[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by vinit_relan

As per the info available, the engine of Merlin will be of Aria.

Aria has the same engine as Safari - 2.2L VTT. By mentioning "engine in Aria", I guess you wanted to say they bring the better version in Aria with the Dual Mass Flywheel and all. This help to reduce the vibration. And now why cant they upgrade the Safari also with the DMF ? Just for a differentiation with the Merlin? Cmon, Merlin has better interiors and some cosmetic changes anyway from the Safari Classic !

[TheARUN]

Can't wait for the MERLIN launch. Had been to the TASS today but nobody had any information on the MERLIN launch, some did not even know about it

[pamiboy]

Whay can't they come in with some radical redesigns rather than change a few things here and there. This model is supposed to be a decade old. Already past time for 2 revisions . I guess TATA learns very slowly.

[BurningHeart]

From a future positioning stand point, it is better to have Merlin alone. They can have Turbo DI and CRDI variants if needed but there shouldn't be two body shells in my opinion. But everyone from Skoda to Hyundai to Ford to Tata are doing a "classic". Why should it be done that way?

My feeling is that Merlin will be a big hit and Classic will a sales dud. So why plan to carry that on the portfolio. Take a stand.

BH.

[himanshugoswami]

Some bad news guys- it seems there is a technical glitch that has surfaced in teh Merlin in its body shell- persistent rattling of the rear door. And the new management under Carl Forster is refusing to launch till the glitchis ironed out (which is good!) - so expect some delays on the Merlin- The launch may now happen in Aug instead of July as planned earlier.

[ACM]

I think the longer the wait the better, TATA now seems to have the philosophy of sorting out all the glitches well before launch and this is good for the initial customers, unlike earlier when they seemed to be in a rush to get their vehicles into the market.

Delays are anyday more acceptable than quality compromises.

We keep calling this the Merlin but as we all know by now the Merlin is just an internal name and that this one two will be called Safari. I guess if they plan to continue the current Safari as well then the we would have two variants of Safari and what they name the new one would be interesting. (would bet on us not getting it out in the open till the launch date based on the nano experience.)

[driving_smartly]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

Some bad news guys- it seems there is a technical glitch that has surfaced in teh Merlin in its body shell- persistent rattling of the rear door. And the new management under Carl Forster is refusing to launch till the glitchis ironed out (which is good!) - so expect some delays on the Merlin- The launch may now happen in Aug instead of July as planned earlier.

Its good that they want to launch a vehicle without any glitches. In a senses a vehicle with initial door rattling hick-up would have well come lot of Criticism. Good effort to stay away from such thing is there only door rattle or anything more specific that TATA wants to address properly before launching the vehicle commercially ?
Good efforts from TATA to get the niggling issues sorted out rather than launching it with niggles and making the initial buyer of the vehicle face the consequences

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by driving_smartly

Its good that they want to launch a vehicle without any glitches. In a senses a vehicle with initial door rattling hick-up would have well come lot of Criticism. Good effort to stay away from such thing is there only door rattle or anything more specific that TATA wants to address properly before launching the vehicle commercially ?
Good efforts from TATA to get the niggling issues sorted out rather than launching it with niggles and making the initial buyer of the vehicle face the consequences

But isnt this the reason why they moved the tyre to beneath the SUV?

Force looks good and meaty!

[KALINGA]

Till now there is no expected date for new safari lunch.
Is TATA planning to keep the old safari with new one.
The price can be :-
SAFARI Classic :- 7.5 to 10 lac
Merlin :- 9.5 to 13.5 lac

Till now looks wise the old safari still looks good. But the merlin (no spare wheel at rear) is not that encouraging.

Is TATA giving any good discount for its old safari??
Shall i wait for Merlin or go for the old one with good discount?

[TheARUN]

Going by what is being said on this thread, I don't think the old SAFARI would be continued. It would be replaced by the 'MERLIN' since the 'MERLIN' itself is just a facelift and not a ground-up model.

The SAFARI in its 2.2 VVTi Avatar has had its most successful run, hence if you wish to buy the vehicle, then the time is NOW

[shortbread]

Its quite premature to comment on the looks when all thats available so far are a couple of poor artists impressions and a really dark unclear spy pic. I think the sharper front looks will help the car look a lot more contemporary than the rounded soft looks of the current one, but end of the day looks are subjective. The biggest improvement should be the interiors and the plastic body cladding which on the current one looks very dated.

[Parm]

out going models in india are not discontinued, they are renamed as "Classic".

OR

New models are named different from the older models.

Tata Sumo> Sumo Grande
Ford Fiesta> Ford Classic
Hyundai Accent> Hyundai Verna
Maruti Alto> Maruti A-Star> Maruti K10

there are many other example.

now safari has been given a face lift or a refreshed look just to continue with the brand, till the all new aria based safari is launched.

for an OEM its always cheaper to refresh a model rather than produce a totally new vehicle on a new platform.

im sure a lot of people would be buying the Merlin (Safari). its a good bang for less money compared to 20 lakh plus pajero, fortuner, endeavors.

[TheARUN]

With the SAFARI, TATA has been very careful to discontinue the current model when an upgrade is launched.

TCIC died when DICOR came and DICOR died when 2.2VTTi came

As for the spy pics, the whole of India could not get a spy pic of the NANO before Ratan Tata walked before it in Pragati Maidan. Must say that TATA knows a thing or two about keeping a new model under wraps

[directinjection]

Originally Posted by TheARUN

TCIC died when DICOR came

TCIC continued to be available even after DICOR had been launched. It wasn't withdrawn officially.

[ashutoshb]

While booking a Safari for our father today, I asked the sales professional about the new Safari.

SP: "Its called Merlin, sir. It will be above the Safari range and below Aria. Expected around November."