[devarshi84]

This is something that Hyundai did with I10 in the first week of launch.

I woke up at 6 in the morning for a jog. There is this guy with a test car for people to try it out.

I reached my office and a hyundai guy was sitting there waiting for me. He was there because I had asked for a santro Automatic the previous month. He wanted to show me the i10.

I went to Crossword 2 days later and the I10 is there on display.

I went to the club for exercises and the i10 was one of the lucky draw prizes for the housie night.

FOR Sumo grande to get it right, Tata needs to spend some marketing muscle behind it and help it get a face and an image( A la safari). Sumo Grande surely deserves a better life.

[rrsteer]

I feel most new product launched by Tata Motors now and in the future would be ho-hums. Because TML products always filled gaps in the market. Sadly for them, these market gaps are erasing slowly.

If you look at it all hit Tata Motor products were hit because they fulfilled a market need which was not being addressed by another manufacturer. For eg Indica(diesel hatch) , Sumo (initially), Indigo (I believe the first cheap diesel sedan), Safari (SUV segment...even still not penetrated fully), Ace, and most recently Nano.

The moment they enter a market which is also being competed by other players, TML will always find it difficult.

[rajneeesh]

Tata has been selling vehicles that "get the job done" . The Indian market has now evolved and arrived at a stage where you need to offer much more than that. Customers now have moved up the heirarchy of needs. They want better quality interiors & peace of mind along with a good image.

For a lot of people, the brands "Sumo" and "Indica" project a very negative image (Commercial vehicle /cabbies).

Tatas would do well to understand these softer aspects of customer psychology and use other independent brands especially if they are targetting a different set of customers (upwardly mobile self drive segment). These aspects are conveyed by their TV commercials, but branding these vehicles as Sumo or Indica puts to naught all the hard work.

Moreover, the vehicles deserve better interiors.

[benbsb29]

IMO, its the interiors which pulled down the Sumo Grande. I feel people would have overlooked the Sumo brand name had the product offerred better interiors for the price it commands.

That the design of the rear is a disaster in itself is a different story altogether!

[Equus]

I think it would have done better if it didnt carry the Sumo name in it.

[vixz16]

this is really an interesting question, i think the name "SUMO" has also played an important part in the failure, had they named it Tata Grande only it would have worked better for them, because when we think of SUMO the old boxy looking MUV comes to our mind
yes pricing was a major factor.

[driving_smartly]

Yes it should not have carried the name Sumo had it been named only Grande it would have made difference. My Grande has done 19k in 9 months. Apart from servicing at 15k which costed me 4200 approximately there has been no issue with vehicle. The only concern is braking suddenly it takes time to stop. I am comparing the braking with my santro although both of them are from different segment. Grande is chauffer driven sometimes when i drive it i feel the difference in sudden braking. The fuel effeciency is 10 + with 100% Ac on and 80 % usage is on bad roads in my village, on highway is around 12 + with ac tank to tank full method. The power in vehicle is more than sufficient because once managed to squeeze in 12 people with Ac on it comfortably did 130 + on highways and even on ghats the pick up was good. The quality of plastic used in interiors is not good at all. Also seating in third row is bumby Tata needs to work on suspension.

[Amartya]

I think it is a mix of both the "Sumo" name and the confused positioning. If only Tata marketing guys named it as Grande. I remember a modified Sumo (first exhibited in Auto Expo '98???) called the Sumo Premia.
Then Auto India was the leading car magazine and they carried a 2 page report on the same. Premia, on it's own might sound feminine, but it sure would have been nice as the name of a variant.

E.g. Grande Premia being the top of the line version.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by amtak

Sumo Grande "Turbo"

the stock sumo grande has a dicor motor which has a VariableGeometry Turbo as stock

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

the stock sumo grande has a dicor motor which has a VariableGeometry Turbo as stock

They are offering a version with the TCIC 2.0 liter Victa engine to lower costs.

I also feel the earlier Sumo was a success only because the market was much less mature. Now there are serious and better contenders in the MUV class.

[car.lover]

Here are my 2 cents.

Tatas really got it completely wrong.

1. Here was a chance to hit the Scorpio from a pricing perspective by appealing to the "macho" class of buyers, but the rear end actually messed up a car which looks really "cool" from front and the sides. Add the legacy issues with the Sumo name and we have no "macho" buyers.

2. The utility and people mover buyers need no real positioning, they need VFM. The Victa and Tavera are still available, and at better rates. If sophistication is required, then the Innova fills the need - so why buy the Grande? No real answer.

The earlier success of Sumo in the 90s was because of the TINA factor. Admittedly it was a decent vehicle for the time, but there was really no competition. The Sumo could easily be the utility and macho vehicle simultaneously.

That's no longer true - wake up TATAS!

[anjan_c2007]

Blasphemous design by default and nothing more to offer technologically.
If I am forced at gunpoint to buy a Tata Sumo Grande, I'll beg the outlaws to allow me to buy a Sumo Victa(top variant).

[amtak]

Badly hit that is! We can just wish and pray that it sells and does wonders for Tata

[gemithomas]

From what i have heard the first batches of the grande had got way lot more niggling issues than that was acceptable for a new car. That translated into bad sales later on. Probably the positioning played a role too.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by gemithomas

From what i have heard the first batches of the grande had got way lot more niggling issues than that was acceptable for a new car. That translated into bad sales later on. Probably the positioning played a role too.

The first batches from Tata are usually part of customer trials. They iron out the issues in a couple of years.