[vinair]

Read this article on the Indianautosblog site this morning and was left with this question ringing in my mind but before I place my question, below is the link to the article:

http://indianautosblog.com/2012/10/t...o-mexico-plant

Now the question, who would want to buy a TATA product in the US??

[teamveevee]

Originally Posted by vinair

Read this article on the Indianautosblog site this morning and was left with this question ringing in my mind but before I place my question, below is the link to the article:

http://indianautosblog.com/2012/10/t...o-mexico-plant

Now the question, who would want to buy a TATA product in the US??

I do not think any of the current models except the Nano will sell in US. Tata may be able to sell Nano as its design is unique and it has a big fan following in US. Like the article says, the plant in Mexico may be for Latin America and Brazil.
ET reports this morning that AL is planning to enter the US truck market. I think Tata may be better of, if they sell their Trucks in US markets. There were plans to introduce ACE electric in US, but did not materialize.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by teamveevee

I do not think any of the current models except the Nano will sell in US.

Not a chance. Forget Nano, even a car with the power of a Maruti 800 wouldn't sell in the US. The cheapest cars in the US have atleast 1200 cc engine. One of the cheapest cars in the US today is probably the Nissan Versa. That comes with a 1.4 L engine in the entry level model, I think.

[Kishan Shah]

Originally Posted by carboy

Not a chance. Forget Nano, even a car with the power of a Maruti 800 wouldn't sell in the US. The cheapest cars in the US have atleast 1200 cc engine. One of the cheapest cars in the US today is probably the Nissan Versa. That comes with a 1.4 L engine in the entry level model, I think.

Originally Posted by teamveevee

I do not think any of the current models except the Nano will sell in US. Tata may be able to sell Nano as its design is unique and it has a big fan following in US. Like the article says, the plant in Mexico may be for Latin America and Brazil.
ET reports this morning that AL is planning to enter the US truck market. I think Tata may be better of, if they sell their Trucks in US markets. There were plans to introduce ACE electric in US, but did not materialize.

Originally Posted by D33-PAC

Only Indians would. Nobody else would!

No not even Indians will buy a NANO when they have so many options,unless an until they are Tata fans.

And its not that the NANO is under powered for US,the Smart Fortwo is doing quite well there and its all about marketing and showing what kind of people(celebrity) use the cars,some A listers in Hollywood use the smart.

I would suggest Tata to come up with a two door,and goodies(which includes leather,fibre instead of plastic and quality materials,sat nav,bose sound system and bigger tyres/rims) loaded version of the NANO and market the hell out of the car

Make sure the car is used by some actor/musician/sports star(anyone young and famous preferably justin bieber )

Then they might have a good market for Nano's in US.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Kishan Shah

And its not that the NANO is under powered for US,the Smart Fortwo is doing quite well there and its all about marketing and showing what kind of people(celebrity) use the cars,some A listers in Hollywood use the smart.
.

I think the Nano is very underpowered for the USA.

Check the specs of Smart Fortwo - http://www.smartusa.com/models/pure-coupe/overview.aspx

It's almost twice as powerful as the Nano.

Also, Smart Fortwo though did better than expectations - it doesn't really sell much. It sells around 10,000 cars per 'Year' in the USA. Toyota Corolla sells three times as much per 'Month'. Corolla sells 3,00,000+ cars per year in the USA.

[svsantosh]

I have owned 2 new tata's in the past and I wont even go near it in India, forget USA.

My F.I.Law is in SouthAfrica for last 6 years and says TATA is one of the worst managed brands in SA. After sales support is the worst and a TATA is a butt of jokes around pubs on weekends! PS - every Xmas vacation he is in India, he takes back some spares for his friends Indica coz not much spares are stocked there!

[sgiitk]

I think a lot of them are - only under the label of J or LR!!!!

[lapsi]

Considering that more than half the OTR cost of a vehicle in India is taxes, Tata could give a vastly better product at lower prices. Also, the quality of roads and drivers is much better than in India.

I believe they should do well, if they can consistently deliver a value for money product.

