[amit]

I agree with people who say that the Vista is a bit of a lost car. Problem is the car looks too much like the old Indica. I mean it was supposed to be a all new Indica but it ended up looking like a major refreshment of the old Indica. Maybe Tata's refreshment of the old Indica every few months went against it and people thought (rightfully) that this is another major refreshment and not a all new grounds up car. Also, I have'nt seen a single taxi Indica Vista. Is Tata discouraging fleet sales of the Vista? Maybe that's the reason for lower sales?

ANHC sales are down to 29xx units. Is it because of April being a lean month or because of the price hike? I guess we should wait for May sales to see if the price hike has pushed customers away to other brands. IMO, it wouldn't.

Going by the increased Linea advts on TV I had an inkling that sales are tapering off or settling down after the honeymoon period. It could be the April effect so I guess we need to wait till May sales are out to really know the trend. I think Linea sales will settle down to an average of about 1000 to 1200 units.

[hell_rider]

hopefully its not a "lost car" as yet.

its still has a couple of attractive points to lure customers.

1. It still offers a real VFM proposition, trademark TATA.
2. It still has oodles of space, which no hatchback can match, and in fact not all sedans can either. again trademark TATA.
3. It offers a refined FIAT engine and gearbox, without the trademark TATA's issue with these two crucial components, namely, refinement. The fact that its the same engine and performance that the Swift and the Palio offer, but mated to the space of the Vista, is actually a very strong selling point.
4. Hopefully, it should also offer the amazingly low running costs, the older Indica offered.

maybe, time will prove it to be a kind of a slow starter, which later does really good numbers, based on time proven qualities, much like the Maruti Zen of yore.

[devarshi84]

Its good to see ICML doing 90 units. But its sad that they had to scale back their launch of the hatchback.

[hell_rider]

Originally Posted by devarshi84

Its good to see ICML doing 90 units. But its sad that they had to scale back their launch of the hatchback.

i would have expected a bit more as I've been seeing quite a bit of these rhinos lately out of mumbai.

yes...good for them.

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

right alongside the greatness of freedom and the anonymity internet forums offer, this kind of "unverifiable reporting" is also a disadvantage, i guess.

and casual statements like these will almost always overwhelm the best possible PR campaign.

Guess i should have written the 'no offence' thingy in bold. i am happy to hear that you indica has served you well buddy, so you are all praises for it. but mine hasnt! and about proofs of stranded indicas on road, well can you expect me to take pictures especially when there are chances that the frustrated owner can blow me!

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

@raj... isnt your prejudice against Tata going too far? Do you think Taxi owners are stupid? I have seen and driven in enough indica's to know that they are reliable enough not to leave you stranded on the road.

u got me wrong buddy! who told you i am against TATA. infact, in all these years, vista is the only car i have liked from the tata stable, after the FIRST generation safari. i feel it is way above its competitors. so i feel the vista should not have the indica tag to it as i will feel sad if such a competent car does not sell due to these petty reasons.

anyways, as hell_rider said, lets not have a debate on this. i have voiced out my opinion, you have done yours. this is going OT.

[hell_rider]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Guess i should have written the 'no offence' thingy in bold. i am happy to hear that you indica has served you well buddy, so you are all praises for it. but mine hasnt! and about proofs of stranded indicas on road, well can you expect me to take pictures especially when there are chances that the frustrated owner can blow me!

no offence taken my friend raj. i have read through a number of your posts, and i know you are not a TATA basher or an unreasonable poster. i'm sorry if my post gave the above impression.

i only requested you to re-consider the "HUNDREDS" of broken down Indicas comment.

and also, i am NOT "all praises" for my indica. it has served me well and reliably FOR THE PRICE PAID. its not like i think its the best thing since sliced bread. it has its fair share of quality and refinement related niggles.

1. a couple of thousand kms aftger each service, still things start getting loose and start rattling. it goes away once underbody stuff is tightened up.
2. the engine though a reliable work horse, is not really the last word on refinement. can get really harsh when pushed beyond 120
3. quality of interior plastics, when compared to the alternatives on offer now, is really sub-par.
4. Of late the suspension is letting me know every minute characteristic of the road i am driving on. need to get that checked.

there are a few more. i plan to elaborate more on the long term review.

but nothing's ever "conked off" or "broke down", leaving me stranded in all my usage of the car. touchwood.

peace and back to the topic.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

no offence taken my friend raj. i have read through a number of your posts, and i know you are not a TATA basher or an unreasonable poster. i'm sorry if my post gave the above impression.

