[GTO]

Mod Note: Our Altroz Report has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!

Tata has dispatched 4,500 Altroz’ in January (source) and we can safely assume, another 2,000 by mid-Feb already. Despite the parent company having its headquarters in Bombay, and having shipped ~6000 cars, Tata hasn’t kept aside a measly 3 – 4 examples for their media fleet. I also fail to understand how Tata can have several cars available at the media drive event, many more for test-drives at its hundreds of dealerships, but none as part of its media fleet in Bombay? To understand that situation is beyond me .

Compare this to say, Mahindra. Mahindra has test cars ready for us on the day of the launch itself; sometimes, we also get a colour choice! We’ve already exchanged innumerable emails & messages with Tata Motors…to the point of being fed up! The other problem that we face with such long delays is that of bandwidth. Ours is a small team. Right now, friendly Mod Aditya is waiting for the Altroz. But by start of April, there will be many more cars to review (next-gen Creta, next-gen City etc.). Hence, we want to review the Altroz NOW. It is anyways over 2 months since the Altroz media drives were held, and 3+ weeks since the car has been launched. No other manufacturer delays test-drive cars as much as Tata Motors and we cannot wait any longer. I am of the firm opinion that no manufacturer can delay our review of their car (or block it - related link).

Hence, my sincere request: Can Team-BHP borrow your Tata Altroz for our Official Review? Your generosity will greatly help the community as thousands of BHPians & guests are waiting for our test report, before deciding on their next hatchback. Many thanks in advance! As a small token of appreciation, we’ll also gift your car something special – it could be a set of after-market rims, better tyres, an extended warranty + service pack, or anything else you wish.

Would like only the top-end variant as all our Official Reviews feature only the highest trim level. Mumbai or nearby cities (Pune, Nashik etc.) would be much preferred, so that Aditya can do his shoot & review, post which I can also drive the car. But if there are no cars available in Maharashtra, we are open to travelling to other parts of India.

We promise to take better care of your car than we do our own . If we can borrow your Altroz, please reply on this thread / PM me / drop us an email via the share page. Should you so prefer, your + your car's identity will be kept 100% anonymous. Thanks again - very grateful!

P.S. In case you aren’t aware, the diesel Altroz isn’t available yet (not even to customers). Therefore, we will review the petrol now, do a full photoshoot of it, and add a separate post for the diesel when the car is made available to us (either by you guys or Tata Motors).

P.P.S. We’re also waiting for the Nexon EV & I hope the media car comes before Indian law mandates BS7 emissions, 6 airbags & ESP as standard.

[AkMar]

This is pure non sense by Tata. Though they have great products, their marketing and logistics sucks to the core. They fail to capitalise on the great safety ratings their cars get (come on there should be a large campaign publicizing the safety of your cars). Time from reveal of cars to commencement of customer deliveries takes an eternity. Case in point website launch of Altroz Seriously? What next? Headlamp launch, foglamp launch maybe? And now non availability of media cars.

How long will they take to pull up their socks?

[GTO]

Just remembered one more thing = New manufacturer Kia bent over backward to make the Seltos available to us. While their media fleet was being readied, they gave us TD cars from dealerships!! And that's FOUR different engine + transmission options (compared to just 1 for the Altroz).

Learn something from the newbie, Tata. Learn something.

[sramanat]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just remembered one more thing = New manufacturer Kia bent over backward to make the Seltos available to us. While their media fleet was being readied, they gave us TD cars from dealerships!! And that's FOUR different engine + transmission options (compared to just 1 for the Altroz).

Learn something from the newbie, Tata. Learn something.

I'm not whining or complaining here. :-). If anything I want to appreciate you guys for earning the car buyer's trust.
I was waiting for team-bhp review of the seltos before my company's car lease window closed. Didn't happen. Bad timing I guess.

[mukeshgoel]

I have sent a message about this to Mr. Ratan Tata. Not sure it will help or not but they can improve their media strategy for future.

https://twitter.com/mgoel2012/status...67448634822656

[GTO]

UPDATE: An Altroz owner (who prefers to remain anonymous) has done even what mighty Tata Motors couldn't - that is, made a car available for us in <1 hour of this thread going live . However (and sadly), it's not the fully-loaded variant, so we will wait for other options.

