[lalith_ka]

Kudos to Tata, Team-BHP, GTO posted test report and wonderful photography skills of Mr Madhok.
I feel few folks like 'Tata bashing'. I suggest stay chill. Tata deserves credit for what they have done with Manza considering the fact that they started making cars 12 years ago. I understand this does not mean that we go easy on tata for quality or whatsoever.

Personally, keeping Indigo tag does't matter. What matters the most is the bang for the bucks. Tata's have got it right by positioning Manza so well in terms of product and pricing. One has to understand WhatYouPayIsWhatYouGet. If I were to buy a car again, I would seriously think of Manza. Not because I owned/own one in the past, but because of Tata cars bring bang for the bucks. I had indigo in the past, first TDI with intercooler make. I have atleast a dozen time non-stop drive to Hyderabad from Bangalore. Yes, non-stop in flat 10hours. I know there are better drivers out there who would in much shorter than that. I am no good driver, I have been driving only for past 13 years now, took a break from driving since I relocated to Singapore a year back.

Not sure how many of you are privileged enough to buy a car by paying out-right cash, to me there are still bunch of folks who go to banks for buying one. If you are heading of bank, then you would want to make sure you pay less and get more. If these are the criterion then Manza is for you, for possibly the following reasons:

1. Good motor. (toned up 'National' engine which known for its frugality)

2. Decent looks (This car is much better than Dzire (donno why are even speaking of this car), iKon (are we still in 2004?), Accent (yet to be carbon-dated), Fiesta (apologies, its too bland), Verna (dont say you like this car's looks), Logan (FYI, this car was designed in Romania to carry four adults, a pig, a sink, and 100 kilos of potatoes". Yes you read it right, this was the design criterion)

3. Toned up interiors (Please dont tell SX4, iKon,Fiesta, Verna have better interiors)

4. Good sheet metal. (I read someone commented on Tata's sheet metal is of bad quality, hmmm have you heard of guage meter, please use them.)

5. OK grade reliability. (I never had any reliability related issues with my TDI, even though I was 'guinea pig' material for Tata. I sure Tata's have evolved since 2005 and I have faith in them they will do even better.)

6. Spare parts prices (I feel Tata spares are far less expensive than Ford or Hyundai. Please correct me if I am wrong)

7. Decent Speed (170 is good, but please do not drive faster than your guardian angel can fly. Please enlighten me how often you do 120+ with your family sitting in the car.)

I heard someone say Manza will be good with Taxi segment. I take Mercedes taxi in SG, should I stay away from it. My bad, Merc is no comparison.Apologies. Should I stay away from Logan,iKon, for that matter even Fiesta. Company I used to work for in India used to hire only Fiesta as taxi). I believe Tata is positioning Indigo XL or whatever for that market. Please enlighten me if I am wrong. Are we desis hypocrites, we down play our home grown stuff for something which is firangi.

After Manza, am eagerly waiting for Nano Europa, Xover/Indicruz, beefed up Safari (with Land Rover looks), Detoned Jaguar (India specific, I heard they are coming as well). How many car makers in India have a range what Tata offers, please enlighten me?

I must say TEAM-BHP is my tonic and referesher. A wonderful example of collaboration.

PS: I guess I need to be ready for some bashing. AM sure few guys will come heavy on me
To all such folks ' HAPPY DIWALI' and to all others 'Happy Diwali' as well.

[suman]

Originally Posted by asdon

One can listen to songs stored in mobile

Well, the brochure says "With Blue5 built in, your car virtually turns into a giant phone" so I guess you'll be able to make & receive calls as well.

Originally Posted by asdon

ahh Alloy wheels!!! those are missing...and parking sensors would have given a box office hit....

Don't forget the leather upholstery & the DVD screens too. Seriously, alloys & leather should have been offered on the top-end.

