Test rode the Nexon today. Noticed a few things both for the car and for the sales team.
First for the sales team:
- Lacks professionalism. Visit a ford or a VW showroom and you will notice a certain quality in the sales staff which Tata’s just don’t compare to. Good car supported by a mediocre staff.
- The TD vehicle was dirty and soiled inside out. When you are introducing yourselves you will always like to put your best foot forward. The first impression was certainly not good. I even visited the showrooms and felt the same things. Customer handling was mismanaged. We lingered about the whole showroom and nobody came to attend us until we called out.
- Sales staff was very casually dressed and it would be hard to differentiate between sales staff and people visiting the showroom.
-Poorly lit spaces, gives an unwelcoming vibe.
- Dilapidated furniture and poor lighting.
Now for the Car:
- I don't know what designers at Tata were thinking when they were designing the interiors. The two tone colour choice is poor. The colour of the fabric looks dull and boring.
- The fabric inserts on all the doors is also very stain prone. Not easy to clean or maintain. Service centre guys will press you for a paid interior cleaning every time you visit them and it will cost you over 1000 bucks. Small leatherette inserts at touch points would have raised the look and feel considerably.
- The fabric of the seats looks and feels pathetic. Stitching too is third class. Seat Covers are a MUST. However the seats are supremely comfortable and rear seat under thigh support is the best compared to all the cars I have seen so far (Ecosports' are equally good). Long rides for rear passengers will be a very comfortable affair.
- The rear seats are bit too reclined for my liking. A more upright position would have been better but then the sloping roofline would have further decreased the headroom.
- The music system is the best in the segment even bettering the Bose one on the Sonet.
- Everybody says touch screen is not that good but honestly I don't think anybody would be toying with the touch screen a lot. Most commonly used controls are on the steering wheel or have dedicated buttons for them so for practicality purposes the touch screen is good enough.
- I personally loved the design layout from the central console till the armrest. The whole 'layout' feels very upmarket to me. The materials used here are also good. However there is no dedicated place to keep your mobile which is very odd given that mobiles are omnipresent. You can keep "a" mobile on top of the cup holder shelf but only when there are no cups. :P else there is literally no place to keep the mobile/s.
- Although the driving mode knob looks fab, but I feel the knob could have been smaller freeing some space for a mobile holder.
- The glovebox is quite large and you can stuff in a lot of things. It’s also cooled so you know….…. Also I love the push button to open the glove box and how well it's integrated into the dash design. Applause.
- The Clutch is VERY light. Driving the diesel was a breeze in traffic.
- I actually had FUN driving the car in sports mode (enormous amount of torque on offer). The throttle response was prompt and the car felt eager to move unlike in the ECO where it did not wanted to be hustled. City mode was in line with what sane city driving requires. Eco mode is strictly for highways or heavy traffic conditions.
- Ride comfort was supreme and the car felt pliant on bumpy roads and speed breakers. Couldn’t drive it on a highway so can’t really comment but given how the whole suspension setup felt I can safely say “highway pe chapak ke chalegi”
- Body roll was controlled but still not like on Ecosport. I would say comparable to Sonet.
- Steering is light and easy to use in traffic. Can’t comment on highway performance though.
- I drive a diesel S-cross 1.3 and compared to the gearbox on it, the one on the Nexon felt much better. Sure slotting and light. Personally I liked it more than that on the Ecosport.
- One strange thing though which I noticed on the Nexon was that when I pressed the accelerator while on neutral, the engine took a complete second or two before it revved freely. Don’t know if it’s by design or an issue. Maybe users can comment on it better.
All in all I loved the driving experience on the Nexon but was dismayed by the overall feel of the cabin. It just cannot be compared to the feel you get when you step in a ford, VW, Kia or a Hyundai. WHY TATA WHY?
When we first visited the showroom to look at the car, my wife wasn’t too happy with the cabin look and feel. It was a base variant so I asked the staff to show the top trim model hoping it would be a bit better in look and feel but when they brought the car for a TD it didn’t feel any different. Dirty interiors further downed the experience. Tata seriously need to work harder to train their Sales team and after sales team both for better user experience. I am sure they will be able to clock higher numbers than this. It will not just up the user feel for them but for Indian auto brands in general.