[MAS]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

You make sure to plant a time bomb in our minds whenever you visit this thread!

+1. Parm, you have a unique way to keep us on our toes. Please give us more information.. We cannot wait till Diwali, forget about waiting till Auto Expo 2012...

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by Parm

wait for a Diwali Dhamaka by TATA and a bigger surprise at 2012 Delhi AutoExpo!

M&M would be left like this >>>

Come-on.. don't keep us waiting.

At-least let there be something concrete not Smoke. Else TATA will only be seen smoking XUV 5OO OO OO oo o.

[sahakar]

Originally Posted by Parm

wait for a Diwali Dhamaka by TATA and a bigger surprise at 2012 Delhi AutoExpo!

M&M would be left like this >>>

Now you have pretty much set the cat among the pigeons.

Diwali is a week away, so that's a relief.

For the Auto expo what must be cooking. I guess it must be a new SUV aka XUV500.

But you know what I would really call a dhamaka - TATA to build the Evoque in India and give it to us for 20 lakhs. That would be one big dhamaka.

Cheers

[Latheesh]

Diwali Dhamaka - Merlin launch

Auto Expo - Next generation Safari concept (based on LR platform - Evoque inspired styling)

Just speculating

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by Parm

wait for a Diwali Dhamaka by TATA and a bigger surprise at 2012 Delhi AutoExpo! M&M would be left like this >>>

A relief that Diwali is only a week away, and Auto expo a few months..and the bookings for the XUV sre still closed so may be fence sitters like me may afterall have a choice.

[Y@SH]

Originally Posted by Parm

wait for a Diwali Dhamaka by TATA and a bigger surprise at 2012 Delhi AutoExpo!

M&M would be left like this >>>

What dhamaka? A reduction in aria price? And bigger surprise at delhi autoexpo with Merlin launch?


Atleast a hint!

[Parm]

its like this...

TATA never expected the M&M XUV5OO to turn out like this (a proper 7 seater SUV) and the response XUV got from customers.

the tata 7 seater aria (7 seater VAN) has not sold as expected, and the M&M XUV turned out to be the better 7 seater and not a VAN, but a SUV!

if TATA misreads the indian mind set again by misfiring the Merlin, it would have two duds...the Aria and the Merlin along with the dying Safari!

so TATA has to make a dhamaka this diwali....

the ball is in TATA's court now.

[ebonho]

Hence the front facing third row option being worked out as a last minute fix from what I have heard! So Indian VFM mindset finally appeased of getting a "proper" 7-seater (unlike the 5+2 Safari) as well as a proper SUV. The only thing left for Tata to do now is kill (and permanently bury) Mahindra on price. And with their market cap and muscle, they can well afford to. Question is, will they? So lets all wait for the dhamaka. Its been way too many years in the making as it is .....

To be honest, on first look in the flesh, the XUV 500 looks small (once you get past the overpowering front third). Plus it was never made to be a proper rough use SUV. Tatas therefore still have an untapped niche they can fill, IF they price it aggressively. If not, then 99 out of 100 buyers looking at this segment will go for the SUV "looks" and packed trim of the XUV 500 over the Merlin. Assuming Mahindra gets their volumes in order quickly of course, which should not take long.

[WhiteKnight]

Thank you for the bomb!!!

Originally Posted by Parm

its like this...TATA never expected the M&M XUV5OO to turn out like this (a proper 7 seater SUV) and the response XUV got from customers.

Everyone else expected M&M to deliver something good

Originally Posted by Parm

the tata 7 seater aria (7 seater VAN) has not sold as expected,

Again no one expected it to sell at that price point except TATA. When I did test drive of Aria 4x4, even the sales adviser agreed that Fortuner at couple of lakhs more makes better sense

Originally Posted by Parm

if TATA misreads the indian mind set again by misfiring the Merlin, it would have two duds...the Aria and the Merlin along with the dying Safari!

Misreading and having lack of ability to read are two different things. Tons of relevant information out there in internet about what customers and prospects want from Safari.

Originally Posted by Parm

so TATA has to make a dhamaka this diwali....the ball is in TATA's court now.

A bare bone, basic dhamaka that could do wonders is to drop Safari GX price by 2 lakhs. At least I am expecting M&M to do the same for Scorpio soon. Being a used car buyer, I am happy that XUV is a hit. If TATA follows that up with a competent model, I may be looking at used UVs at mouth-watering prices

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Hence the front facing third row option being worked out as a last minute fix from what I have heard!

What about ARAI certification?

Regards
Sutripta

[ebonho]

It would still be a "7-seater" - so the category does not change, entailing drawn out change-control certification. Only seat-belt harnesses would need to be checked and certified. Don't know if anti-submarining is a requirement for third row. Considering the Merlin was slated for launch around the same time as XUV, I would say the extra time taken is well within the ballpark.

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by Parm

its like this...

From what you're saying, it sounds more like speculation based on what everyone but Tata knows already. I'm quite sure even Mahindra didn't expect the response the XUV has got, else they would have planned the production better. But Tata should have planned for the worst even if they expected the best.

Apart from a price reduction on the current models of Safari this Diwali and the Merlin launch at current LX, GX prices, can't see what else Tata can do. The Merlin design has been frozen for a while, so it is unrealistic to expect any changes in the product now. At this point in time if we assume all reports of much improved quality are true, then price is the only realistic differentiator, IMHO.

[cediafan]

Originally Posted by VeluM

Apart from a price reduction on the current models of Safari this Diwali and the Merlin launch at current LX, GX prices, can't see what else Tata can do.

I agree. A new product launch other than Merlin by Diwali or even Auto Expo is far fetched. They can reduce the prices of Safari/Aria but they would have done that by now as a lot of people buy around Diwali. I think Tatas are waiting for the XUV to increase the prices before they make their move.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

One thing that i wanted to ask the experts out here is that is the news confirmed that the current 2.2 Safari and the Merlin will sell side by side ?

Yes - for some time (a year or so) and then the current 2.2 VTT will be phased out. This is as per a friend of mine in a senior position in a TATA MOTORS dealership.

Edit - Per the same source, planned launch is Jan 2012.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by cediafan

I think Tatas are waiting for the XUV to increase the prices before they make their move.

That's a pretty transparent but potentially endless waiting game which TATA cannot realistically hope to win. Mahindra can and will keep churning out XUV 500s at the current price and skim the cream while waiting out TATA to make its move. Even at the aggressive price point it currently is at, Mahindra is still most definitely not in the red. It just means a slightly delayed payback. TATA meanwhile HAS a product which it HAS to launch to have any hope of payback - delayed or not. In this game of high stakes poker, Mahindra has made its move. TATA will have to respond. Or fold.