[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by discoverwild

...We didn't see a thread title saying "Why is Ford deleting features and increasing prices?" The information is inside the official review of the Ford Ecosport as the 3974th post in the thread...

Did you click the link I posted above? It was a news item that was featured on the t-bhp home page - not some post buried which didn't get any eye balls. And if you choose to click on the link again, please see the update towards the bottom, where Ford gave a statement too.

[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Did you click the link I posted above? It was a news item that was featured on the t-bhp home page - not some post buried which didn't get any eye balls. And if you choose to click on the link again, please see the update towards the bottom, where Ford gave a statement too.

Yes, I did. Check the link below for the forum discussion and that's where the details are. We have had both the news item and the thread for the current discussion on Tata.

Like both of us mentioned, it's the prominence that matters. It has been long since I have browsed through any magazine for cars. My guess would be 15-20 years. I stick to TBHP for all my reading because I generally like what I see or read here. I have made a whole lot of friends here, including you, that I would probably never meet. So, I would only like the forum to go up higher.

The last 6 cars of mine have been Tata, so I can comment more about them than any other manufacturer. But I have and will be dismissed as a fanboy. It doesn't matter to me. I have no need for another car yet, so do not walk into any showroom. The Harrier was the first car I went to see after I purchased the Vista eight years ago.

There's a bit of bias against the brand in general, for which only Tata is to blame. But if I could judge their progress, I would say that no other company has made serious strides like they did in the last six years. They have come from being dismissed as a car manufacturer to slowly becoming a desirable brand. This deletion of features being a bad move, though.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Karthik Chandra

The Nexon 5 star thread is stuck at 8 pages but the rest of them are running at full steam. My point is let's point out the flaws while also giving credit where its due. Do you think people surfing would have noticed the 5 star thread as much as this thread?

The 5-star NCAP safety rating of Nexon was widely appreciated, members were quick to react on the achievement, and the thread ran its course in a short duration of 2-3 days. As with any achievements, we all collectively celebrated and moved on. The reaction will be similar if the Harrier or XUV300 garner gold standards in safety (in fact I am deeply impressed with the way Mahindra has kitted the latter on safety). The JTP twins’ review is another example – one of the most enthusiast-focused review in recent times; much more than some of the decorated performance cars (e.g.; Octavia vRS). But in this case the feature deletion/tinkering is happening across the range, and Tata is actually helping to keep the thread alive by progressively removing features from its models, Tiago being the latest.

[rovingeye]

Well, looks like Tata is also trying to get rid of stock now.



From this morning's TOI.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by rovingeye

Well, looks like Tata is also trying to get rid of stock now.

Nothing specific to TATA Motors here!

That fact is - sales are down across the board for all manufacturers and there are big discounts being marketed by every brand. See here - http://www.autopunditz.com/news/the-...nts-marketing/.

Even Maruti Suzuki had even expressed their displeasure at having to roll out big discounts to sell cars since last year end. Read here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ent-happy.html (Discounting goes up, up, up. Manufacturers aren't happy)

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by GTO

Cheap, cheap, cheap

Thanks to Mohamed Fardeen for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

Attachment 1847048

Attachment 1847049

Wheel well cladding is a separate piece attached to the inside of the wheel well and not a coating applied to the wheel well. Neither Blue XZ nor the Red XZ+ one seems to have wheel well cladding. So what is all this fuss about?

The blue car seems to have black rubberised coating in its rear wheel well and the red car seems to have a translucent coating (similar to the one in my Crysta's wheel well). So what does he mean by saying Tata removed the wheel well cladding? The new coating looks better applied too.

Tata may be cutting a lot of features but this doesn't look like it.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Wheel well cladding is a separate piece attached to the inside of the wheel well and not a coating applied to the wheel well. Neither Blue XZ nor the Red XZ+ one seems to have wheel well cladding. So what is all this fuss about?

That's the point - not there in both. Here's a pic of an older Tiago with the cladding. Have also provided a link in my original post to our review car having the cladding:

[ashokabs]

There is no question of agreeing or disagreeing with what TATA Motors is doing in deleting some features from the cars. The car maker is a manufacturer who has to make a profit. It makes a larger profit from selling larger number of cars with a larger net profit per car. It is upto the customer to make up his mind whether he buys a particular car with a specific feature. It is competitive and he compares all the cars of his choice from different manufacturers and makes up his mind. The very fact that the Tiago is still selling well highlights the fact that the buyer is happy with the features currently provided. There is no question of this being right or wrong. It is a purely business driven question. I think we are used to successive expensive cars being brought out with additional features and a higher selling price! If we see it with this mindset then yes we will see it as bad to remove features from a car.

[arjab]

My aunt will be taking delivery of a top end Tiago sometime next week. Had a chance to check the allotted vehicle out at the dealer stockyard. Noticed & observed the following things:
- Rear wheel well cladding is now minimal. RHS rear is nil. LHS rear there is a bit of it as the fuel filler nozzle orifice is on the left side and I guess you need some protection from stone hits etc

- The power window switches are not backlit anymore. It was such a convenient thing. Now you have to hunt around in the dark for the "dark" switches !

- The string attached to the parcel tray to lift it up in tandem with the hatch opening up, is not there any more. Now you have to open the hatch and then flip the parcel tray manually.

