[ashis89]

Tata must be in tight situation to get some profits. Increasing prices means it loses one important USP against its competitors - lower sticker price. So the other way out was to remove few features from here and there. It's quite possible they conducted a 'few' surveys to understand which were the features that customers didn't use frequently (eg: reverse camera on button on dashboard?). Some others getting deleted though, seem pretty lame and wouldn't impact their profits in any considerable manner - string from parcel tray. This is a new scenario - introductory features, instead of introductory price that we usually see.

I feel there is a better way to handle this situation. They can do the following:

• As few BHPians have suggested, keep the top model feature list untouched and increase its price or introduce another top end optional model with all available features. Let customers decide which is VFM for them.

• Sell the plug and play features (such as boot lid insulation) where the customer can purchase and install it in the car at the dealer. Make sure the stock supply is adequate across the dealers and prices are consistent. I am sure many users wouldn't mind paying for few of the features that they want.

• Send clear notifications regarding the changes in the models.

[vnselvaraj]

Originally Posted by ashis89

• Sell the plug and play features (such as boot lid insulation) where the customer can purchase and install it in the car at the dealer. Make sure the stock supply is adequate across the dealers and prices are consistent. I am sure many users wouldn't mind paying for few of the features that they want.

• Send clear notifications regarding the changes in the models.

I like this suggestion: make the (value-add) features that can be fitted on additional payment by the customers who would not feel that the features are removed for ever. I am sure they would be happier to pay that extra few thousands to get it done from TM.

[akhil994]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

@akhil994 nothing personal. Your post just happened to be the nearest post to illustrate my point beautifully.





Look, folks, I am not defending what the manufacturers are doing, whether it be deletion of features or providing different states of engine tune across markets or outright deletion of structural members. I am just trying to look at it from a different point of view and trying to decide what is acceptable and what is not.



Will I decide not to buy a vehicle because some of the buttons are not back-lit? It is too insignificant to think about.



Will I decide not to buy a vehicle because it provides 'just' 120bhp against the 170bhp it provides internationally? Significant difference, but will decide based on the test-drive.



Will I decide not to buy a vehicle because a structural member is missing? Hell yes.

I totally agree with whatever you are saying here. I am not saying my decision was solely based on that factor, but such little things keep tilting the balance in favour of the competitor.
Main reason for going for Ford is due to the complete list of safety features that are available which are not available in other cars of the segment.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

How? The feature that was provided was that 'x' number of interior configs are available. Now the number of configs available is a number that is less than 'x'. How is this not a deletion or reduction in the features?

I asked you for more details. I'm unsure what Musk exactly means by 'interior configs', and I don't presume from the quoted tweet that any material features are actually being taken off the Tesla cars, open to see evidence otherwise. It would be more beneficial to argue facts than semantics.

It also helps to look at things in context. A luxury car manafacturer reducing customisation options for fairly popular cars, as against a struggling manufacturer recently limping back to relevance after years of ignominy removing potential value-adds and a few downright basic bits that set their cars apart from immediate competition. Specious comparison at best.

Tesla and Tata are both free to do whatever they want of course, the relevant market segments will vote with their wallets, whether entry-level hatch or top-dollar rich-mobile.

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

I asked you for more details.
.....

Tesla and Tata are both free to do whatever they want of course, the relevant market segments will vote with their wallets, whether entry-level hatch or top-dollar rich-mobile.

I don't have details on the proposed changes Tesla is doing. I posted that tweet just because I was reading this topic here and that tweet popped up.

And, I agree with the second part of your post that I have quoted. As a customer we are right in expressing our wants and desires. And the manufacturer can decide what to provide and what not to. Sales success happens when the two meet.

But when it comes down to actually buying the vehicle, do some of the fiddly bits or their absence really matter? It does not for me. When I picked up a car costing 12L it did not have speed sensing door lock, which I think is an important feature. But the previous generation model had it and another model from the same manufacturer costing 7L continues to have it. But I still went ahead and bought it.

Bothering about the fiddly bits is like counting the mustard seeds when you are adding tadka to your dal.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

....
But when it comes down to actually buying the vehicle, do some of the fiddly bits or their absence really matter?...

Bothering about the fiddly bits is like counting the mustard seeds when you are adding tadka to your dal.

That's the crux of it. Who gets to decide what should and shouldn't matter? Useless stuff for me (ISOFIX mounts) is a deal-breaker for friends and family members with toddlers. Similar arguments could be made for pretty much every fiddly (or not) bit one can name.

The best a manufacturer can do is offer everything at a price point (isn't that the whole rationale for variants?), and leave it to customers what they want to pay for. Removing choices altogether from the entire variant range just turns away customers who are otherwise inclined to buy. Free world of course, and the sales charts don't lie. Tata will learn a lesson either way; whether it's one of profitability or regret remains to be seen.

I'm off to the JTP thread to drool, potential purchase decision upcoming

[condor]

Was discussing this with a friend - a fellow Storme owner, and he pointed out some more:


Storme LX - ABS, Rear disk brakes, 3rd row cabin lamp, Side and Rear foot steps, Rear jump seats

Storme Ex - 3rd row cabin lamp, Rear jump seats, Rear fog lamps, Heating rear-view mirrors

Storme VX - 3rd row cabin lamp, Chrome finish on mirrors, and even the Analog clock



Sad, because these are not big ticket items either.

