[CEF_Beasts]

2020 Mahindra Thar bookings cross 9,000 in 5 days

Convertible, automatic variants in demand

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...-5-days-418809

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

With all due respect, sir - to each his own! Some may say that as they get older, they crave for more comfort and convenience, which might not necessarily come in tandem with simplicity.

I may buy a Fortuner, in fact. But my first love would be a WWII jeep if I could get my grubby hands on a good one. What I don't like is having to spend my hard earned money trying to make a vehicle run cleanly on petrol-based fuel. That is my point. That is my objection to BSVI changes that made the new Thar's complexity inevitable. Damn this virus. You can see the backside of the train but with the masks, God only knows what the front side of the train is looking like. Bring on the vaccine, I am railroad ready.

[raghu.bramha]

Originally Posted by vellatechie

I know what you mean, but trust me, the interiors are fine. Youre sitting so high up that interior space doesnt matter. Infact, even the rear which isn't great from feet positioning point of view (trick is to slide one under the front seat and other flat on the floor), it desnt feel claustrophobic due to large glass window on both sides.

Although, I am not sure how it is to ride sitting on the rear with another person on a slightly not so perfect road.

I really hope the interiors space is moderately or even sufficiently big enough. Like you said, with some adjustments seating arrangement could be eased out. After all this is not a regular city car, so buyer should always be ready to get used to what it offers.

[VWAllstar]

A bolero made to look like a Jeep Wrangler. Owner can very well think of the Thar 2020 and redo the front fascia to make it look similar. Enjoy the impressive pictures.

[raghu.bramha]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Is it the black color all around that's causing the feeling? It can be easily remedied at moderate costs by using lighter colored seat covers. Later on if you feel adventurous enough, re-upholstering the insides of HT with similar lighter liners would help even further.
I say that because the interiors are really not that tight, not even in the rear. Just don't turn around and look into luggage space. The front seats are expectedly even better. Great tall point of view all around, large greenhouse, excellent legroom.
Its a 2D car but not exactly small in conventional sense. Sitting area is proper sized at the expense of bootspace. You should be good IMO.

The all black interiors shown in the pictures might have affected the sense of gauging the size, only thing to do is to go check it personally. So will do that as soon as they have it at the dealer's in my area.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

A bolero made to look like a Jeep Wrangler. Owner can very well think of the Thar 2020 and redo the front fascia to make it look similar. Enjoy the impressive pictures.

Some good bits like the paint job. But I particularly like how the owner has made sure he will never get rear ended since he ain't braking for anyone.

[justwheels]

Quick update: Managed to get a call from Sireesh Auto Silk Board, Bangalore for a TD on Friday. They are so much swamped with the rush that they are only giving TD in the showroom premise now. That's one crazy thing but that also shows the crowd pull this is getting. They only have 1 TD vehicle across 3 showrooms (that's what was told) and the vehicle gets alloted to each showroom for one day in rotation. Crazy!

Nonetheless will be visiting the showroom on Friday and will get the first glimpse of the new found love. Have told I need a proper TD. Seems they want to reduce the fanboy TD's and get serious customers only to manage the rush. I feel everyone has the right to get a TD. Even one fanboy conversion will be worth the fuel spent. Let's see how the Friday unfolds.

By the way, the SA confirmed 145 bookings since launch for them alone. I am guessing waiting period is going to get longer very soon.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by discoverwild

I can't but just smile when I see a lot of members claiming to buy it for their wives. == Having your cake and eating it too!
==
Jaggu, sensible decision, I would say.

Lol true but there was more to it for me... well she only drove the Santro AT in her life. And when we sold it and while waiting for the new Ignis, she had used my GV and she felt it is better to have a bigger car. Coz no one bullies around and commanding view. So while I was watching the launch video, madam suggested that she would not mind one if I want to clear my overcrowded garage lol. So yes why not eat the cake.

Coming back to Thar - 9000 booking is great! But at INR 21000 booking amount and 2000 cancellation, there can be a large number of cancellations if deliveries are delayed. And just like those niggles that was posted earlier, things will take sometime to iron out of for these products. Which has been the usual trend. Also intresting thing to see is how long does this sales numbers stay? Is it a new launch phenomenon or the new segment carved out by M&M? Really interesting to see how it will pan out.

[bolbolerobol]

Originally Posted by SandyX

Live and let live. To each, their own.

Again, to each their own. And these are my own.

I couldn't agree with you more, on all the points you made.

I'd have loved the new Thar to have solid axles, simpler setup, while keeping some safety and comforts.

You see videos of the MM540/550s, older Willy models perform offroad, vs the Thar as it evolved, there is a different something about how they feel and work. I agree they may not be as comfortable as the new Thar but they were pure. The new Thar definitely seems capable but it looks like it's targeted towards urban crawls more than the off-road adventures.

[Sumanyu17]

Latest news pouring in confirms that M&M have got 9000 bookings for the Thar in the first 4 days of launch. That is a huge number for a niche vehicle like Thar.
Kudos to the M&M marketing team which built a big hype prior to the launch, and is now reaping the results.
I can see this number going upwards of 20k this month owing to the festive season around the corner. This should put it into the top 20 sales chart.
The numbers should also take some time to fade as many of are sitting on the fence for the first adopters to review the product and mention all the niggles that come with the first batch.
Expecting a strong year ahead for Thar.

