricing was more than enough to pull people from the Swift and Ritz for their waiting periods. So in a way this car did sell well for the next one year and this was when the Swift facelift was launched (2nd gen) which made a grand comeback taking away a good chunk of numbers from Ford India.

It did sell well till 2012 with mild updates and a facelift was given in 2012. If only Ford could've added a few more features like Automatic Climate Control, rear power windows, etc, it would've sold well. It touched the 1-lac sales mark in 2012. Post which it started losing to the competition. This was the bread and butter earner for Ford India for over a period of two years. As soon as they realized that the Figo is losing out, they got the Ecosport which still manages to engage a large number of customers (talk about perfect timing!)

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga :


This was another masterstroke from Maruti in my opinion. This was an MPV which was priced equally with a sedan or a premium hatchback. So, people who couldn't pay 14-15 lacs for the Innova got this to ferry the whole family in one car (like we did in 2012). The price what we paid for the mid variant (VDI) which came with most of the bells and whistles was slightly over the price of Top-end Dzire. It did manage to cater to a lot of customers who wanted an MPV and were restricted to a budget. My only complaint from this car is the lack of space (which most of the MPVs offer). If only Maruti could manage to squeeze out more space, this would've been a perfect package. No wonder why my dad calls this the Poor Man's Innova for 60-70% of the price then.