[GTO]

Guys, please stop with the off-topic discussion as the Tesla matter is entirely different (Musk isn't deleting features from existing variants).

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

If the manufacturer was to retain all the features AND still make money, what is he to do? The obvious answer is to increase prices. Then, we will have a similar outcry on unreasonable increase in prices and the car being labeled as over-priced.

Originally Posted by ashis89

Tata must be in tight situation to get some profits. Increasing prices means it loses one important USP against its competitors - lower sticker price. So the other way out was to remove few features from here and there.

It's a misconception that Tata hasn't increased prices. Please view earlier posts on this thread where numbers have been provided. The prices have indeed increased with the market.

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

But when it comes down to actually buying the vehicle, do some of the fiddly bits or their absence really matter?

You're missing the point of this thread. It doesn't matter whether those features matter to you or not.

1. It is about offering them initially, then deleting them.

2. While you might not miss some of the features, others clearly are (as evidenced by many posts on this thread).

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by condor

Storme VX - 3rd row cabin lamp, Chrome finish on mirrors, and even the Analog clock

Storme VX doesn't get the "Analogue" clock now? Its a classic touch that I aways liked about in Safari/Storme!

Prem.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by condor

Storme LX - ABS, Rear disk brakes, 3rd row cabin lamp, Side and Rear foot steps, Rear jump seats

Storme Ex - 3rd row cabin lamp, Rear jump seats, Rear fog lamps, Heating rear-view mirrors

I could hardly believe it that they've removed the jump seats for LX & EX. But yes, you are right, the website shows seating = 4 + driver (LX, EX). So, essentially these variants are now 5 seaters with LOTS of luggage space.

Skipping ABS & rear disk brakes from LX is also quite unfortunate, as these features had made Storme LX one of the most VFM SUV variants in the market.

Cheers,
Vikram

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by akhil994

Even I had my sights on the Nexon, which is fabulous as a product. However this approach from Tata really put me off and pushed me towards the Ecosport.

Now I know Ford is no saint in this matter either, since even they have been altering features on the Ecosport, but point is that there is a variant on the lineup which has all the features possible, which is not the case for Nexon.

When Tata launched Zest, all the power window controls for all four doors were illuminated. With Tiago, Tigor it came down to only the driver console which was illuminated (understandable for the segment) . With the Nexon it was again only driver side illumination and I was willing to adjust. But even that has been removed. So was the rear foglamp and the charging point.

These small touches really amp up the feel good factor in a car's cabin. This is what Tata needs to keep in mind.

The 2018 Tiago now does not have any illumination on the switches.

Along with that they have removed the boot light, under bonnet insulation, analog fuel and temp gauge too.

[centaur]

TATA is going the wrong way with these omissions. These deletions are hardly going to cost the company a bomb to be making loses but slightly jacking up the prices of the vehicle is a much better approach instead. If I were to buy a car, I wouldnt mind paying a little extra to have the car with atleast as many features it was launched with or a few more. I definitely wouldnt want my vehicle to be at the same price as someone else's, that was purchased a year ago but is now down on features. Hope they get their act right

[PrasunBannerjee]

Don't know if it has been discussed earlier, but as per the website, Tigor doesn't offer smoked dual chamber projector headlamp setup as well as diamond cut alloy wheels on the Tigor XZ anymore. Need someone to reconfirm please. XZ was such a VFM offering and they have just kinda killed it making it look at par with XE with body color door handles. Man I've started liking the new Aspire now sadly despite being a Tata fan all these years

[MaheshY1]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

Here is another maker informing customers of the withdrawal of features (or interior configs, as he calls them). How different is this from what TATA is doing?

Attachment 1810868

Totally different. First, I'm not sure if 'config' here means different materials to pick from or certain features.

Regardless, if Tata had announced the deletion with a press release and given buyers a chance to book the one WITH all the bells and whistles, I may have considered the two situations similar. Tata is just quietly removing features hoping that nobody notices. That's just CHEAP. And cheap is what defined Tata not too long ago.

Finding missing bits in a Tata car is sounding more like finding easter eggs.

[RaghuVis]

What a crazy time TATA is having. On one side they are are silently removing features from cars and then the next thing you know they introduce JTP twins. While we are trying to wrap our heads around this, the next news comes about how they are coning people in the name of alloy wheels for NRG editions. Just when you think they are losing it, they reveal the first look of Harrier with a bang. I mean what a crazy month for TATA.

Just when TATA engineers and design team are trying to bring their company back to limelight, some crazy guy with some hotshot MBA degree is trying to show them how to dupe people legally and save money. Any successful company, not just Auto firms, needs a successful marriage of great engineers/designers who have amazing support of the marketing guys. A successful company is one where both compliment each other and not try to outsmart each other.

To those from TATA who are reading this(And yes they are), TATA is NOT just a company. It is an institution set with extremely high benchmarks set by one of the greatest Indian ever, Mr JRD. He would have thrown you out without even battling an eyelid if he smelt something happening under his watch. His real successor Mr Ratan Tata would have never ever approved the con jobs you are doing. Don't ruin the legacy of these greats for some silly bonuses that you are going to get. You guys are nothing. I mean it, nothing when it comes to this institution, its ethics and standards. Please go away.