[svsantosh]

Tata finally P U N C H E D Maruti in its face!

Wishing Indian car owners many more years safe motoring.

[Geo_Ipe]

Well, well! Is Maruti becoming the new Nokia!? Ruling the market for years together, refusing to adapt & slowly going down the hill?

Who would have thought this day would come when Ratan Tata unveiled the Indica some 25 years ago! All of us may have divided opinions on Tata cars, but the way the company has innovated and marketed their passenger vehicles has been nothing short of spectacular!

[AyushB]

Originally Posted by Emvi

In my opinion, what works for the Punch is the overall package. The mini-Harrier-like looks are definitely a big draw. Ground clearance, ride quality, cabin space, seating position, ease of maneuverability, and the feature-list follow later.

I agree on all points except Cabin Space. We rejected the Punch EV solely because of lack of Space in the 2nd row. It's astonishingly low. The WagonR, Baleno, Ignis etc. all have much better cabin space. However as the older generation who grew up with Maruti's start to fade away and younger generation become more involved in the car buying decision, Maruti will have to reinvent themselves with Safer and Better cars in the Rs. 5-9 Lacs range or loose relevance slowly but surely.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by TusharK

But the EU didn’t remove the duty altogether because it found that Tesla does receive batteries at below market value, one of the ways Europe says some automakers receive help from the Chinese state that gives them an unfair economic advantage against car firms building cars in other parts of the world. The EU’s report listed multiple other ways in which China-based automakers can receive help, including cheap land, grants and loans at favorable rates.

This is a big achievement by Tata, dethroning a Maruti from top spot that has been held for years is a big achievement.

The Punch has
1. Mini SUV styling
2. The safety
3. The right drive train options
4. Boot space with CNG
5. No Taxi Market presence

Meanwhile Maruti is happy selling Wagon R - CNG in the Taxi segment and has no pipeline for a comparative product.

[shortbread]

While Tata Motors deserves some recognition for its recent achievements, it should remember its history of pioneering and dominating various segments in India—such as diesel hatchbacks, SUVs, MUVs etc—only to watch its first-mover advantage diminish as competitors surged ahead. This serves as a reminder that past successes can be transient; hopefully, Tata has heeded these lessons and remains vigilant rather than complacent in the face of today's fleeting success.

[Emvi]

Originally Posted by AyushB

I agree on all points except Cabin Space. We rejected the Punch EV solely because of lack of Space in the 2nd row. It's astonishingly low. The WagonR, Baleno, Ignis etc. all have much better cabin space. However as the older generation who grew up with Maruti's start to fade away and younger generation become more involved in the car buying decision, Maruti will have to reinvent themselves with Safer and Better cars in the Rs. 5-9 Lacs range or loose relevance slowly but surely.

While I agree that the Baleno and Wagon-R are both more spacious, I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that the Ignis is roomier than the Punch. To put things into perspective, the Baleno is over 150 mm longer than the Punch and is easily a segment above.

Just as looks are subjective, space can be relative too. The Punch, with its almost flat transmission tunnel, can seat three average-sized adults in the second row(which we usually do) with reasonable comfort. Its boot is easily one of the largest in the segment, if not the largest. For its footprint, I definitely think it’s quite spacious.

[AyushB]

Originally Posted by Emvi

While I agree that the Baleno and Wagon-R are both more spacious, I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that the Ignis is roomier than the Punch. To put things into perspective, the Baleno is over 150 mm longer than the Punch and is easily a segment above.

Since I ended up purchasing the Ignis over the Punch which I really wanted to get, as my Wife and mother simply refused the Punch after the TD due to lack of space in the back. I guess it is subjective.
Anyways the point of my post was the lack of products in the Maruti stable which excite and have a certain pazzaz, which would be appealing to younger generations.

[Mafia]

It is an achievement of Tata, which has put its knowledge gained from its acquisitions(JLR) to good use. Well done!

Wagon R fading show that nothing lasts forever. This will force MS design better cars. All the better for the buyers.

Originally Posted by myavu

Kudos Tata I hope Curvv can also take a decent bite from Creta sales. But the following numbers are flabbergasting.

Creta has been pulling amazing number post Covid(I only noticed it then). It is mind boggling that a car in that price bracket sells at such high numbers.

We have to factor for wider ramps and bigger carparking sizes as India is choosing bigger cars every year.

