[arjpillai]

Thought of putting this question to the man with a reputation for frank talk

[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by hortons15

Every manufacturer has shortcomings.

Exactly my point.

And that’s why I said Tata should try out the moves I mentioned. Cause apparently the priorities of the 20-25 lac car buyers doesn’t seem to be what Tata seem to think.

They’ve constantly been a step behind in understanding the pulse of the market. If that means compromising on some of your products qualities, so be it. Since that seems to be the way to making sales figures and profits and keep both customers and shareholders happy. Cause no one looks ready to be paying Toyota-money for a Tata product.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

1.Here we go again, with the sunroof and other gimmicks.

2.Tata should just cut some corners a’la Hyundai (considering the recent threads), and sign a 20 year deal with some sunroof manufacturer in China and get done with it. Plonk it all the way from the Tiago to Safari.

3.Saw 3 kids sticking out of a sunroof from a Honda city today on WEH. Too bad I was in the last lane or I would’ve captured the nonsense on dash-cam. I find it amusing that people are ready to pay for gimmicks while compromising on safety and design but not the other way around.

4.And fire Pratap Bose and the safety team while they’re at it. Save a whole lot of cash and start offering air purifiers and what not. Who cares about design and safety?

5.And let’s stop comparing the “Safari” to the Cretas & Seltos. It’s an even bigger farce than comparing the “Safari” to, well, the Safari.

1. I agree but gimmicks is what sells in India.

2. Actually, it's not a bad idea. Who can make stuff cheaper than Chinese?

3. I know this peril as I see it time and again. When I tried to tell a parent to tuck his kid in, I was laughed off. People just don't realize effects of laws of physics/force/momentum etc. in play while a car is in motion. In fact, it is unsafe to stick out a hand or head outa sunroof even when car is parked. What if a car is rear-ended at that very moment.

But, the view out of the pano-roof at night or on a cloudy day from inside the car is very rewarding, without sticking your body out, that is.

4. We certainly don't want that to happen. Slowly awareness is dawning on us. Did you notice how Nexon sales are creeping up month after month?

5. You and I may yell our guts out from rooftops not to, but you can't change perceptions in this country that easily. Most people still head straight to Maruti or Hyundai showrooms when it's time to buy a new car. These two have been like permanent fixtures. 3rd spot gets rotated between Tata, Mahindra, Kia. And 4th spot yo-yos between Honda/Toyota. But, like I said, people are slowly beginning to realize the importance and safety and core-engineering strength of a car in its vital parts.

[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by arjpillai

Thought of putting this question to the man with a reputation for frank talk

No disrespect to Mr.Bose, but if that were the case, things would have been handled differently. For example the whole front fascia of the new Safari should have been different. That should have been the bare minimum. What we see now is nothing but a Harrier XL/Plus.

And if they planned it to be the Safari since 2016, then why did they panic and rename the Buzzard to Gravitas? Buzzard to Safari would definitely have sounded more pleasing to our ears.

Let Tata say what they want, it’s a last ditch attempt to prevent the “Safari” from being dead on arrival.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

4. We certainly don't want that to happen. Slowly awareness is dawning on us. Did you notice how Nexon sales are creeping up month after month?

Obviously
A majority of that particular post I made was sarcastic. Tata needs Pratap Bose and should also resist from being just another member of the bling and air purifier brigade.

[kochup]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

I agree but gimmicks is what sells in India.

You and I may yell our guts out from rooftops not to, but you can't change perceptions in this country that easily. Most people still head straight to Maruti or Hyundai showrooms when it's time to buy a new car.

The fact of the matter is that while everybody wants Tata to succeed, very few people are ready to do so with their wallets/purchases.

Until recently (their latest product line), the demographic of people buying Tata vehicles used to mostly be repeat customers which excluded a %age of people who could not tolerate their service/service centers (cannot blame them) or people who took a hit to their social status (observed that a lot of people don't post their Tata purchases in our "purchased a new car" thread) and would vow to never touch a Tata vehicle again in future.

So even if all the improvements/feature suggestions in this thread are catered to, a large number of people (TBHP and otherwise) would eventually back off from purchasing since Tata comes with baggage/legacy attached (not blaming anybody else but TML here). Remembering JTP twins which put a grin on everybody's faces except TML who cannot be blamed for discontinuing them (assuming lack of sales/interest to not BS6 them)

Another fact is that the only major stakeholder with skin in the game is TML in terms of sales, revenue etc (and a few customers who buy Tata vehicles and their resale value gets affected.) and i believe TML has the resources to research the market sentiments, competitors and their offerings etc and set their monthly sales target etc so i think we are unnecessarily being concerned about Tata's success with the Safari Gravitas.(something which TML is not worried about .. dont you guys think ?)

[Sebring]

That's an old story. Tata motors have caught on, and how! 12 new Tata vehicles have been purchased in my apartment complex, since Oct 2020. 3-4 months waiting for the Nexon. In fact, people are averse to buying Maruti vehicles now. I'm a happy Tata customer, and my next will be a Tata

Originally Posted by kochup

So even if all the improvements/feature suggestions in this thread are catered to, a large number of people (TBHP and otherwise) would eventually back off from purchasing since Tata comes with baggage/legacy attached (not blaming anybody else but TML here).