Originally Posted by lalith_ka

After Manza, am eagerly waiting for Nano Europa, Xover/Indicruz, beefed up Safari (with Land Rover looks), Detoned Jaguar (India specific, I heard they are coming as well). How many car makers in India have a range what Tata offers, please enlighten me?

Lalith, nice post & good analysis. I hope your wishes come true, particularly the bit that I've highlighted in bold

[himanshugoswami]

looks alone justify the premium that the Linea commands over the Manza- while the Manza is VFM, the Linea is all about class.... the two can surely coexist peacefully.

[Latheesh]

lalith, nice analysis man kudos to you.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by Bouncer

Power outlet on rear parcel tray.

thats a nice touch. Chauffeur driven car owners gonna love that - unlimited laptop usage

Originally Posted by asdon

My point is if this provides call making features too, then what more one can expect from a car whose top end vehicle will come on road 7.5 +/-, and have every thing...almost

If you look closely in one of the early pics, its got a make call, end call (green/red) buttons in the instrument panel.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

3) In order to give rear seat comfort, the boot space is compromised. This is not very good thing.
4) The origins of this car is clearly hatch, but it is able to mask it better than earlier Indigo. But the rear tail lamp design could be better. I expected the boot to be bigger.

compared to what? Its go a bigger boot than Verna,Fiesta,Ikon and DeZire. And looks like its got a much better rear seat space than all these cars too. I don't think anything is compromised.

[AnonymousCoward]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

3) In order to give rear seat comfort, the boot space is compromised. This is not very good thing.

460 litres is compromise? Sorry, I don't think I can agree with that.

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

looks alone justify the premium that the Linea commands over the Manza- while the Manza is VFM, the Linea is all about class.... the two can surely coexist peacefully.

Remember all the justification for City wasn't enough to convince folks who liked Linea? In this case, not many will agree to pay 1.5lacs+ just for looks. Got to be more than just "looks".

Power outlet on rear parcel tray.

Does any other C/C+ has this feature?

[indivic]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

compared to what? Its go a bigger boot than Verna,Fiesta,Ikon and DeZire. And looks like its got a much better rear seat space than all these cars too. I don't think anything is compromised.

I am totally nitpicking here but aago is right, the Dzire's boot according to Maruti is 464 l, but Manza's is only 460l

The more I look at the car, I get the feeling that Tata chose a very good template for their design - the NHC.

If that be the case, Tata you are on the right track. Only dont benchmark the Prima against the Civic alone but include the Altis as well.

I only wish that they had also included the bits like the fuel tank below the front seats, reduced the hump in the middle and so on.

The Safire Aqua model would probably be cheaper than the i20 Magna in Chennai. I get much more comfortable seats (leg room), a bigger boot and more horses under the hood .

P.S This is my 300th post. I am happy to do it for what I hope is an image enhancing car for Tata as a car maker !

[tajender]

Manza is really a welcome launch in this segment. It would definitely pose a serious competition for Dzire. Lets see how it fares in market and in detailed Team-BHP test drive :-)

Congratulations Tata.. you seem to have a winner at ur hand this time

[srishiva]

Tata has targeted space, features against value for money. They have met the expectations. Best of luck.

[GTO]

It looks distinctive and thoroughly modern, I think that's enough for 6 - 7 lakhs. Either ways, the C segment buyer couldn't care less about looks, if the success of the Dzire, Indigo, NHC, Verna (and more) is anything to go by. What matters is the product, VFM, FE, brand and interior space. The Manza has it all and meets the needs of its target market very effectively. The only one area where Tata needs to prove itself is in long term reliability (read = minimising niggles). I guess only time will tell, though engine + gearbox should be the least cause of worry (our national engine after all )

This car is going to fly off showroom floors, guys. Can hardly wait for the sales numbers of the coming months.

[bigautobuff]

From all the conversations going on in here and other forums, it seems everybody is quite impressed with the entire Manza package. Feels like a Diwali gift from TATA doesn't it ? I guess a month down the line, all the Manza critics (if any) will be proven wrong. and we will rejoice !