[ashutoshb]

Close to half of the Punch's sales are coming from CNG + EV. Must give it to Tata for finding and filling gaps within the CNG hatchback segment, such as no top end variants, no automatic transmission and less boot space. And the sales numbers show they are being rewarded for taking the initiatives.

And now Hyundai has started twin cylinders too. Competition is a good thing

[Carma2017]

Originally Posted by TusharK

The Tata Punch has become India’s top-selling car with over 1.26 lakh units sold between January and July 2024.

Attachment 2645050

The Maruti Suzuki WagonR, which has been the top-selling car in India for a long time, slipped to second place with 1.16 lakh units sold.......

Link to Team-BHP News

This statement is slightly incorrect. The highest selling car for 2023 was the Swift. Only the previous 2 years, i.e. 2022 & 2021 had Wagon-R as the top seller and before that it was the Alto in 2019 and the Dzire in 2018. Sales volumes is always a roller coaster and depends on a lot of factors.

Nitpicking apart, great achievement for the Punch, no doubt. The CNG variant has been a game changer for sure. The EV model helped for sure though.

[Chisels121]

Originally Posted by DivyanshuDiv

Punch and other Tata products are getting success because of their popularity on social media. Buyers look for reviews on Youtube and seek suggestions on facebook forums, and mostly gets trapped into this nexus(Mostly first time buyers). These so called influencers, mostly with ridiculous reviews and suggestions, praises these cars but focuses mostly on 5 star safety. On the other hand, Maruti, having sensible products(engine, transmission and easy of owning) is always associated with 'tin ka dabba' criticism. I know, the latter has compromised a lot on build quality but it offers much better car than Tata. For me, a Maruti any day is better than Tata.

I would have agreed with you if someone was buying a Punch as their secondary car but you have to understand that a single car garage has to be the jack of all trades and safety is a very important trade-off. I am saying this because in 2021 I have seen a Baleno accident in my extended family where the car collided with another car( Triber) on a 2 lane highway and the triber guy was making a turn on wrong side which resulted the Baleno hitting it's driver side and even then the Baleno driver suffered with 4 broken ribs while the Triber driver walked away.
AND the speed was less than 60kmph according to witnesses, such safety is unacceptable.

[Dr.Abhi]

Originally Posted by Chisels121

I would have agreed with you if someone was buying a Punch as their secondary car but you have to understand that a single car garage has to be the jack of all trades and safety is a very important trade-off. I am saying this because in 2021 I have seen a Baleno accident in my extended family where the car collided with another car( Triber) on a 2 lane highway and the triber guy was making a turn on wrong side which resulted the Baleno hitting it's driver side and even then the Baleno driver suffered with 4 broken ribs while the Triber driver walked away.
AND the speed was less than 60kmph according to witnesses, such safety is unacceptable.

Its difficult to digest that the driver had 4 broken ribs in a car with airbags and he was driving at 60 kmph. Things are not matching. May be he was not wearing seat belt or the speed may be more at the moment.

[Beemer1077]

Good to see that some sensible Indians are buying safer cars such as Tata Punch rather than tin cans of Maruti Suzuki. Unless their ego, stubbornness, and obsession of high sales by undercutting cost, quality and safety fades out, Maruti Suzuki will never get respect. Yet their sales are higher than rivals because Indians are naive to fall for cheap and pathetic marketing strategies employed by Maruti Suzuki.

[Beemer1077]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Tata finally P U N C H E D Maruti in its face!

Wishing Indian car owners many more years safe motoring.

Good one. Long way to go, but still this is the first step.

[Chisels121]

Originally Posted by Dr.Abhi

Its difficult to digest that the driver had 4 broken ribs in a car with airbags and he was driving at 60 kmph. Things are not matching. May be he was not wearing seat belt or the speed may be more at the moment.

Nope the car's airbag didn't deploy as the car was hit in the front right side(in 2018 Baleno the airbag sensors are apparently only in the front dead center)and the ribs were apparently the result of him hitting the steering wheel. Though there was footage of the CCTV at the crossing which shows he was wearing the seatbelt 15 minutes before the accident, even I am not sure why the seatbelt pre-tensioner didn't work
But the people present there also said he was wearing seat belt as they were the ones who checked on him first. I agree with you that the speed could be more but not more than 80 as there was a BIG speed breaker just 50-70 m before the accident spot which police agreed could not be crossed in a Baleno without slowing down to 10 kmph at maximum. We actually cross that spot everytime we road trip in our Duster as it's on the main state highway and our observation is always the same.
Anyways let's end this discussion as it's going off topic.