[RaghuVis]

All good but I have a question. Has any B-hpian taken delivery of Altroz? I did not come across a single B-hpian in the altroz thread posting their delivery experience or share snaps. Maybe just a few would have updated their info in the thread that I missed noting or they prefer to remain anonymous. Baffles that despite their Gigantic goof up with Harrier, TATA is not learning their lessons. This car is their mass market bet and still they are lazy. Sometimes I think TATA pushes so hard on people to give up on them.

[abhi7013]

Just one of the most popular dimensions of TATA motors: the typical 'government office'!

How can a single company have so distant polarities? One hand we have their products which are refreshing and different. On the other, we have their marketing team which still think they are in the era of the Indica. Their PR and media along with the aged marketing guys are proving to be cancerous like an enemy on the inside, obstructing the company growth. I really pity the product team :banghead:

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

One hand we have their products which are refreshing and different.

Not only refreshing and different, but also very competent and capable of holding their own against any competitor. So, it's not like TML needs to be afraid of a roasting and a stinker of a review. That's what makes this so inexplicable.

How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Why does TML's marketing department work like this?

We will never know.

Cheers,
Vikram

[wheelguy]

Originally Posted by GTO

UPDATE: An Altroz owner (who prefers to remain anonymous) has done even what mighty Tata Motors couldn't - that is, made a car available for us in <1 hour of this thread going live . However (and sadly), it's not the fully-loaded variant, so we will wait for other options.

That's super quick, I am sure we may end up getting one car for each moderator in all colors before the sundown.

[varman742]

This is really annoying and frustrating from Tata Motors. They should know that there are significant number of followers of TBHP reviews and delays could mean potential buyers either deferring the purchase of Tata cars or going to competitors.

Not just media cars, at times even the required TD cars are not available at the dealerships. I went to check out Harrier AT at one of the nearby dealerships over the weekend and they had absolutely no clue as to when the car will arrive.

Hope the Mods get the required car ASAP for the review.

[Gautam Misra]

Was really enamoured by the looks of the Harrier and was seriously considering it. Called a Tata Motors dealer in Orissa (Gugnani) for a test drive. The sales representative asked to come and I drove down for 45 minutes for the TD.
On reaching the showroom they made be wait for another 45 minutes and then told me that the TD car was not there!
I could only "see" a vehicle in the showroom.
After that I promised to myself that I will think twice before considering a Tata.

[romeomidhun]

If there is no transparency in actions, then there are chances of some hidden evils.

i. Tata not giving Altroz to Team-BHP for test drive. Will that stop Team-BHP from reviewing Altroz or finding its drawbacks?
ii. Maruti decides not to send their cars to G-NCAP. Will that stop G-NCAP is testing their cars?
iii. Hyundai stop supplying i20 to Australia when the current gen was introduced in India. Will that hide the lesser safety rankings of i20?
iv. Renault's "Capture" saga. Will that hide the platform change of Capture?

If the answer to the above questions is "No", why companies are doing the shameful acts?

Openly accepting the challenge, improving the safety aspects and sending their cars to the NCAP tests would have added a lot of credibiblity to them. Moreover, they are exporting cars to many other countries. For those markets, the NCAP results will be a deciding factor.

[anantpoddar]

Originally Posted by Gautam Misra

The sales representative asked to come and I drove down for 45 minutes for the TD.
On reaching the showroom they made be wait for another 45 minutes and then told me that the TD car was not there!

I had the exact same experience with Hartron Tata in Gurgaon. They made me come down to the showroom with my family, made me wait for an hour, and then said they had no clue if a TD vehicle will be available in the next hour.
Compare that to Mahindra's Koncept Motors: they provided me a TD three times even after I had made it clear at the first instance that I might not be buying the vehicle from them

[Stribog]

Arguably Tbhp reviews are the go-to for most informed car buyers. I would guess that the ratio of casual readers to forum members would be far higher and in favor of non registered members.

To skip this channel is just plain retarded.