[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by naveenchhillar

Not even a single post in M&M Facebook page is supporting their idea of 7200 bookings in lottery style. Seems, they got it wrong all this time.

Am sure they will still be a hot cake, but on what cost ??

Certainly true.

Considering those many people on Facebook complaining those numerous Carbon Copy of Niggles and giggles on the car they own, it would be best for M&M to sort out those issues first and then re-start new Bookings.

They have indeed taken a big leap ahead with their flagship model in the XUV, they just need to get better from here.

Lottery system..!When did Super Lotto come back

[eq24]

One question guys,

What happens if you are not the lucky one to get the lottery draw, WILL YOUR MONEY GO?, or will it be adjusted for the next round of bookings?

Really need an answer to this question, I dont really need the vehicle now, can wait for two to three months, but if the money is going to be gambled, then I am out.

[JeepSomeday]

Originally Posted by rohitbagai

The Khat Khat sound could be of the magnetic lock of the tailgate. If they have come this far ask them to remove the tailgate and then you can check if the sound still exist

Yep, tried that too. We opened the tailgate and test drove with the tailgate open to see if the noise comes from up there or elsewhere. It was clearly coming from somewhere in the underbody right rear. Thats the last one we did, after which they wanted to dismantle the AC cooling coil !!

[carwatcher]

Originally Posted by SDP

I demand 50% reservation for women
2. I demand 20% quota for the financially backward
3. I demand 20% quota for the minorities and culturally oppressed
4. I demand 8% quota for the locals - people staying within 15km radius of a particular dealership
5. The remaining 2% would be reserved for the people who do not belong to any of the above categories

So, as per you a woman who is a localite belonging to minority and also financially backward (but can afford XUV) is sure shot candidate for winning the lottery.

The disadvantage of FIFO is that booking are no use for late comers. Can someone highlight that the lottery would be started from day one or only after 7200 bookings are crossed. I feel they distribute the 7200 from no. of days of booking period and then start the lottery from day one with the 7200/no. of days available for booking cars being actually booked. In this system atleast the persons who booked on day 1 and couldn't "win" the "fully paid" lottery can found themselves available for next day and so on. This way atleast early birds can be also given advantage.
I heard that around 2 lac premium is demanded on Xuv in Mumbai. So the lottery is worth 2 Lac. Also 7200 cars are only available against earlier 8000 and production capacity also increased. That means remaining are for "special" category of customers.

[Ketan]

Ok, I'm not sure about the premium deamnded for xuv in Mumbai, it should either be a marketting stunt or someone abnormal who cant wait for few days/months.
From the news article on their website, it seems that they will allow the booking to start from Jan 25, all the way thru Feb 3rd. If the number is more than 7200, they shall go with the draw system and everyone ready to pay 80K should be able to participate (Now, I'm not sure if they will come up with 80K as new booking amount in order to make the administration easy - it may happen most porbably). They have confirmed that all the booking entries between the above two dates (including the dates) would go for draw if it goes beyond 7200.
The big question is, 7200!! I heard they increased the production capacity to 3.5K/month. So, its difficult to understand this number considering 4 months production / wait time they are committing on delivery.

M&M, you dont have to do all these marketting stunts, your vehicle is anyway gaining popularity with small niggles here and there. just keep it simple, whoever is ready to pay, let them book and close the booking once you are out of your 4 months production quota..

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by JeepSomeday

Maybe its just me. Maybe my expectations are too high !! Sigh . Hello Mahindra - please replace my XUV...I want a new one now...and you can keep the VKool film I got done.

Dammit man....this is just not done! you shoudl tweet to Anand Mahindra about this, hopefully it will get things moving and you just may get a replacement!


on the Khat Khat, did you get the drivetrain inspected? I have a sneaking feeling this sound is from wither the driveshaft or the differential.

[shankar.balan]

Considering we are fiddling around in the realms of the faintly ridiculous, if not in the outright ridiculous, why not simply have them allocate XUV's to only Politicos and Real Estate Demons and other such creatures of the "Rakshasa" ilk?

