[amtak]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong, but UNO bookings on launch were phenomenal. Am I missing something here ??

Yes Hell_Rider (HR!) you are correct. UNO had a record booking. Its the Strike at the PAL plant which digged the grave for the UNO and nothing else. People still look for the FIAT uno in the 2nd hand car market as they know its nice and cheap to maintain and gives a cool fuel efficiency.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong, but UNO bookings on launch were phenomenal. Am I missing something here ??

You aqre missing the fact that there was nothing beyond maruti at that point in time. Hyundai, Daewoo etc were yet to launch

[satish_appasani]

Uno was competing against only Zen when it was launched. Uno was bigger, has better AC and lots of space and best of all it had Diesel option. What else anybody wanted in a entry level car in 1996-97? Just that Fiat couldn't encash that chance they had.
The same is the case with Palio launch too but it is not appropriate to hijack this thread.

[1100D]

But isn't this logical that taking up the ex-Daewoo plant with its dies and all, the car would be actually based on the Matiz rather than the UNO. The engines used to be manufactured under licence at the DCM factory.

[Mpower]

The UNO may have generated a lot of bookings but it never set the sales charts afire. Those were the days of Indica V1 with its many problems. UNO was the other cheap and large diesel hatch with more proven record compared to the Indica. Who knows, once you give it a cosmetic makeover it might still work.

[rahul_intlad]

MLR Motors to enter Indian auto market with 2 diesel cars


The company is planning to enter the market with two compact diesel cars of 850-900 cc and 1,500 cc in two years.
They are going to start working on these plans starting April this year.



Source:
MLR Motors to enter Indian auto market with 2 diesel cars

[gendarmee]

Aha.
Instead they could take up 118NE's design, absorb the bumpers into the body, re design the head/tail lights remove as much metal and add as much fibre components like mudguards, painted body and stuff, take a 1.3 mpfi engine from Nissan, add a bit of curves to the design and roll it out as a 1.5-1.75 lakh BIG car, and they probably do better business.

[kkr2k2]

Heard that Mr. Subbu is no longer associated with MLR motors. Can any one confirm this?

[amtak]

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

Heard that Mr. Subbu is no longer associated with MLR motors. Can any one confirm this?

Yes, that's correct. He's with Argentum motors now.

[vinaykiran79]

Any Pics of the car being launched by MLR Motors??????????

[bigman]

Originally Posted by amtak

Yes, that's correct. He's with Argentum motors now.

Yes thats right.

Also Argentum are just going to manufacture and supply engines & transmissions. No new cars. Maybe Mr Subbu looked at the industry and saw the UNO stood no chance with the coming launch of the 1 lakh car and a glut of cars already in the UNO category.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by amtak

Yes, that's correct. He's with Argentum motors now.

Mr. Subbu is supposed to be the main man in the car project by MLR motors.

The state govt. of AP gave them good amount of land in a prime area at a subsidised cost. Heard that such a land can sold off after 3 years.
Looking at the pace at which this car project is going on, it would safely finish the 3 year limit giving the MLR motors to sell of the land. This is just my opinion. I may be wrong though.

Few things about MLR motors:
i have seen their 3 wheeler, i should appreciate their build interms of look. its on par with market leaders of 3 wheelers.

Also their 3 wheeled vehicles perform well in normal condition. But the 3 wheelers are the most abused ones in our country. The MLR motors' teja is not supposed to be good at handling in extreme conditions and hence have a very low resale value. This is based on market feed back.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by Mpower

The UNO may have generated a lot of bookings but it never set the sales charts afire. Those were the days of Indica V1 with its many problems. UNO was the other cheap and large diesel hatch with more proven record compared to the Indica. Who knows, once you give it a cosmetic makeover it might still work.

I agree with you. When M&M can sell boxy looking Logan, then why can't Fiat sell UNO with some cosmetic changes. But Fiat still have lot of other things to get right.

[bigman]

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

Mr. Subbu is supposed to be the main man in the car project by MLR motors.

The state govt. of AP gave them good amount of land in a prime area at a subsidised cost. Heard that such a land can sold off after 3 years.
Looking at the pace at which this car project is going on, it would safely finish the 3 year limit giving the MLR motors to sell of the land. This is just my opinion. I may be wrong though.

Few things about MLR motors:
i have seen their 3 wheeler, i should appreciate their build interms of look. its on par with market leaders of 3 wheelers.

Also their 3 wheeled vehicles perform well in normal condition. But the 3 wheelers are the most abused ones in our country. The MLR motors' teja is not supposed to be good at handling in extreme conditions and hence have a very low resale value. This is based on market feed back.

Such things are not uncommon. There are prime pockets of land in and around Chandigarh which were gifted to companies in lieu of them setting up industry etc. The land lies vacant or the mediocre factories soon shut down. The land of cause now belongs to the industrialist and is worth a fortune in the open market.

[Scooby STi]

My dad had a couple of meetings with Mr. Lokeshwar Rao on setting up components supply to the new plant. They seem pretty gung ho about the car and have a gaggle of German engineers being paid astronomical salaries readying the final design of the vehicle. Their USP being a 'cheaper and better' alternative to TATA.

The engine supplier is FIAT, I think it might just be a seller-customer transaction because FIAT want to get rid of their dies. The AP government is backing them all the way because they want to save some face after the VW fiasco and this being the election year they want the prototype out by the end of the year.

I'm watching the proceedings closely because I may be involved in development/manufacture in the near future but definitely do not want to go down with them, if and when they do which again is a very distinct possibility.