[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by pk_del

This reminds me of Acura story.

No one was very familiar of brand Acura but they all knew Legend, Vigor, Integra and NSX. Also, Acura was first Japanese luxury marque in NA, even before Lexus.

And there is a saying "There were more Legends in Silicon Valley than BMW at one point of time". This was way back in 1995 - 1998 era.

Slowly and steadily Acura killed all these brands with two-three letter nomenclature RL, TL, RSX and what not. They are still struggling (Their SUV division is doing well).

Acura is a brand with a strong parent. HONDA. Honda at that time knew what they were up against & what they were doing. They seem a bit like Tata now. Lost. However, Tata Motors case is not of having a fully established brand trying to add an upmarket luxury brand.

Originally Posted by pk_del

As Crazy Driver pointed, hope TAMO realizes the potential of Safari and give the market the all new legendary safari in new avatar.

I know what you mean, but the actual "TAMO" brand has been shelved as part of a long list of cost cutting measures by TML. Along with pulling out from international auto shows like Geneva/Paris from next year.

[krishnakarthik1]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

As far as brand value is concerned- I for one, consider the brand "TATA Safari" much bigger than the brand TATA Motors, Hyundai, MSIL, Renault etc. I wouldn't blame TATA Motors marketing if the Hexa doesn't sell, but I surely feel sad that they didn't realize the potential of the Safari brand.

100% agree with you here. Exactly what we were discussing the other day. Personally i don't mind if they do not change one bit of the existing safari. All I want is that automatic gear box, that's all and they will have my money.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by pk_del

Old is the new "New" now.

@Tata Motors execs, if you are reading this:

Give a Hexa-like refresh to the Safari Storme and name it the Tata Safari. Let it have 7 seats, to improve mass market appeal and compete directly with XUV/Scorpio.

Slot another 5 seater SUV between the new Safari and Nexon with length of 4.2m-4.3m (450l boot space), and name it the Tata Sierra!

These 2 moves will solve majority of the problems Tata Motors is facing.

To quote the great Mr.GTO "There is no problem a good SUV cannot solve."

[travelex]

Booked a Tungsten Silver XTA yesteraday. Expected delivery within 10 days or so. Are some accessories given as default or does it depend from dealer to dealer? Also I am still in a fix over whether I should opt for a 6 seater or 7 seater.

[Sawyer]

Given that the last seats are more usable than many, and how supremely comfortable the middle seats are in the 6 seater, that is the better choice in the Hexa. Plus they allow easier access to the last row.

[McLaren Roxx]

Can someone confirm where the Hexa is built? Is it Pune or Gujarat as well?

[KK RE Lover]

Originally Posted by McLaren Roxx

Can someone confirm where the Hexa is built? Is it Pune or Gujarat as well?

At the Pimpri plant in Pune for sure. Don't know about Gujarat though.

Originally Posted by travelex

Booked a Tungsten Silver XTA yesteraday. Expected delivery within 10 days or so. Are some accessories given as default or does it depend from dealer to dealer? Also I am still in a fix over whether I should opt for a 6 seater or 7 seater.

Congratulations. It's a great colour. If you have 5 full timers or most of the time with 5 then would suggest the bench if not nothing to beat the captain seats!

[Abhishek_Garg]

Guys, Hexa is selling like hot cakes in NCR.
I had been to my dealer today for fixing HSRP. Asked him what he had in stock. To my surprise, he said there is no stock since 3 days. All colours and variants he had got on 3rd August were sold. He has only one vehicle at showroom and second is test drive car.
While I was there, one customer booked XTA, so, I am sure this is true situation.
He also mentioned that about 1lakh ex showroom price hike is expected due to GST Cess moving up by 10% on ex factory

[Jyodi Backster]

Originally Posted by travelex

... Also I am still in a fix over whether I should opt for a 6 seater or 7 seater.

Depends on who's going to occupy the second row seats.

Captain seats are extremely comfortable for passengers taller than ~ 5' 6".

I liked the captain seat for its comfort and easy access to the third row, but my wife and parents found the bench more comfortable.
Plus three adults can actually seat comfortably on that bench!

[GreenmachinE]

Test drove Hexa manual XT and automatic XTA last week. My impressions

Positives:

Road Presence: Hexa does not seek attention as the design is subdued aggression but the sheer size makes its presence felt. Its a gentle giant

Engine: It is smooth and has a lot of torque. There is a bit of turbo lag similar to our national engine Fiat MJD but once past 1800 rpm there is more than enough poke to tackle our four lane expressways.