- Now, this may be perception: we need deeper inputs on this. My aunt will be buying the 2019 top end Tiago. When I was fiddling with the music system, did the bass feel a bit low? I was playing the acoustic version of Eagles', "Hotel California" from their acoustic album, "Hell Freezes Over" over Bluetooth. The tone felt a bit "flattish" specially when the drums kick in, even on max bass. And there was also a tinge of "hollowness" in the sound.
To be sure , I hopped across to another old Tiago top end, that was parked nearby, this one had the tiny screen infotainment system, and I felt the bass was crisper & tighter and certainly there was no "hollowness" audibly perceived.
Now, I repeat again, this has to be looked into at a deeper level. But on the face of it; it seems some fiddling may have been done to the speaker output wattage / size etc?

- Did the old Tiago have a boot lamp? The 2019 top end doesn't have one.

- The assist grips in the cabin doesn't have a soft closing action. Did the old Tiago's assist grips retract in a damped way?

- Also I noticed one more thing: the left hand side tail light cluster on most recent Tiago's are not sitting flush with the body. There is a distinct gap between the top of the left rear tail light cluster and the body side. This is not the case with the right side tail light cluster which is flush fitting. In fact I have requested the deership to change the tail light cluster to the older models and ensure as much as possible a close fit. Off the record the dealer service guy, a very nice enthusiastic, young gent, admitted that the old Lumax clusters were better in terms of fitment.

The projector headlights, 15-inch wheels and the touchscreen system definitely are positives.

I will post a report post delivery with detailed pictures.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by arjab

- The power window switches are not backlit anymore. It was such a convenient thing. Now you have to hunt around in the dark for the "dark" switches !

- The string attached to the parcel tray to lift it up in tandem with the hatch opening up, is not there any more. Now you have to open the hatch and then flip the parcel tray manually.

- Did the old Tiago have a boot lamp? The 2019 top end doesn't have one.

Tiago had lost these features more than a year ago.

When I was fiddling with the music system, did the bass feel a bit low?

It is possible that the new touchscreen infotainment system is not a Harman unit hence the audio quality may have gone down.

- The assist grips in the cabin doesn't have a soft closing action. Did the old Tiago's assist grips retract in a damped way?

This is a recent deletion. Even JTP twins lose out on them. The glove box however still gets the damped action, I wonder for how long.

I think all this cost cutting is resulting out of the statement from Tata Sons Chairman https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ing-money.html (N Chandrasekaran: Every Tata Car - except Indica - is losing money). If this is indeed true, Tata is not making a profit of 5 rupees by removing parcel tray string but actually reducing loss of 5 rupees.

[SaiSW]

Originally Posted by ksameer1234

Tiago had lost these features more than a year ago.

This is a recent deletion. Even JTP twins lose out on them. The glove box however still gets the damped action, I wonder for how long.

Hello, I own a 2016 model petrol Tiago and my car does have spring loaded grab handles, but they do not have damped/soft retracting action like in Jazz etc. Can you tell me which model year had the damped action handles? It is a feature I really like, because now when I release the handle it just goes back abruptly and creates bang sound, I'd rather have fixed handles than this, tbh. Very annoying. Actually was planning for an aftermarket option to get the damping action, I know it would most likely be a hack job and will not be perfect, but better than nothing.

If there really was damping feature for the handles then I must take it up with my SA during next service and persuade him into obtaining one and fixing it for me.

Thanks.

[procrastinator]

It's a smart move to save cost or increase profit. A usual way of doing business that has been done by many.
Aam Junta won't notice it until it gets comparison from others, a rare chance.


IMHO,
Tata is skimping on features which competitors don't offer.
They have priced their cars on par with them. It makes sense to sell volumes with better offers to skimp them. Apparently this is how our market is like.
Car itself is a luxury. Some nice features going missing are okay as long as everything is functional.

Other manufacturers have done it too (Ford and Hyundai)
Let's not bash one brand who has been trying to come back with nitpicking. Peace!

[TusharK]

Tata Hexa XTA to lose 19" rims

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this page!



Tata Motors is said to have deleted more features from the Hexa. This time, the XTA variant loses its 19-inch diamond-cut wheels. They are likely to be replaced with 17-inch charcoal grey alloys from June 2019 onwards.

In November 2018, we had reported how Tata was deleting minor features from the Hexa in the name of cost-cutting. Select variants of the SUV lost its dual tail-pipe exhaust, chrome insert on the drive control switch and piano black finish on a/c grill bezel, door trim strip and glovebox strip.

It is not just the Hexa that has lost some of its features. Since launch, the Nexon and Tiago have also lost some equipment, which include deletions like second row 12V socket and USB fast charger in the Nexon to the rear parcel shelf, day and night IRVM and vanity mirror on the co-driver's side in the Tiago.

Link to Team-BHP News

[AkMar]

This is seriously getting out of hand now. Few years down the line XTA may be converted into XEA, that is if the Hexa survives BS6 introduction.

Sad to see Tata treating such a capable vehicle so badly

[adi.mariner]

With the features list being modified so frequently by Tata and Ford, it is really difficult to keep track of the actual features you will get with the Car. The 19-inch Diamond Cut wheels look really sinister. However the 17-inch ones will improve ride quality and will be lesser prone to cuts/damage.