[normally_crazy]

fellas,

was just sitting around doing nothing when suddenly a thought crossed my mind. It has to do with MUL.

now that the Alto has firmly established itself as the small car in India , we are speaking about MUL to stop manufacturing the M-800. but these cars have a great sale in the interiors of our country and its only in the metro that the Alto manages to outsell the M-800. MUL has upgraded the M-800 cosmetically as we all know now to keep it going.

However my thought was - y not MUL offer the M-800 in the metros as a Personal Car ?? i mean 2 door (like the zen) spruce it up with interiors from the limited edition models , snazzy colors and graphics thicker rubber aybe even alloys if pricing allows that.

they could target the upwardly mobile community who want a car so that they can take their girl friends or maybe the just married couples who want a car for personal use. maybe even the guy who wants to upgrade from a bike ( i think there will be many of these kinds willing ) .

The price should be very competetive ( MUL is a master ) and their Ad-agency is quite good too. they wont have problems advertising the products.

what say guys ? will this work ?? sorry if that sounded rubbish but i beleive somewhere that this should work !

what the heck - they could get a tie-up with Yash Raj films and advertise the car as the HUM-TUM car !! that would surely do the trick .

cheers

[revtech]

hahahhaha nc......
great idea....i really think they should introduce it....as u said ...ppl mite wanna upgrade from a bike to a small car.....i think itll do wonders.....

[Stratos]

I dont know if it will work out on the 800. But how about they offering the convertible version of the Esteem that used to be sold in International markets before they phase it out in India.

[Dippy]

Interesting thoughts there NC. If you observe the current Maruti ads they are using the funda of switching over from the bike to the car. Another scheme was the 2499/- one. So I guess they are working on schemes which you have though about. One thing is for sure that the 800 is never going to be phased out. Its gonna continue being made cause there are people who still buy it over the Alto.

Dippy

P.S

what the heck - they could get a tie-up with Yash Raj films and advertise the car as the HUM-TUM car !! that would surely do the trick .

If Rani Mukherjee was the TUM.. I would love to be the HUM

[ported_head]

I think the M-800 has the potential to become India's One-Lakh car. The M-800 still commands way too much a premium for basically a car that hasn't changed much since the 80s. MUL is reaping in huge profits for what is relatively cheapest car to buy in the market, but not the cheapest they could price it to be. It's better than the no-doors contraption Pakistan came up with. I rather have no-frills than no-doors. Have two doors instead of two, if you want to save costs. As long as it remains a four seater. It could be the ideal upgrade for biking families, read two parents plus two children on a econo-bike, with MUL's reputation they wouldn't have to do hard-selling either. MUL might make small profit on each model sold, but it would be a massive volume segment. Combine that with interesting finance schemes, people aren't afraid to fork out EMI's anymore. While Tata Motors' supposed contraption seems to be still a couple of years away, MUL could crack the segment right now, if they are enterprising enough.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by revtech

...ppl mite wanna upgrade from a bike to a small car.....i think itll do wonders.....

That's exactly the target MUL is looking for 800

[Shan2nu]

what the heck - they could get a tie-up with Yash Raj films and advertise the car as the HUM-TUM car !! that would surely do the trick .

Haha, M800 - bollywood edition. In India, i won't be surprised if it did work. Maybe you can stamp a pic of Shah Rukh khan on the hood, Salman Khan (when you remove the hood, get it...."remove"). Do that and the car will be a hit.

Jokes aside, i don't think thats a good idea. But if a private company starts a M800 rent out service called "Hum-Tum" car rentals, for couples only. It might. Lol

You'll see them parked along the sea coast in large numbers.

Shan2nu

[maedi]

great concept...but the question really is about the cost implication of such an exercise....if that is kept under check .... and within reasonable limits....alot of ppl could be interested...
the alto doesnt really hold much appeal for younger audiences apart from the sticker price...adding some zing to the 800 could work!
they could turn the zen into a hot hatch too....with the 1.3 from the esteem!

anyone at MUL listening? probably not!

[speedsatya]

hey Nc,
thats a good idea ,but if there is a M800 with alloys ,graphics and 2 doors then obviously it wud be cheaper than the base M800.
a -2door car will obviously be the 2nd ,3rd or 4th car in ones garage.so it will also have to have an AC.
that means its price will obviously be close to the base alto.

instead,like maruti added a 4th cylinder to the 800 to give the wagon r1.1,mabbe they can reduce the engine capacity to 2 cylinders and say,500-600cc with only the basic needs like an AC in it.this way it will have more economy and with a reduced pice tag also.and this can be the ideal city car.
but the only problem is that then like the autoricshaws ,our roads will be crowded with these m600 or m500's.
also they can attract lower taxes on the reduced engine capacity.

wat say guys

[Psycho]

A lower priced car is going Jam up the transport route like mad. Hope that these companies try and focus on low cost public transport systems to try and free up roads rather than fill em up with more car's.

As it is the country's tax regime will never let a 1L car become a reality, we already are paying more than 1.7 times the cost of the vehicle if we had to buy it outside India. Also look at cost for ownership for a person who earns lesser than a 10,000 a month, petrol, maintainance, parking and also a smaller car means safety of the passenger goes right out of the window.... (E.G. The Reva an amazing concept for the city was never exempted from taxes and moreover how many of you feel that the Reva is a safe car to drive even within the city)

Trust me I have a lot of respect for places like Mexico city, Singapore, UK, HK etc which has focussed on letting people own cars on a premium (unlike India where everyone is coughing up a premium just to own a car without any facilities to run em) to maintain the public transport as a priority.

Wish a people's transport system (public transport) is the next wave and not people's personal transport system (cars).

[.anshuman]

nice idea after sachin edition palio time for some bollywood actor edition 800 with snazzy colors,side decals,and something more to make the car look sporty,maybe the 5 speed gearbox with the alto engine,what about a hot hatch-the cute little zen with big heart of the esteem coupled with short gearing what a combo it would make...................but aren't we expecting a lot from a manufacturer which some 80's designs till date....



anshuman

[manaa45]

I always have dreamt of having a car like this even when i was small and even now. so thanks for suggesting my dream and hope somebody listens. m800 is the best car and i dont think MUL will not phase it but instead should listen to NC's suggestion and work out the same. thanks a billion NC.
shubbhi

[islero]

My dear fellow, you are ignoring the fact that they would incur massive tooling costs to change it. Itsnot like the Zen, which aldready had a 2 door model they ewere making HERE. Its not like that with the M800, they have to make new dyes, etc etc all of which wud cause a considerable increase in cost.

[speedsatya]

for more pics on the 2door M800
http://www.autoshow.permaisuri.com/C...20030816135707