[gshanky]

If Aria rides as good as it looks, then it should do good numbers in the export markets of Europe and South east asia.

If I recall right, this car has been extensively tested in the cold weather (read heavy snow) conditions of northern england and sweeden. TATA would have always had European market in mind, but many things would get clear once they release the brochure with specifications

[hot_wheels]

Is it just me or any one else observed the dissimilar fenders on the two Arias. Are they two different trim levels or is the car still in the concept stage (not the final production model)?

The car however looks macho from every angle and if TATA gets the interior quality correct this will be a no nonsense winner.

[ACM]

Yep, spec wise it beats the fortuner and captiva both put together. It would be a steal in the 12-13L top safari VX range, beyond that it would be close to the fortuner , and on par with the base endy and here the toyota reliability and resale price features would come into play and get back at TATA.

Hot wheel you are right the fenders are diff, - i guess that indicates different trim levels, the cladded one on the marroon coloured car is just added on top of the raw fender on the sand coloured version.

[Amartya]

The first impressions are indeed very positive. Naysayers, who generally go a long way to deride Tata no matter how obvious their improvements are, have kind of agreed to speculating about the price being too high for a Tata.

Had Tata (Ratan) been reading this thread, he would have been beaming from ear to ear.
No one mentions anything about shutlines being too large (the exterior finish seems immaculate), people are fine with the 140Bhp engine, it might not be a scorcher but it has proven to be a reasonably reliable and seems to have been well accepted, features (all wheel drive be darned but rain sensing wipers!), Land Rover'ish interiors ......the list goes on.

All Tata can hear right now from the critics is them moaning about the price; "Oooooo, it'll be too expensive for a Tata". Trust me, if it remains that way, it would be like music in his ears.

Let me just try and explain why Tata could have gone about making a car that can be really expensive (let's assume this fully loaded model costs Rs.14 lakh).

a. When you are a new car manufacturer, if you are in it for the long run, you need to be able to make a new product in just about any segment. When I say make, I mean design, engineering et al. A car that the manufacturer can equip with the technologies prevalent in the west and make them work well together.

Summary: Gain engineering know-how.

b. In this day and age, no business can focus on a single market and be sure of their survival and profitability. So, this same car manufacturer needs to learn and learn quickly. They might be made fun of initially by critics as being half baked attempts, but as long as the company shows that it is learning, the critics would eventually have to come around. So this might just be a project that aims to steer the car company towards greater global presence. Look at Honda and Toyota in the seventies and look at them now.

Summary: Open up markets hitherto untapped and gradually change perception.

c. "Oooo it's too expensive for a Tata" - Now Lexus, Infinity, Acura came into existence when their respective parents saw that their brands were not strong enough to poach customers from snobbier brands. That however was the case in the US.It is a different ballgame in India. I truly believe that us Indians are the best at recognizing a good deal when we see it. Look no further than the Chevrolet Captiva. The diesel engine and fantastic styling sold it to the Indian customer.

Summary: Pine down the noise about the pricing a bit, if anyone can deliver value, Tata can! If the Indian customer can see value (and I mean value in terms of feature, styling etc.), it will sell.

Many of us are excited to see our home grown auto major putting up a great show, a product that on the face of it has taken it's status as a car manufacturer a definite step forward.

From the Nano to the Aria, now that's some achievement!

[sjcherian]

The darker purplish one has a badge which says 4x4 :-) the others do not have those.

[Pashin]

My guess is that TATA will launch the upgraded Safari and then come out with pricing & delivery details for both models. They know that they can beat the Innova only if they price it below the Innova. Keeping in mind what Tata did with the Manza pricing, I think Aria 2wd versions will beat Innova Gx & Vx in pricing by a fair margin. This would ensure eating into Innova's share. the 4wd versions with ABS, TC, Sat Nav etc could be priced on par or higher than the Innova GX & Vx.

C'mon Mr. TATA, make us happy once again

[RedOne]

Economic Times says prices are 6-8 lakhs ! I don't think so; 12L seems more like it.

Gears,
Red-One.

[indianvirus]

hey amit, a pinion is a gear only and a rack is a steel bar with gear-like tooth cut on it. Both wheels hubs attached through links to the rack at each end, and gear attached to the links coming from steering column. Pinion and rack meshed together.

[Indianstorms]

Finally , LR technology and ideas are getting in to TML products. Its going to do them a world of good.

That said the key will be pricing in India and the package in export market. if it gets near Toyota Innova. TML has got another HOT CAKE in its hand.

and as someone said in previous post , TATA does give a tug at heart.
and got to admit TML is improving its standards in leaps.

good luck to them

[RedOne]

Originally Posted by RedOne

Economic Times says prices are 6-8 lakhs ! I don't think so; 12L seems more like it.

Sorry could not edit:
Tata Aria - Pictures - Pictures/Videos - News in Pictures | Economic Times

Gears,
Red-One.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by indianvirus

hey amit, a pinion is a gear only and a rack is a steel bar with gear-like tooth cut on it. Both wheels hubs attached through links to the rack at each end, and gear attached to the links coming from steering column. Pinion and rack meshed together.

Yes yes this much I know but where exactly is it visible in that under body pic so Rahul spotted it. Can someone highlight in the pic. ?

Edit : Seeing Bridgestone spare wheel it looks Michelin is just for Auto show and final product will have 17'' Bridgestone.

[vijaythacker]

good work guys.Kudos to tata for bringing this vehicle.Price remains to be seen as well as quality they offer.With JV of RR and Jag, surely tata would know what quality to offer.Improvement is seen in their Manza so surely this one would go ahead to it.

[punkuz]

Was any launch date for this also announced, please let me know.
I am planning to get an innova for my family and would like to test this first before making any decision.

[mkh]

Tata motors is on a roll- all of their last 3 launches have attracted huge huge attention. Just the fact that we have over 13 pages on this thread and its only a day old speaks volumes of the way our local guy has grabbed the show from the big guns....they are making improvements by leaps and bounds and not far from being the major force in the domestic car scene..i think NONE has such a vast portfolio of offerings in the car scene today. With the concept luxury car they are now in almost all segments...trucks to SUVs, you name it and TATA banner flies high- kudos! Ratan Tata is doing what JRD had done years back..

[Trapezio]

Originally Posted by hot_wheels

Is it just me or any one else observed the dissimilar fenders on the two Arias. Are they two different trim levels or is the car still in the concept stage (not the final production model)?

Originally Posted by ACM

Hot wheel you are right the fenders are diff, - i guess that indicates different trim levels, the cladded one on the marroon coloured car is just added on top of the raw fender on the sand coloured version.

The simpler one is 4x2 and the other is the 4x4.

Tata will not be stupid to offer the MUV as AWD alone and jack the price and weight unnecessarily.