Interiors: Lot has been said and every bit is true. for the money you cant ask for more.

Ride and handling: My current drives are a Polo 1.6 (p) and Figo 1.5, both cars endowed with nice ride and handling. The hexa is on par with new Figo in handling , polo is better. The ride blows these cars out of the water, the car feels taught, but still smothers out all the imperfections of the roads. TATA has made full use of the vehicles mass to offer excellent ride. The clutch is not hard but the travel is long, I found the steering to be easy to operate at low and high speeds. Dont know what all the fuss is about steering being heavy.

Negative:
Gearbox: It takes some effort to slot into first and second gears, the rest of them are alright. The sales person assured me that these will sort out quite a bit after a few thousand kilometers. He offered me to check out the shift quality of the vehicles which have come for service at their workshop. I didn't get to do that as the place was a bit far. The test drive vehicle was brand new

The test drive experience was good enough for me to make a payment and book the vehicle (XM) then and there. Being a person who looks at value for money in everything , I found the Hexa base variant to be the Value King of all the vehicles costing more than 10 L ex showroom.

TATA seems to have a bit of a production constraint for the HEXA, the Automatics have 6 weeks wait time according to the sales rep. Now the wait begins.

[McLaren Roxx]

Originally Posted by travelex

Are some accessories given as default or does it depend from dealer to dealer?

Only freebee accessory (upon asking) are the interior mats. I don't think anything else is, but you can check.
Some dealers are trying to make a quick buck by charging 5500 for an accessory pack, consisting of the mats & mud flaps (which come factory fitted)

[grkonweb]

Originally Posted by travelex

Booked a Tungsten Silver XTA yesteraday. Expected delivery within 10 days or so. Are some accessories given as default or does it depend from dealer to dealer? Also I am still in a fix over whether I should opt for a 6 seater or 7 seater.

Many congratulations on booking the Hexa. Great choice of color!

As for the seat choice it depends on the profile of frequent occupants. If you have kids riding the car often, it makes sense to go for the bench seats as they tend to fall asleep in long drives (not only in highways but also in city traffic). Bench seat is very useful for them to sleep especially when the last row is unusable due to shopping bags or luggage. Trust me, in bench seats the kids won't complain

[Torquedo]

Originally Posted by travelex

Booked a Tungsten Silver XTA yesteraday.

Many a Congratulations, travelex, wishing you many a Happy Miles with her,.

Originally Posted by GreenmachinE

The test drive experience was good enough for me to make a payment and book the vehicle (XM) then and there.

Many a Congratulations, GreenmachinE, wishing you many a Happy Miles with her.

Originally Posted by GreenmachinE

Negative:
Gearbox: It takes some effort to slot into first and second gears, the rest of them are alright. The sales person assured me that these will sort out quite a bit after a few thousand kilometers.

The SA missed it, not a few thousand Kms but a few hundred Kms, believe me, I have driving this beast for the past 10 days & in less than 500 kms, I can feel a sea difference in the gear shift quality from the day I picked her up.

The key is, treat the gear shift as short throws and be very gentle with the shifts, they work like a charm, if you use them as long throws, it might cause some bit of inconvenience, this is what I have learnt from the past 10 days.

[Kishen.padiyar]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

believe me, I have driving this beast for the past 10 days & in less than 500 kms, I can feel a sea difference in the gear shift quality from the day I picked her up.

Most UVs use gear linkages unlike to gear shift cables that are found in smaller cars. These linkages have guide bushes (mostly made of rubber or teflon/delrin) that though lubricated using semi-solid lubricants will be quite hard owing to the interference between them. All it takes is a few cycles (read: linkage movements) for the tolerances to open up and result in smoother gear shifts.

[GreenmachinE]

Originally Posted by Torquedo

believe me, I have driving this beast for the past 10 days & in less than 500 kms, I can feel a sea difference in the gear shift quality from the day I picked her up.

Thank you Torquedo for your input. You have alleviated my concern with the gearshift .Now eagerness to get hold of the vehicle has increased manifold. Looks like the wait times are nowhere close to what I had mentioned in my previous post, even the automatic variants can be delivered in less than two weeks according to the dealer.