On a more serious note, I wish they would fix the niggles by tightening their quality control and training at the dealerships. This is one reason I did not buy the XUV - was 100% sure it would take at least one or two years to settle down in the marketplace and become relatively niggle free. M&M have a done a great job- yes! They've cracked the price vs value equation brilliantly for India/ Indians - yes! Does the vehicle have fool-proof electronic and other systems - a resounding NO! Is it brilliantly styled or over the top? - Well the balance tilts towards the latter, clearly.

Despite all those years of work put in, into making this XUV launch a success, they dont seem to have been able to get their electronics act together yet. Is it because they dont have enough great engineers or because they havent invested enough? No, I would say that at the heart of it, is a certain "Indian" willingness to compromise here and there, nothing else.

Originally Posted by SDP

Since the lottery scheme is anyway ridiculous, let me take it to the next level:
1. I demand 50% reservation for women
2. I demand 20% quota for the financially backward
3. I demand 20% quota for the minorities and culturally oppressed
4. I demand 8% quota for the locals - people staying within 15km radius of a particular dealership
5. The remaining 2% would be reserved for the people who do not belong to any of the above categories

[nitin.rai]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

No, I would say that at the heart of it, is a certain "Indian" willingness to compromise here and there, nothing else.

I don't see the need to patronize anything on a public forum; wether it be "Indian" willingness.
I can put you in touch with many Indians who may put quite a few around the world to shame when it comes to perfection.

Hope we can end this here, to each his own & everyone is entitled to an opinion but this is a public forum and I personally do not take kindly to anything cynical with reference to "Indian".

[shankar.balan]

You're certainly entitled to your opinion as I am entitled to mine. Ive seen quite a lot of this which is why I ve mentioned it. No hard feelings mate!

I dont like the quality compromises that are regularly made in order to build things to a certain cost expectation - this is quite a visible phenomenon in our cars and other things. Hence the comment. It also applies of course to the Foreign chaps "designed for India, to a cost" thought process, so I hope that clarifies! I dont like being treated as a second class chap myself!

Originally Posted by nitin.rai

I don't see the need to patronize anything on a public forum; wether it be "Indian" willingness.
I can put you in touch with many Indians who may put quite a few around the world to shame when it comes to perfection.

Hope we can end this here, to each his own & everyone is entitled to an opinion but this is a public forum and I personally do not take kindly to anything cynical with reference to "Indian".

[nitin.rai]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I dont like being treated as a second class chap myself!

Peace
Appreciate the balanced response.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by tachobells

...
Considering there are about 2 Lakh fans for the XUV facebook page, 7200 will be sold out in very few days .....

I wouldn't read too much into the number of fans for the following reasons:
1. It takes just one click on FB to "like" something. Its an entirely different matter when one is voting with his/her own wallet.

2. A quick glance at the monthly Indian-Car-Sales-Analysis shows that around 2.25Lakh cars get sold in India every month and only 5% of those (around 11,000) are SUVs. Assuming that quite a few of the 2L+ fans are potential buyers does not gel with these sales numbers. Would XUV single handedly rewrite the fate of SUV segment in India and grow it significantly beyond the current 5%? No doubt, XUV will eat into part of C+ sedan's and MUV's share, but at least I am not expecting a complete shakedown.

3. My view is that the 2 lakh people are potentially looking for getting a new car in about a year's time and are looking at XUV as a option. So 2 Lakh could be a demand which is spread over the next 12 months or so.

4. Out of the 2Lakh fans, there would still be quite a few which are not located in the 19 cities and nearby areas. If I remember correctly, dealers were not allowing registration in a city if it is not officially launched in that city yet. So a few fans will not still be able to buy the XUV.

Having said that, I do believe that there is enough pent up demand for XUV for an over-booking situation to happen.