[Born 2 Be Wild]

Just got back from Koncept Mahindra delhi, Was amazed to see the rush even on a weekday at 2 pm! astonishingly there were 2 ladies also in queue for the TD, I was booking the Petrol A/T which sadly wasn't available for TD, Paid the booking amount and took the receipt. The thar in real life is huge i mean this thing in the RVM would look like a behemoth approaching

Sat in the display car has a nice feel to it its quite a climb up to the cabin getting into my scorpio or endeavour was far easier then this i am 5.10 Was about to leave sales rep says sir diesel hi chala lo ek baar , drove the thar for 15 mins and heck i felt the ride to be more subtle then my scorpio! far more planted.Did not find the engine to be as peppy as my scorpio, Petrol A/T it is.
Delivery promised in december, sales rep also said they have recieved huge no. of bookings and they might close booking after 15 october if this keeps up, and before people pounce on me saying its a sales hack or trick on his part, he said this to me once i was leaving when he was congratulating me on the booking

[evil_grin]

I'm so happy with the new Thar. It looks so good that many people will buy it for my viewing pleasure. And it's impractical enough that I won't have any regrets not buying it.

[Rajiv0909]

Being one of the 9000,here are my thoughts on the Thar after a longish test drive across city roads and a few hundred meters of off road.

I think I jumped the gun and booked the car before test driving it. Obviously assuming comparable drive quality in the price bracket/ lifestyle vehicle positioning. However I was a bit disappointed with the ride quality. Thar feels buoyant at city speeds, I couldn't ride beyond 70 kmph but I wonder if it will any less bouncy at higher momentum change rate.

Ironically I saw this news right after the TD and started wondering if the car doesn't drive well (like the basic function of any vehicle) what's driving all this crowd? I traced back my own thought process behind placing the booking and i think it was optics over capability or form over function. While that was my thought process, some of us who have booked may have just latched on to the trend.

As with any viral product, if Mahindra doesn't act on the flaws soon, they may just repeat the Harrier V1 story here. To be specific:

1. Bouncy ride
2. Spongy brakes - No feedback
3. ESP is useless
4. Grab handles for easy ingress/egress

As far as my booking goes, I will hold on till i drive the AT. If it doesn't meet expectations, I will cancel it.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Sorry to be thinking differently, but why do i somehow have a feeling that M&M will find the first available opportunity to increase prices. ?

I completely agree. The pricing is designed to make a slim margin while increasing volumes to an entirely different level compared to the first gen Thar. M&M are really hoping the pricing can tip over a lot of folks sitting on the fence with doubts in mind about the Thar - both those considering it as the sole vehicle and those looking to add it to their garage or replacing one of the existing cars.

Once this product catches some steam and is starts to become more visible, I strongly believe the wave will simply grow bigger on its own momentum. But M&M needs lots of examples across the country of people viewing, purchasing and using the Thar differently from before. Indian car buyers go a lot by word-of-mouth and emulate successful purchase decisions of others in the friends and family circles.

The best case study the Thar can hope to emulate in the RE Bullet bike story. It needs to become to cars what the bullet became to bikes roughly between 2000 and 2010. At first it was priced close to double the ordinary commuter bike, had lackluster sales for a number of years. Then the marketing wave unleashed by Eicher positioned it as a reflection of the personality of the young and the free. Their series of ads about the "Trip" (https://www.asphaltandrubber.com/ban...ping-campagin/) ignited this spirit. The period also coincided with increasing disposable income and the ability for the 20-something to splurge on an expensive bike - to make a statement about who he or she was! Once there were enough examples of people opting for the bullet despite some of the inconveniences and the higher price, a whole wave of buyers who were a bit unsure, started to switch and the sales charts were set on fire. Once this happened, RE steadily increased the price of the bullet, to where today, it is 3-4 times the price of an entry level commuter bike.

This is the type of phenomenon M&M seeks to unleash in the car market. They want the 30-something youngsters (some of whom may have owned bullets in their 20s!) , who are single or have a small family, who crave to stand aside from the crowd, act differently and make a statement to adopt the Thar. However, even these folks want some examples, some word-of mouth references, from their trusted circle. M&M has gone for an aggressive pricing, in the hopes that some of the first movers will jump on and be advocates who will evangelize the Thar. Can that small, sporty, outdoorsy family considering a Sonet or a Venue top-end variant be enticed to come over to the Thar, with a small premium of maybe just 1 lakh rupees? Once they experience the Thar and the attention and identity they get in their social circles, plus opportunities for outdoor events sponsored by Mahindra, can they be made into strong advocates who will bring the next wave buyers in 1-2 years ? If the strategy works, volumes will go up exponentially and the car becomes really aspirational. Price hikes that can be sustained in such a future period will more than make up for the profit pressure in the immediate term.

A good example of pricing journey is the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross. When launched, it was priced at 12.49 lakhs for a fairly loaded base variant. The lowest variant now costs 16.49 lakhs! A hike of almost 35% is just 3 years or so. This is the sort of pricing curve the Thar seeks to emulate - only, with a totally different volume curve - say 50X the volumes

[fhdowntheline]

I think even Mahindra may be a bit surprised by this response, and I don’t think they would be prepared even if 70% of bookings convert to fully paid orders.
This is not a mass product and to be fair, Mahindra hasn’t marketed it like so. I just think it is a response of a customer that is a bit bored of conventional crossovers . For a young family of 2 or for those who want a second lifestyle automotive choice, it fits the bill provided it is utilised for what it offers. Otherwise one may end up with a lot of Thars in the secondary market in 2022.
On the other hand, it is also a good time for Mahindra to work on a Thar 2.0 with 4 doors quickly and essentially launch a Scorpio successor.