[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by bf1983

Damn.
If he decides to wait a bit then Kia will come into the picture and that will muddle up the decision even more. If Kia matches the Nexon new pricing it's going to be bad news for Tata.

It's not as bad as it was projected earlier. The hike is uniform across all variants at 14500, unlike the clickbaity article that Rushlane published and later retracted.

[SansGT]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

Tata seems oblivious everything happening in the automotive industry. Didn't they get the mail regarding the Kia Sonet unveil ? They are overestimating Nexon's brand value. At this price XUV300 will take away even the third position in CSUV race from Nexon. Hyundai twins will bag the first and second position anyway.

Isn't XUV 300 in the last position? I believe it is Venue, Brezza, Nexon, Ecosport, XUV300. Now I am sure Sonet is going to be 1st/2nd in this race.

[bf1983]

Originally Posted by discoverwild

It's not as bad as it was projected earlier. The hike is uniform across all variants at 14500, unlike the clickbaity article that Rushlane published and later retracted.

Yes Rushlane really screwed up that article. But that didn't seem to deter my friend. He still seemed keen on the Nexon. And he used to be a Tata hater 3 years back :P Refused to even consider a Tata car then.

But he might wait for Diwali time which should be when the Kia would launch. So lets see what happens then.

[zaphodb]

Originally Posted by SansGT

Isn't XUV 300 in the last position? I believe it is Venue, Brezza, Nexon, Ecosport, XUV300. Now I am sure Sonet is going to be 1st/2nd in this race.

Sonet and Venue cater to the same people. I'm 6 feet tall and felt uncomfortable in the rear seats of Venue. I expect Sonet to eat into Venue sales for the most part. Maruti has a brand image which will keep its buyers from going elsewhere. Nexon can take a hit too given that it's slowly losing its VFM proposition and it can't match the features of Venue/Sonet. ES and XUV aren't doing very good numbers right now anyway.

[Reinhard]

If Tata manages to launch a DCT just around the corner when the Sonet actually hits the street from showroom, it would be a masterstroke price planning. This seems a possibility since the hikes are only in Petrol guise mainly & not diesel. On the other hand, it will be quite a fast turn around by TML if they actually manage to launch the DCT as early as the festive season.

Originally Posted by Mynameis

One of the major USPs of Nexon was its Price. If they had provided a DCT/TC gearbox in facelift/BS6, even then price increase would not have pinched much.

Its a perception actually (which helped Tata sell the Nexon in 2019 ). The "VFM" tag of the Nexon was lost well before I purchased mine. On the feature list, the car lacked a significant amount of items compared to the Venue, XUV3OO even in 2019 & was pricier on most trims compared to the Venue, Brezza, EcoSport when compared with feature list in the equation.

So the Tata cars from 2019 were slowly getting re-positioned from a pure VFM (more car for less money) placement to a slightly better quality for some more money model. The spanner of Sonet couldn't have been thrown into this wheel at a worse time. The Sonet at least at launch I suspect is going to make even some hatchbacks overpriced.
So even if they add a DCT/TC - by the time the car hits street, Sonet would already be sitting with a hundred thousand bookings, which is a large business lost already. So the price bump surely looks ill timed.

[manduks]

I noticed one thing though and maybe I am reading into it too much. Until recently Tata used to charge Logistics/ handling charges for its cars. There was a post on mycarhelpline.com that they can no longer charge this as a result of their campaign. Is this price hike to collect the handling charges officially?

[ashokabs]

The prices being raised for season discounts makes some sense. Everyone expects festive season discounts and will be bargaining hard. Better to give the sales people margins they can work around rather than no discounts or discounts on existing prices. The moment a product is discounted it begins to lose some appeal in the market. A price rise of Rs 14500 is not unexpected given that all costs have gone up. I know even in the housing sector construction costs have gone up and builders are raising prices slowly though there is a lull in the market. It doesn't make sense to try and flog products at a loss. It is better to close the business. Alternatively one can try to raise the sales of Nexon which looks unlikely given the competition in the market in this segment. Hyundai is a much larger company and with global sourcing likely can fight the price battle better. They are also number two in India with sales that are twice or thrice that of Tata Motors. Tata's cannot fight on the price with Hyundai or Suzuki.

[swarnava.ch]

Originally Posted by manduks

I noticed one thing though and maybe I am reading into it too much. Until recently Tata used to charge Logistics/ handling charges for its cars. There was a post on mycarhelpline.com that they can no longer charge this as a result of their campaign. Is this price hike to collect the handling charges officially?

Let me clarify on your question above with some points.
1. Handling / Logistics charges are applied by the dealerships and not the company. I agree its illegal and you can fight with your sales advisor to get it removed. They may agree / or not sometimes.

2. These Handling and Logistics charges are part of almost all brand showrooms and not limited to Tata. Just take a price sheet from any brand and you will see this applied with new and innovative names

3. Lastly the increase in Ex showroom prices is a legitimate business decision by the company and its accounted for - that means this final price will be then used to calculate GST and will appear on RTO Docs. You can argue whether its good or not in case of Nexon for example.
I am not sure mixing the two is a good idea.