[Ketan]

This looks to be a direct draw situation. Based on what I understand from the dealer; You will have to be ready with a DD (80K) between Jan 25 and Feb 3rd, provide identity, address proofs and some more documents along with a cancelled cheque to be able to fill the draw form. Feb 15 is when the draw results will be out. The chosen 7200 shall continue with the booking process and may get a delivery within 1 to 4.5 months delivery time (no idea how its going to be prioritized at this point though) and rest will get their money back. So, much for a car booking!!

[shankar.balan]

Always a pleasure.

Trouble is that most manufacturers have so long taken the consumer for granted, that it is difficult to suddenly change a "generations old" mind-set. A hangover from the protectionist economy days if you will, where we consumers simply had to take what we got.

This is why, despite my good relationship with M&M over the years, I am deeply irritated that they havent set basic stuff right in their vehicles before launching them on the unsuspecting public. And the said public is simply lapping it up on account of an irresistible price. While I appreciate the price, can the manufacturer not look after quality and overall reliability upto 100% instead of this 75-80% as is current? I think that is the basic thing here.

If you look at the way the Japanese entered the US and European markets - they played on price + reliability + service. The same way that the Koreans also broke in. The Koreans used the same thought process when they came to India with their cars, perhaps 15 odd years after the Japanese had come, with Suzuki. Again they played on bang for the buck and reliability and service.

Im a bit displeased that our own chaps dont seem to have learned enough about this and continue to foist things onto their own countrymen like this!

Originally Posted by nitin.rai

Peace
Appreciate the balanced response.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

On a more serious note, I wish they would fix the niggles by tightening their quality control and training at the dealerships. This is one reason I did not buy the XUV...

...they dont have enough great engineers or because they havent invested enough? No, I would say that at the heart of it, is a certain "Indian" willingness to compromise here and there, nothing else.

You have pretty much summed it up there, Mr. Balan.

I absolutely agree. Quality of craftsmanship and perfection still isn't there in our Tatas and Mahindras. Both the Safari Storme and the XUV are great products, that have their own let-downs.

While the Storme could have been tweaked to look better. After all those years of research, engineering and face-lifts, they've given us a product like the Storme, which indeed could be a very sorted SUV, but the designers seemed to be on a break.

The XUV has its own niggles. And M&M seem to be out sorting out these issues, based on the recent purchases, test-drives, etc. Which is a good thing, and is the way ahead. Niggles like the steering-rod that fouls with the foot, the erratic MID, the gearbox-clutch in lower gears, etc.

I wonder if they are going to recall the first batch of XUVs.

But despite that, they strive to make the best SUV in the market. Credit where credit is due.

If they want to be among the big guns, they need to up raise the bar quite high, by introducing vehicles with brilliant and top-notch quality. Which includes cars put through recognized International safety-tests and fairing well. Cars that are generally niggle-free, right from the start.

[shankar.balan]

Good people M&M, no doubt about that.

Considering they attended to about 70% of what I had pointed out to them when we went for the first "consumer interaction" with the XUV in May 2011.

However, in the current scenario, it is a bit of a lottery whether you get a pucca vehicle or one which has niggles in it.

Hence, I' say there's clearly "miles to go before M&M can sleep".

Originally Posted by suhaas307

You have pretty much summed it up there, Mr. Balan.

I absolutely agree. Quality of craftsmanship and perfection still isn't there in our Tatas and Mahindras. Both the Safari Storme and the XUV are great products, that have their own let-downs.
The XUV has its own niggles. And M&M seem to be out sorting out these issues, based on the recent purchases, test-drives, etc. Which is a good thing, and is the way ahead. Niggles like the steering-rod that fouls with the foot, the erratic MID, the gearbox-clutch in lower gears, etc.

But despite that, they strive to make the best SUV in the market. Credit where credit is due.

If they want to be among the big guns, they need to up raise the bar quite high, by introducing vehicles with brilliant and top-notch quality. Which includes cars put through recognized International safety-tests and fairing well.
Cars that are generally niggle-free, right from the start.