[Guna]

Originally Posted by arjpillai

Thought of putting this question to the man with a reputation for frank talk

Is he saying that from 2016, day 1, this was going to be the 'Safari'? Why did Buzzard, Gravitas etc came in to the picture then?

[400notout]

Originally Posted by arjpillai

Thought of putting this question to the man with a reputation for frank talk

Reasons to agree

- No new suvs from Tata, the Sierra concept was already showcased.

- If not the Safari it could have been evaluated as a Safari replacement.

- Stepped roof design

- Keep the name secret to use it as a Trump card

Reasons to doubt.

- The lengths they went to brand this as Gravitas

- Spotting of a production ready model with Gravitas branding

- It is a Harrier plus

My take, the name will bring it attention, but everything boils down to how much we are asked to pay for those extra seats.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Guna

Is he saying that from 2016, day 1, this was going to be the 'Safari'? Why did Buzzard, Gravitas etc came in to the picture then?

Gravitas pretty much was sealed deal till recently is my gut feeling. (I never liked this name either if you ask me.) I find it hard to believe that the car was destined to be a Safari from day one. Mr. Pratap bose sure is doing his part to stand solid with the brand's approach.

As for H7X, Buzzard, Cassini etc - I think they were more like stop-gap / internal codenames for the projects. I don't see a car with a Buzzard name actually getting off 0 mark in sales charts.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

They’ve constantly been a step behind in understanding the pulse of the market. If that means compromising on some of your products qualities, so be it. Since that seems to be the way to making sales figures and profits and keep both customers and shareholders happy. Cause no one looks ready to be paying Toyota-money for a Tata product.

Dismissing many 1st in segment & best in segment features as gimmicks was a mistake many automakers had made. From a customer`s perspective these things does not require much effort but ticks a lot of boxes. The Indian customer is VFM conscious rather than price, what do we get for our money is more important than how much it is.

MG had to arm twist Tata into offering a sunroof and automatic in harrier, this is the reality.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

4. We certainly don't want that to happen. Slowly awareness is dawning on us. Did you notice how Nexon sales are creeping up month after month?

I was looking for a vehicle for my friend with a budget of 10L, Nexon XM is the only choice pretty much or Brezza which does not have a turbo petrol. So Nexon is VFM in this case, however that is not enough here.

The Koreans have moved the game over on the higher end of this segment, once the budget gets higher, the Koreans offer a lot more kit for the money from better drive train to safety kit with 6 airbags. I do not think any amount of GNCAP marketing is going to work against that.

[VOLANTE]

Couple of more pictures of upcoming Safari has surfaced in social media.





Pics by : Gaadify

[Sebring]

I have another angle to it. He is a creative guy, and when he puts that pencil to paper he would need inspiration. Maybe, he had the word SAFARI in mind, at that point in time. And later the boffins would change it. Right now, My guess is as good as anybody's

Originally Posted by Reinhard

I find it hard to believe that the car was destined to be a Safari from day one. Mr. Pratap bose sure is doing his part to stand solid with the brand's approach

[aansh singhania]

Spotted the safari yesterday on the mumbai pune expressway. Sorry for the really bad angle but I was sitting in the middle of the rear seat. The fact that the camoflauge wrap was newly applied was a bit surprising to be honest, it also had a little strip of camo above the DRL

[padmrajravi]

I think it was intended as Safari from day 1. Then somewhere down the line, after a market-research or taking stock of their finances, they decided that they were not going to include AWD in the first version. That would have triggered many people and arguments of 'then this can't be the safari' would have started. So they gave it a new name, tried to launch it as a different vehicle. Closer to launch they realized Gravitas does not have any SUV credentials and will have a tough time fighting against XUV and Scorpio, both of which will have AWD to establish their branding as an SUV. What is the easiest way to give it some SUV credentials? Name it Safari. Also, the thought that this is a make or break launch and if Gravitas does not take off, they may not even have the finances to design a true Safari 5 years down the line.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

3. I know this peril as I see it time and again. When I tried to tell a parent to tuck his kid in, I was laughed off. People just don't realize effects of laws of physics/force/momentum etc. in play while a car is in motion. In fact, it is unsafe to stick out a hand or head outa sunroof even when car is parked. What if a car is rear-ended at that very moment.

But, the view out of the pano-roof at night or on a cloudy day from inside the car is very rewarding, without sticking your body out, that is.

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Saw 3 kids sticking out of a sunroof from a Honda city today on WEH. Too bad I was in the last lane or I would’ve captured the nonsense on dash-cam. I find it amusing that people are ready to pay for gimmicks while compromising on safety and design but not the other way around.

Don't worry. All we need is some event/accident involving someone to get injured or much worse - dead, while they are half out form the sun-roof and the car gets into an accident and some media channel picks it up (I hope it does). I know this sounds ignorant of the value of life but you get the gist of it right?

You will need a 27x7 bombardment from news channels narrating this to the general populace before some of them will accept it as a risk than a cool feature. You and I are just too/over cautious until then