[ashokabs]

I think at this time and with the market perception of Nexon being a good car Tata's have to sell it on quality and brand. This means they have to upgrade their quality processes to ensure faultless products and also improve their sales and after sales. It is a do or die thing for Tata's. Now that their products are looking like competing with others in the market it is sales and after sales that will decide many sales outcomes. I think the stage is right for a massive overhaul of the quality and sales/service by Tata's. They have to start competing with the Hondas and Toyotas. The chalta hai attitude will not serve them at all.

[charanreddy]

Super glad to have bought mine in 2018

XZA+ DT Diesel came to around 13.x lakhs inroad Bangalore with offers including free insurance, discounts and handling fee waived off .

Tata cannot afford to move away from its VFM tag IMHO. The Seltos success has made sonet’s job easier.

[Karthik Chandra]

I have a different perspective.

When a manufacturer launches with an optimistic price, I have seen comments in the forum on how the manufacturer should launch at an attractive price and once the model gains traction in the market they can always increase prices.

I think TATA is following the same -

Launched a CUV at attractive price point
It got accepted by the market and became a hit
Now TATA is increasing prices while offering tangible additions - revised face, new alloys, additional features in a market where there are companies that redesign bumpers for a facelift.
To top it off it is one of the 2 safest cars at this price point.

My only grouse is the AMT, mate both the Revotron & Revotorq with the 6 speed AT from Hyundai and it'll be fantastic.

Originally Posted by ashokabs

They have to start competing with the Hondas and Toyotas.

I'm sorry but going by the business/market trend Honda and Toyota are no benchmark to compete with. There are no product overlap between TATA & Honda/Toyota.

TATA is on the right track IMO:

Quality has improved
Safety is prioritised - Others should benchmark TATA
Quality of sales/after sales service is as good/bad as competition
TATA cars are as reliable/unreliable as any other manufacturer
Focus on EV

[AirbusCapt]

A few years back you could get a nice new Storme Vx 4*4 with abs and airbags at 16 lakh on road. Now you get a jacked up front wheel drive hatch/pseudo "suv" for the same money. If things head this way, pretty soon a espresso will cost the same money.

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by AirbusCapt

A few years back you could get a nice new Storme Vx 4*4 with abs and airbags at 16 lakh on road. Now you get a jacked up front wheel drive hatch/pseudo "suv" for the same money. If things head this way, pretty soon a espresso will cost the same money.

Yeah, I remember that my Storme 4X4 cost Rs 14.7 Lakh ( Ex Showroom Delhi) in 2015 July. People however expect Tata Motors to improve their products and yet sell them at bargain basement prices. They will spend 16-18 lakhs on a Creta or a Seltos but question Harrier's pricing even though its a in a different segment in terms of space and engine size.

Once you have bought the Storme or the Hexa, you will find everything else in the market overpriced. These were two VFM products which the mass market never got to discover and appreciate.

[aniyo]

Originally Posted by AirbusCapt

A few years back you could get a nice new Storme Vx 4*4 with abs and airbags at 16 lakh on road. Now you get a jacked up front wheel drive hatch/pseudo "suv" for the same money. If things head this way, pretty soon a espresso will cost the same money.

The pain and anguish of buying cars in India. I don't know whom to blame, Taxes, lack of competition, exchange rate or our fates that we are buying cars in the wrong country.

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Yeah, I remember that my Storme 4X4 cost Rs 14.7 Lakh ( Ex Showroom Delhi) in 2015 July. People however expect Tata Motors to improve their products and yet sell them at bargain basement prices. They will spend 16-18 lakhs on a Creta or a Seltos but question Harrier's pricing even though its a in a different segment in terms of space and engine size.

Once you have bought the Storme or the Hexa, you will find everything else in the market overpriced. These were two VFM products which the mass market never got to discover and appreciate.

I really liked the Hexa, my friend has the XTA version and its damn comfortable. If one needs 7 seats its a great buy. New Harrier seems good the 2019 did not justify the price for sure.
Agree with you on this point, if TATA gave the moon, people will say since TATA sold Incica in 1999 they should give Sun for the same money and yet they will not buy

[ashokabs]

I am commenting on Karthik Chandras comment as given below:

Quote
I'm sorry but going by the business/market trend Honda and Toyota are no benchmark to compete with. There are no product overlap between TATA & Honda/Toyota.

TATA is on the right track IMO:

Quality has improved
Safety is prioritised - Others should benchmark TATA
Quality of sales/after sales service is as good/bad as competition
TATA cars are as reliable/unreliable as any other manufacturer
Focus on EV
Unquote

My point about Honda and Toyota is that Tata must aim for their quality. There is no doubt that Tata is far behind quality as obtained from the 2019 JP Power Rating on Initial Quality. In every case Tata cars are nowhere near Honda or Toyota. Quality having improved is not enough. Tata's has to lead in quality if they want their brand to stand out. It does not do that right now. They have caught up reasonably in safety but not on quality and not on customer satisfaction both sales and service. Product overlap is purely a business strategy and each company knows how to fight this battle. We can hardly teach them anything except being armchair experts.