[Comrade]

Does Aria have roof-mounted AC vents for second row?? From Auto Expo pics, looks like they are missing!! Instead they are floor-mounted AC vents!! It would be a real party spoiler for me. I simply hate ball-freezing AC vents in scorpio.

[MihirC]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Does Aria have roof-mounted AC vents for second row?? From Auto Expo pics, looks like they are missing!! Instead they are floor-mounted AC vents!! It would be a real party spoiler for me. I simply hate ball-freezing AC vents in scorpio.

Yes there are no roof mounted AC vents for the second row as there are storage boxes in the roof. The last row gets the AC vents on the side pillars though.

[ACM]

Comrade

Aria has AC vents mounted on the B & C pillars (First in class in India) and also between the two front seats - just like in a Merc/BMW

[ajay0612]

Originally Posted by sidindica

Launch Date: Week 3, August 2010.

base 4 X 2, high end 4 X 2 and 4 X 4 versions expected.

. Hello Everyone. New here :-). Well. Tata Aria Launch is not going to be in August if folks at IndianAutosBlog are to be believed.

Quote, "We contacted the corporate communications wing of Tata Motors, and this is what they shared -
The launch date for the Aria is not set. The 3rd week of August is too early. We had said earlier that the vehicle will come during the second quarter of this year. The Aria is something big for Tata Motors as it is one of our next generation cars. We’ll get to know about its launch in advance. It certainly won’t happen in August. .." Unquote.

Source: Tata Motors - Aria launch not during August | Indian Autos blog

Best wishes
Ajay

[Santy]

ARIA has pillar mounted AC vents apart from floor mounted once

Originally Posted by Comrade

Does Aria have roof-mounted AC vents for second row?? From Auto Expo pics, looks like they are missing!! Instead they are floor-mounted AC vents!! It would be a real party spoiler for me. I simply hate ball-freezing AC vents in scorpio.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by arvi86

the windows were kept wide open which allowed me to peep into the interiors.

Did it have the overhead storage spaces? IIRC, the one displayed in auto expo had around 8 overhead storage spaces. I hope those are gone.

[Latheesh]

As per the statement they are planning to launch second quarter (fin) of the year. This tells that if not in August we can expect it in September :-)

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Santy

ARIA has pillar mounted AC vents apart from floor mounted once

First I did not realise that these are interior pictures of Aria as they look quite dated. Slab-like panels and seats (without any contours), protruding door lock on the top of the trims etc do not look 'state of art'

[Amartya]

^^ I respectfully disagree.

"Slab" like panels of high quality would gel better with this car due to two reasons:

a. Look outside, it has an edgy design and is not curvy (by curvy, I'd say something like a Safari which has 'rounder' edges). Look no further than the Range Rover in

b. If the plastic quality is good, then these would actually look and feel plush. Usually it works in the same way as furniture.

I have attached a picture just for reference.


source:http://www.caradvice.com.au/

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Amartya

^^ I respectfully disagree.

"Slab" like panels of high quality would gel better with this car due to two reasons:

a. Look outside, it has an edgy design and is not curvy (by curvy, I'd say something like a Safari which has 'rounder' edges). Look no further than the Range Rover in

b. If the plastic quality is good, then these would actually look and feel plush. Usually it works in the same way as furniture.

Yes, angular designs have their place and probably I was wrong about the panels. But the seats (base of the rear seat and back rest of the front seat) as in this picture looked too flat. Again, it is possible that this picture is not telling the whole story.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by Guna

Yes, angular designs have their place and probably I was wrong about the panels. But the seats (base of the rear seat and back rest of the front seat) as in this picture looked too flat. Again, it is possible that this picture is not telling the whole story.

Don't know how I forgot to add that, but I agree with you about the seats. The pictures convey a sort of "flatness" that you talk about. Hopefully the production version would have the bases covered.

OT: I was just wondering, whether there's a chance that Fiat might help Tata distribute the Aria in North America through Chrysler. The chances are next to none, but if they can think about the Nano, I'd quite like to see the Aria as well. However, as of now, the $30K is too steep a price. Doesn't cost to dream does it .

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Santy

ARIA has pillar mounted AC vents apart from floor mounted once

Thanks for the pic. This clears everything. I expected vents for second row would be either on roof or b-pillar. From pics on first page, I could not find them neither on roof nor on b-pillar (I was primarily looking around same height as c-pillar vents). The b-pillar vents are at a lower height than c-pillar vents and are cleverly hidden in black plastics.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by Amartya

OT: I was just wondering, whether there's a chance that Fiat might help Tata distribute the Aria in North America through Chrysler. The chances are next to none, but if they can think about the Nano, I'd quite like to see the Aria as well. However, as of now, the $30K is too steep a price. Doesn't cost to dream does it .

Interesting! if TATA were to export ARIA say to USA through FIAT/Chrysler, then there are a few competing products from the family stable like Grand Caravan, Journey & Town and Country. Of these Journey is the cheapest, starting at around $21k. Roughly around Rs. 9 Lakhs OTR. And other usual suspects like Siena, Odyssey, etc. start in the mid $20k to almost $40k.

IMO if ARIA is priced higher, it could be that much difficult for them to export because of good/better alternatives in the comparable price range. The only differentiator for TATA would be the diesel engine and because of that may be better mileage, but ARIA at the expected variants might loose out on the Engine/power/performance front. Even if I were to assume that ARIA would be a well sorted out vehicle the export prospects seem to be more challenging.

Could other members also make a comparo of ARIA with local competition? May be this will help identify a better market for ARIA exports.

[mukundmenon]

The front looks refreshing unlike the sumo or the vista (grinners)..really applaud TATA for bringing in rear discs. Hope they come as a standard on all their future models and set a benchmark.The positioning of the AC vents is too ingenious! Looks like Xylo and innovas are gonna take a blow on their sales!

[mooza]

Originally Posted by ajay0612

. Hello Everyone. New here :-). Well. Tata Aria Launch is not going to be in August if folks at IndianAutosBlog are to be believed.

Hi Ajay, welcome ! Your debut post is on one of the most interesting TBhp threads

Yes, you may be right about the launch not being in August. The sales manager who organised my Manza TD was hinting at a September launch.

Also, the other hint he gave me was that the base model might cost Rs. 17 lakhs on road (Bangalore) !

Now I do not know whether he quoted this price to make me pick up the Manza at the earliest