Team-BHP - HM - Mitsubishi goofs up yet again!!

Over the past 7 years of selling the Indian lancer, Hindustan Motors has taken the car from bad to worse:

1. From the Lancers uptil Y2000 to what you see today...the build quality has become beyond pathetic. Uneven panel gaps, rough edged plastics, from Bridgestone to MRF rubber...the list goes on.

2. The Honda City and the Lancer were neck to neck in sales for quite a while during the late nineties. While Honda discontinued the old model, and replaced it with a modern contemporary best-seller...HM and Mitsubishi still make do with the same product (Going the Ambassador way? Are we going to see it for the next 50 years?)

3. Enthusiasts and the press cried out loud for more power from the Lancer. The Chassis and suspension was capable of handling so much more BHP! HM's reply - "Fat chance...but heres another variant of the same car"

4. They did finally launch a 1.8 5 years too late...but with an automatic transmission!!

5. While the competition has moved on and is recording 1000 - 2000 cars per month (NHC, Ikon, Accent etc. ) HM seems to be pretty satisfied with their monthly sales figures that would be too embarassing to print. The Bombay dealership however sold all of 4 cars last month.

6. Value? Thats a joke. The fully loaded diesel lancer with a "powerful" 60 odd bhp engine costs as much as a 1.9 tdi Octavia on the road.

Anyone would think that things at HM would be aggressive, and heads would be rolling. Rolling thats right...but only even more pathetic variants. HM today launches a "LIQUID" range of Lancers. Better paint finish, body coloured wheels (you read that right) and headlights from the higher LE model

I think that the top brass at Hindustan Motors have been smoking way too much pot.

GTO *

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]body coloured wheels (you read that right)

U mean if i buy a red Lancer, I get red wheels?? And are those alloys or steel wheels?? As if it matters?

What Mitsubishi really needs to do is cancel their venture with HM and go single. It will be tough in the beginning but it'll be much better later. I guess Mitsubishi is having lots of trouble in many countries. The Australian plant has closed down i guess. They have stopped manufacturing Mitsubishi's i guess.

Anyways coming to the new launches, are they still selling the "SOLID" Lancers?

Quote:

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]U mean if i buy a red Lancer, I get red wheels??

Yes V12 you'll get red wheels and that too the steel ones with black small hub caps. Should look really ugly IMO.

Why dont they just stop Lancer production and get a more modern machine? The 1.8 Lancer is a big failure in the market and after test driving it, I have till date just seen one on the road. I agree with GTO that the pre 2000 Lancers were much better cars. Todays cars are just not Mitsubishi quality. Its more like HM Lancer rather than Mitsubishi Lancer..

Cmon HM wake up gone are the days when the Indian customer gets impressed with just a few cosmetic changes. It will take more than body coloured steel wheels to woo back the customers. And not to mention the price hike for such unwanted things.. Price hike for a non selling car very wierd.

Dippy

read bout it in the paper.........
should look ugly ....
but if im right they are gonna launch a new version soon at 9 laks.....
today the lancer is just outclassed and needs a major revamp if it wants to become a best seller....
not some cosmetic hanges and new names like liquid ( which in my name belong the the list of wierd name )
what next ...
a lancer 1.5 gas with invex lights and body coloured inner door panels .....

Lancer is all about looks,comfort and underpowered engine.It will do wonders provided the engine is souped up.

IMO Mitsubishi shud go solo.HM is not doin the required work for the company.Moreover,the service is pretty average.
Mitsubishi will strike back 1ce they launch sum Evo products in India,which are scheduled for a 2005 launch.That is the only option for them to sweep through the market.And would prove more advantageous is they go solo.

And body-color wheels??Gimme a break.

I hate HM for two reasons:

1) If not for all our Government Babus and politicians,who still buy the Amby HM would have been wiped out( I am glad cabbies have been moving slowly to other models

) *. The Amby itself is an antique masquerading as a car. apart from cosmetic differences the different 'Marks' are identical . HM had scope to do so much and did nothing. They could have redesigned the amby to make it contemporary -I would think a little on the lines of the *Chrysler Cruiser .Now *That is something really exciting !

2)I have been checking Lancer prices recently and I find it outrageous that HM prices the car in nearly the same territory as Corolla /Optra/Elantra,that too when what they have really is an outdated and underpowered Mid Size. *Imagine if they had the base Lancer priced aound 6 lacs . A strategy that Maruti adopted for the Baleno , surely there would be more takers !

-Beetle

i had just been to metro motors for checking the new lancer ( the liquid range) the colors are just kool but the wheels were not in the same color as the body though. the pricing is still very high . the base model was costing around 8 lakhs thane on road and they giving away a discount of just 30k . when i asked him about the upgradation of tyres they said that if u put 15'' alloys then the suspension and shockers would not covere the warranty .