[an_and]

Originally Posted by ACM

I guess they would be trained to not do that, and to infact creat a differentiation, that makes both seem to be VFM in their own distinct segment.

The Linea does give alloys, blue and Me from microsoft - as against the generic one from tata, better stearing grip, rear screen, rear ac vents, better looking front (make that best looking), seemingly more expensive car, bigger exterior size than the corolla - biggest in price segment.

So it should not be a complete write off for fiat, the ideal scenario for fiat+ tata would be if the tata manza gets sx4 and verna guys to the showroom and they the individual chooses either of the two in greater numbes than earlier.

+1 to that. Linea is in a different class altogether. What the Tatas and Fiat have done very smartly is that they are now simultaneously catering to multiple sub segments. the manza will definitely bring in a lot of footfalls into the dealership and that can work well for the linea as well. For eg.. most of the corolla buyers end up buying the innova, in the same way I am sure that someone less concious of the budget and more interested in self driving will look to buy the linea.

Originally Posted by beejay

Thanks to Mr. Anonymous. Awaiting for a more detailed report soon, GTO.

That is one hell of a boot. 15" wheels, sweet.

I just wonder why the linea and the manza dont offer a 60/40 rear seats. It will be so much more convinient.

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

+1, though the front could have been better, it looks any day better than the ugly deZire

The car looks great from the front, especially in the color that they have on the "exterior 360" on their website. Funnily, that color is not available as a choice in the color configurator

Originally Posted by asdon

I completely agree.. though I have an Alto, if I have $$$ right now will purchase this one. Everyone asks more out of a car, or buy a low end one and drive down to the gray market for accessories, but TATA is given most of the luxury features in this price we should feel good for that. Manza looks different from Indigo, the engine is different, always better than Swift & Dezire, Logan, Accent and can compete with Fiesta and SX4. And The Aura+ costs 2.5 L less than Linea emotion pk MJD on road. Its a fresh air in this segment, let test drive it and feel it....Happy Diwali to all..

Correction the emotion pk mjd will cost around 1.5 lakhs more, and not 2.5

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

thats a nice touch. Chauffeur driven car owners gonna love that - unlimited laptop usage


If you look closely in one of the early pics, its got a make call, end call (green/red) buttons in the instrument panel.


compared to what? Its go a bigger boot than Verna,Fiesta,Ikon and DeZire. And looks like its got a much better rear seat space than all these cars too. I don't think anything is compromised.

+1 to that, as I had stated earlier, chauffeur driven cars (which is a greater part of the car buying population) will definitely prefer the manza over the other cars. for them however, the controls on the steering wheel will actually be a detterent. Also note that the buttons to answer and reject the calls are on the system and not on the wheel... so that the chauffeur does not answer your calls but you do!

I wish there is one more variant with rear vents, no controls on the steering wheel, climate control version launched, and if so launched with the tata price points - this car will be a killer

[mohitjindal.in]

[quote=lalith_ka;1534771]

PS: I guess I need to be ready for some bashing. AM sure few guys will come heavy on me


Wonderful analysis lalith, Perfectly spot-on. I agree will all the facts. . just fyi that this comes from a Hyundai and Honda owner.


Cant stop getting surprised at the excitement it has generated in all the automotive circles.

National Bird, National Anthem, National Animal, National Song and there goes the National Engine . branding quadrajet as a ''National Engine'' by GTO and others sounds really cool.

[mohitjindal.in]

Well just my opinion (and maybe unfair comparision) but Manza's instrument panel looks much more CRISP and BOLD than Linea's.

[asdon]

Originally Posted by an_and

Correction the emotion pk mjd will cost around 1.5 lakhs more, and not 2.5

Linea MJD E pk in Bangalore costs 9,95,000 +/-

The price I got from sources is Manza Aura+ Qjet in Bangalore is arround 7,52,000 +/-

this may not be exact match...