[airbender]

Originally Posted by san2

they could as well improve their A** and change the mindset of the indians through results

They will improve A** but it's not easy to change the indian mindset(phoren fetish) and it has no link to their results.

[Amartya]

I am actually becoming sick of every Tata thread turning into a discussion of poor after-sales and service, bad interior fittings and so on.

There is no new content that is being shared, it's the same remarks rehashed again and again. Lets try and keep this thread free from such discussions but rather look at the ways that Tata can tap into the JLR expertise (say engine/handling etc.) and come out with a car that has to be priced between 20-30lakhs.

[aerohit]

Not to mention people fail to remember that this is what you get for ~3L.

Even some of the higher priced cars from other mnfr do not offer higher quality, which should have been the case.

These are the same people who want MORE for Less - which is impossible. Thats what i call blood sucking.

[MihirC]

Originally Posted by Amartya

I am actually becoming sick of every Tata thread turning into a discussion of poor after-sales and service, bad interior fittings and so on.

There is no new content that is being shared, it's the same remarks rehashed again and again. Lets try and keep this thread free from such discussions but rather look at the ways that Tata can tap into the JLR expertise (say engine/handling etc.) and come out with a car that has to be priced between 20-30lakhs.

I second you on this mate. No one wants to know how , which ,when . The only thing which happens when anyone utters TATA is A** bashing. I dont even know how many of them actually have bought a TATA/Fiat in the recent past and experienced their A**. Also the A** differs greatly from dealer to dealer so the whole company cannot be blamed like this. Look at JMD and Autobahn in case of skoda

I have a Linea and a Vista in the very immediate family and the A** which we are getting from the dealer is simply great. Reminders for service, The way the car is handled during servicing, decent enough staff with knowledge of what they are working on,Courtsey calls post service to check if the customer is happy.

Quick response to any problems in most cases. Offering of water/coffee/Tea while the customer is waiting. I mean come on guys, Im not a promoter of TATA but I definitely dont like any brand getting undermined just for the heck of it. To those who feel TATA is not good , I request you to visit the consumer court website and look into the number of complaints under maruti and the issues faced by customers in brand new japanese or korean cars.Period.


Getting back to topic, apart from the technological help from J-LR I hope TATA refers to them for interior design as well as chassis, giving the car a Typical european rigidity, improved high speed ride and handling and most importantly the THUD when the doors close. Considering its TATA I believe it would be safe to assume that the space and features in this car will be atleast from a segment higher if not 2.

[ACM]

Now we are talking - nice to see normally passive supporters of TATA SS also raising their point of view.

Wish this thread had some concrete details of the products lined up rather than the SS discussion.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by MihirC

Getting back to topic, apart from the technological help from J-LR I hope TATA refers to them for interior design as well as chassis, giving the car a Typical european rigidity, improved high speed ride and handling and most importantly the THUD when the doors close. Considering its TATA I believe it would be safe to assume that the space and features in this car will be atleast from a segment higher if not 2.

I think TATA should either outsource prototype development, interior integration, etc. to JLR or have a small JLR team oversee/supervise. This way TML can inherit the culture of QC from the very beginning.

Also, at this price range I would expect TATA to pay more attention to refinement, steering feedback, proper chassis development, etc. In short, I want this to be a drivers car rather than a practical car with few compromises.

TATA should also learn how to develop engines so that they can develop engines for indian specifications periodically and slowly become self sufficient in this area.

I am actually very impressed with Hyundai where they (used to) develop new platforms every two years when every other model of Sonata, Azera, et. al were failing. But still they kept at it and finally have a decent model with sonata and genessis and the upcoming 2011 elantra(not elantra transform ) also looks decent.

[SILVERWOOD]

Originally Posted by airbender

Just stumbled upon this link:

TaMo, JLR plan emerging mart car - dnaindia.com

No details yet on what kind of vehicle is this. If I have to take a guess that would be a SUV. Considering that the vehicle will be manufactured in India, Rs 20-30 lakhs I think is too high on the price as before taxes the price will be very close to JLR vehicles. Welcome your opinions/thoughts.

This is basically a SUV meant to serve the purpose of an ideal defender for the Indian Defence.

This will also come with a civilian version as well.

[anmol2k4]

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD

This is basically a SUV meant to serve the purpose of an ideal defender for the Indian Defence.

This will also come with a civilian version as well.

I haven't read this anywhere, so what is your source ?