[9thsphinx]

American's are very loyal to their country and their brands. With the likes of GM, Chevy, Ford and others, Tata will have a very hard time to fit in being branded "Indian". And I am not even considering the Korean, Japanese, German and another long list of manufacturers who are doing pretty well with numbers. The only product that I think might work is the Xenon pickup - and that too if they price it correctly!

[Stratos]

In my honest opinion and from what I have seen during my stay there, American customers have started to explore new economical options. Today, it is very common to see an American driving a Kia. Ofcourse, Kia have come a long way in-terms of quality of their cars, which today, I think is really good.

Coming back to the point, the standards of safety and quality requirements in America are very high. Thus, to introduce their vehicles in America, Tata will have to work hard and improve the shortcomings on its vehicles and maybe also with more powerful engines, but if they do go through, I am sure they may appeal to certain American customers. Especially, for those looking for cheap and economical small cars. Having driven the Ford Crown Victoria there, I can assure you that a Tata Nano (with power-steering) would be a boon to drive in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles.

There was a time when people made fun of Skoda and Kia and probably also asked "Who would buy a Kia?" Today, things are different. Every company needs to start somewhere. It takes time to settle in a totally new market and your first product in a new market may not always be a hit. Atleast, Tata is trying.

[the.city]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

American's are very loyal to their country and their brands. With the likes of GM, Chevy, Ford and others, Tata will have a very hard time to fit in being branded "Indian". And I am not even considering the Korean, Japanese, German and another long list of manufacturers who are doing pretty well with numbers.

What you said is just a minor issue. Tata can always launch under a different brand name. Remember Lexus or Acura?

They already have a decent network - through Jag & LR brands. Just launch a new low cost brand. They'll be fine. Of course, Stratos' points are probably a bigger challenge for them.

[teamveevee]

Please take a look at Fiat. Even though they have Chrysler under their belt, they started Fiat showrooms and selling just one Model Fiat 500 . With limited dealerships, they are able to sell considerable no of Fiat 500s. I do not think it looks better than say VW Beetle or comfortable than a Hyundai Veloster.
For the exact same reason, i think, Tata will be able to sell Nano, of course with a different engine (sourced from Fiat , may be). There is no car that looks like Nano now in US and some people like that uniqueness. There are lot of followers for Nano even in US. I do not think people will buy Nano in US, because it is cheap, but because it is cute and different. Anyway, i think Tata has to try. It is the dream of every Automobile manufacturer to sell in US. Now with the expertise of JLR, it is easy for them to try. I do not think Engine is an issue, as it can be sourced from outside, but to make Nano to comply with NTSA safety standards, that will be a herculean task. Not sure whether they have started this exercise yet.

[suhaas307]

The US market is not a hatchback market as far as I know. People there love big cars. It's a huge market for trucks though, so I believe something like the Tata Xenon would do okay. Tata just needs to address the safety of the car and improve the ride-quality while they are at it.

[RS_DEL]

Yes, the Tatas can sell their vehicles in the U.S. market and any other market they target.

However there are caveats to this.

[] If they think they can manage the way they have been treating customers in India, they will soon shut shop even before they set up shop in any meaningful manner. So they have to stop thinking of customers as lab rats.

[] Following from the above they need to think of QC as something that starts even before the assembly line i.e. at the stage when their vendors ship them parts. Not like today where they provide part replacements to mollify customers who happen to have the misfortune of new vehicles develop niggle after niggle.

As things stand today, in a market which is as litigatious(?) as the U.S. with the mindset that TML have they will only enrich tort lawyers .

WRT TML vehicles, the economic meltdown has had the effect of a sobering reality check on most western societies, so if priced appropriately TML vehicles should be able to make some headway given the general decrease in perception of affluence if not affluence.

[athanedar]

Personally I will never buy a TATA in US or anywhere even if they give me for free.
This is based on my experience on indica xeta which I owned for 3 years.
Poor quality control, niggles, bad customer service are the virtues of TATA.
They will get sued left and right in US with their current quality control.
TATA may set a record for recalls in US.