[MihirC]

There is this news in todays TOI regarding a locally assembled Freelander 2 , but getting back to the original link at the begining of this thread, it was clearly mentioned that the vehicle will be badged as TATA and not as any from the J-LR stable. .

[shortbread]

Its definitely the next Defender I think....

Although the Defender is among the best off roaders out there, if not the best, but it is way too limited in its appeal especially On road, very expensive and very niche. Other than a handful of really wealthy western country folk/farmers, Arabs, the vehicle has very little appeal elsewhere.

Despite having such a strong brand/platform in its hand JLR under Ford never tried to fulfill its potential, although they did not do a GM and create a pimped fat ugly version, a la Hummer.

Carl Foster has already come out saying that the Defender needs to be more VFM and have broader appeal. Making the next generation in India seems to be the best solution.

[jugwaar]

Everyone talks about Tata absorbing technology from JLR but no one mentions Tata getting Sales/Service tips from them. Jaguar consistently tops the JDPs internationally .

Tata and JLR are still two stand alone companies whose products, price points and markets are fairly contrasting. AFAIK there are no plans of Jag 'helping' Tata build their premium product technologically or otherwise. Many might not know this but Tata Motors research based in the Midlands UK is quite close to JLR and they regularly poach employees from one another.

The only plans so far are to assemble JLR products in India (and China) to save on the extortionate import duties otherwise faced. These cars will be only for their respective local markets and are not for export. All other suggestions are mere speculations and nothing has been confirmed so far although that doesn't mean that it is not possible that a LR product (like Defender) can be built in India.

[VINUMON]

If Tata's A** (or anybody's) warrants some some serious whupping, it is natural that people oblige. However, it does not necessarily mean that they have a contempt for Desi brown A** and a fetish, as someone put it, for phoren rosy ones.

It is not that everyone who criticizes Tata cars, gains any pleasure out of it. If anything, he is desperate to see the home grown carmaker succeed. More like the case of the Indian cricket team getting booed after surrendering rather meekly.

It's high the Indian manufacturer left a mark on the domestic market in terms of quality, for the superlative import duties are not going to be in place forever.

Let Tata or Mahinda accept the challenge any offer unparalled warranties. This was how the Koreans crawled back after being put down by the Americans at first.

[airbender]

We are talking about an SUV to be the product of TM-JLR patnership but here's a report which points to Prima.

Could Prima become Tata Motors' ultra-premium car?-WheelsUnplugged Automobile Industry News

For me, Prima is 10+ lakh vehicle not 20-30 lakh one. So I really doubt it.

Originally Posted by VINUMON

If Tata's A** (or anybody's) warrants some some serious whupping, it is natural that people oblige. However, it does not necessarily mean that they have a contempt for Desi brown A** and a fetish, as someone put it, for phoren rosy ones.

Call a spade a spade. No one has a problem with that. But read the second post on this thread by vinaydas. Do think it is fair to write-off a product only on price without even knowing the details?

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by VINUMON

If Tata's A** (or anybody's) warrants some some serious whupping, it is natural that people oblige. However, it does not necessarily mean that they have a contempt for Desi brown A** and a fetish, as someone put it, for phoren rosy ones.

It is not that everyone who criticizes Tata cars, gains any pleasure out of it. If anything, he is desperate to see the home grown carmaker succeed. More like the case of the Indian cricket team getting booed after surrendering rather meekly.

It's high the Indian manufacturer left a mark on the domestic market in terms of quality, for the superlative import duties are not going to be in place forever.

Let Tata or Mahinda accept the challenge any offer unparalled warranties. This was how the Koreans crawled back after being put down by the Americans at first.

Absolutely, in fact Tata (more so than Mahindra) have indeed accepted the challenge. A fact borne testament by the Manza's release, which has had almost no niggles from the outset, something that people here (rightly so) have always held against Tata (using initial customers as product testers).

However, having experienced Maruti, Tata-Fiat as well as Ford A.S.S, you'll have to trust me when I say that they aren't as bad as people make them out to be. The fact remains, that all A.S.S. is hugely dealer philosophy dependent, the key differentiators for Maruti were the sheer number of dealers (hence options to switch), something that Tata is coming close to.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by VINUMON

If Tata's A** (or anybody's) warrants some some serious whupping, it is natural that people oblige. However, it does not necessarily mean that they have a contempt for Desi brown A** and a fetish, as someone put it, for phoren rosy ones.

It is not that everyone who criticizes Tata cars, gains any pleasure out of it. If anything, he is desperate to see the home grown carmaker succeed. More like the case of the Indian cricket team getting booed after surrendering rather meekly.

It's high the Indian manufacturer left a mark on the domestic market in terms of quality, for the superlative import duties are not going to be in place forever.

Let Tata or Mahinda accept the challenge any offer unparalled warranties. This was how the Koreans crawled back after being put down by the Americans at first.

Fair enough. TATA and Mahindra should seriously improve in a lot of things. But IMO the most important thing would be to train their dealers and dealer staffs. It is one thing that their cars have problems but it is a very serious problem when the service engineers at the dealer(s) do not know how to fix and start giving excuses. Especially TATA should address this situation.

Since TATA already gives the 4 year warranty plan, it is still one of the best in india. However, with more competition, it could develop to 6 years/2 lakh kms.

Originally Posted by airbender

For me, Prima is 10+ lakh vehicle not 20-30 lakh one. So I really doubt it.

IMO pr1ma was targeted to be one level above Linea, since TATA and FIAT don't compete in the same segments. So, we can expect pr1ma to be the first AWD sedan in that price point along with all the goodies we expect ARIA to have. Since pr1ma is atleast 2 years away, I hope TATA develops/inherits a better engine with inhouse(including JLR) technology.

[GTO]

Note from Mod : There are several other threads that discuss Tata's after-sales service. Kindly restrict this discussion to ONLY include the 20 - 30 lakh car.

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I suspect this hype is being created for the new Indian assembled Freelander 2

Yes, that looks like the strategy.

Assemble Freelander 2 locally, reduce price by few lakh rupees and badge the car as Tata-JLR(?) in India. Primarily to create the brand image.

Remember what Toyota did prior to the launch of Fortuner. They launched and advertised heavily for Land Cruiser. Primarily to create an aura around Fortuner. It has worked for Toyota.

[MihirC]

Freelander 2 is currently 33L ex showroom, if the price of the assebled in India Freelander is below 30L ex showroom thaen its gonna rip the market. X1 will face the heat. A LR with less than 30L retail ex showroom!!! Can you beat that!!!

Time and again I realise that under TATA J-LR is going to see their glory days again. Im sure Ford will be wondering, now why didnt we think of that.

[gshanky]

I came across the piece that Jaguar is working on the new XE prototype for 2011 Geneva autoshow.

I am not saying that this is our 20-30 lakh TATA car, but if it were, then TATA would be heralding a new era of sportsters into india.

This would also be another good opportunity to develop the original ARIA roadster with Jaguar everything else.

PS: This is infact a t-bhp uploaded image, but i don't see the t-bhp stamp on the image..