But it makes perfect sense, Army have been testing Light Support Vehicles for the last 3 years and are close to the final decision. And recently we even saw the Tata's contender in that competition being tested in leh.

From what I have read, Mahindra's Axe failed to complete the trials so don't think it would meet GSQR. That leaves Ashok Leyland, Tata and OFB who will most certainly meet GSQR.

Though the Tata vehicle would meet the requirements, but it didn't do as well as rest of the vehicles. But by bidding lowest and assuring Army that final product would me made with JLR's input they might win the LSV competition.

[airbender]

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD

This is basically a SUV meant to serve the purpose of an ideal defender for the Indian Defence.

This will also come with a civilian version as well.

+ 1 to that. I was thinking on those lines too. A cheaper version of Defender will have huge export potential too apart from the indian market in both the civilian and defense versions.

Originally Posted by ACM

Now we are talking - nice to see normally passive supporters of TATA SS also raising their point of view.

Wish this thread had some concrete details of the products lined up rather than the SS discussion.

I think Tata customers should shed their passive atitude. If not some people keep on talking. First they said Tata should only manufacture trucks, then Tata's breakdown on the road too often etc. Now A**. I will not be surprised if people in future say "I didnot buy their car bcoz the logo is badly designed.

[rjalihal]

Is it just me or does the car look quite similar to the Jaguar XJ/ Daimler Super 8 from the front? It looks good. But looks apart is there any info on the engine specifications. I am sure it will be a diesel! Tata never really made good petrol engines. But heck, with looks like that who cares! She does have awesome curves! But if it is really 20-30 lakhs, I feel its a tad too steep for a Tata. I mean people who have that kind of budget will obviously prefer a Skoda, Honda or other better brands. Tata will need at least a decade to turn their brand to that of a luxury one. They are moving too soon I feel.

[AyAn!]

Originally Posted by SILVERWOOD

This is basically a SUV meant to serve the purpose of an ideal defender for the Indian Defence.

This will also come with a civilian version as well.

Heck,this just might be the new Defender! The current Defender will see the end of its road in 2013.If the car in question is indeed a Defender replacement,then it'll become the new money spinner of Tata & JLR.Both civilian and army versions can co-exist worldwide,slotting just below the Freelander .It can be sold in Europe or U.S. badged as a Land Rover and in India badged as a Tata.

[Tstag]

Personally I don't think this makes sense as a TATA badged product. It might be the new Defender but I'd be amazed if Land Rover people let anyone else go near the floorpan of their most iconic model....

Much more likely is that it could be badged as a Rover. This would make sense because Rover would slot between TATA and JLR and it would easily slot into Land Rover dealerships. In the UK and Europe it's also a well known brand so market share could be built quickly. Finally such a model could then be used to underpin a future 'x' type.....

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by Tstag

Personally I don't think this makes sense as a TATA badged product. It might be the new Defender but I'd be amazed if Land Rover people let anyone else go near the floorpan of their most iconic model....

Much more likely is that it could be badged as a Rover. This would make sense because Rover would slot between TATA and JLR and it would easily slot into Land Rover dealerships. In the UK and Europe it's also a well known brand so market share could be built quickly. Finally such a model could then be used to underpin a future 'x' type.....

TATA owns JLR, so technically they should be able to pull all the necessary strings other than those still owned by ford (and other past owners).

However re-badging of product will invariably lead to brand dilution in time. We have seen this happen with lots of players like chevy/saab, daewoo/chevy, MB/chrysler, etc.

If TATA were to go down this route, I hope they would have already read some case studies about past failures of other players .

But IMO the best model for TATA is to use the JLR technology to build TATA branded vehicles and thereby leapfrogging the technological and quality barriers which TML would have to deal with if they were to do it by themselves.

[SILVERWOOD]

Originally Posted by anmol2k4

I haven't read this anywhere, so what is your source ?

Got this news from a fellow Bhpian and did some research.

FT.com / Companies / Automobiles - Tata push for Land Rover in India

This was an year back.I am sure Tata would have sealed this deal.Very few of us know that Tata has an independent entity dedicated for defence solutions.I am sure this vehicle/defender will be marketed through this company.

TATA Motors - Defence Solutions


A defender was long overdue for our defence as well.Tired of seeing Mahindra and already aged Jonga's.

[sgiitk]

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

Local assembly: Land Rover set to get 'Made in India' tag-Automobiles-Auto-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times