I have seen `hundreds' of broken down, non-commercial stalled Indicas on the roads of Delhi. Not in one day but over a period of time. In fact, if I had to calculate the proportion of stalled cars by make, Indica would make up more than 80% on Delhi roads.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I have seen `hundreds' of broken down, non-commercial stalled Indicas on the roads of Delhi. Not in one day but over a period of time. In fact, if I had to calculate the proportion of stalled cars by make, Indica would make up more than 80% on Delhi roads.

I agree with the above statement. But I will also attach a rider. Indica is most often the most abused car plying on the roads.

But all said and done, I don't think I am going to buy a Tata in the near future.

[oss]

Originally Posted by amit

ANHC sales are down to 29xx units. Is it because of April being a lean month or because of the price hike? I guess we should wait for May sales to see if the price hike has pushed customers away to other brands. IMO, it wouldn't.

My guess is Honda would have dumped hugh number of ANHC in March, thus clocking 6000+ units of sale. The impact is felt in April by lower figure.

Let us wait and see if the May numbers go back to 4000 +/- sales.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by hell_rider

i would have expected a bit more as I've been seeing quite a bit of these rhinos lately out of mumbai.

yes...good for them.

But 90 units is just for the month. Has any T-bhpian actually tried one out?

How is the quality and the engine? The dials and the interiors look good on the website.

[guptad42]

@rajdoll

I agree with your point on the challenges in lauching the Vista with a new brandname, but car did need a separate visual identity. Each body panel is different, and still it looks like the old Indica from a distance. Especially the rear. Given the space inside, they could have made a mini-SUV like profile out of this. We would have got a great diesel mini SUV at under 5.5L on-road.

[madhav]

Originally Posted by GTO

- Palio : Why is Fiat hanging on to this outdated poorly performing hatch? With only a 104 cars sold, it isn’t making Fiat a fortune. And the Palio will only ruin Fiat’s image….something that the Italian company is keen to resurrect. Fiat, do yourself a favour and sell only modern cars like the Linea, upcoming GP etc. This car is more of a "polio" on Fiats current resume.

I fail to understand this point... Yes Palio is not selling as it should and that could be mostly because of the marketing strategy and not because of the product. Here is my explanation to this...

1. Palio Stile has a great engine options (except the 1.1). The MJD is great and seems to be used by many other manufacturers. So no issues there. The 1.6... I don't think I need to say anything about this one.
Both these are high on performance (in respective areas)

2. The updated looks of this car does not make it look old in any way. In fact it still turns heads.

3. It still got great ride and build compared to other products in the market.

3. Interiors need an update...This is probably the only aspect of the current car which puts it behind the competition.

Service is still a problem and thats not the car. So what needs to be changed to make this a morden hatch?

I feel Fiat needs to market the product better. With Line and GP, the Palio can complement the line up.

[rajneeesh]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I agree with the above statement. But I will also attach a rider. Indica is most often the most abused car plying on the roads.

But all said and done, I don't think I am going to buy a Tata in the near future.

Eddy/ Vasudeva,

Indica is a pretty reliable vehicle. As far as seeing a large number of stranded private Indicas on the roads of NCR is concerned, it is to a great extent due to the fact that for every legallty registered taxi in NCR, there are 5 illegal/unregistered cabs. It is so as you cannot register a diesel taxi in Delhi and commercial vehicles are stopped by police more often. They also pay an enry tax to enter Delhi from other NCR towns.

Privately owned Indicas, ( especially V2 versions ) have improved tremendously in terms of reliability over the earlier version.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by rajneeesh

Eddy/ Vasudeva,

Indica is a pretty reliable vehicle. As far as seeing a large number of stranded private Indicas on the roads of NCR is concerned, it is to a great extent due to the fact that for every legallty registered taxi in NCR, there are 5 illegal/unregistered cabs. It is so as you cannot register a diesel taxi in Delhi and commercial vehicles are stopped by police more often. They also pay an enry tax to enter Delhi from other NCR towns.

Privately owned Indicas, ( especially V2 versions ) have improved tremendously in terms of reliability over the earlier version.

For every registered cab, there are 5 unregistered ones. Agree.

But how does it effect the number of Indicas stranded on the roads ? They are essentially the same cars aren't they ?

[aby]

Originally Posted by Eddy

For every registered cab, there are 5 unregistered ones. Agree.

But how does it effect the number of Indicas stranded on the roads ? They are essentially the same cars aren't they ?

Just that because they are being run as taxis, they suffer abuse of the worst order. Nobody expects a Honda City or a Swift to put a daily grind of 250+ KM. I personally give benefit of doubt to Indica. Yes it is an unrefined vehicle, but surely a VFM car.