Is M&M is loosing an opportunity by ignoring "VERITO" and VERITO VIBE ?

[tejasmehta990]

The reason for my writing this because I can't see nice and capable vehicles pushed into margin by M&M just because of their obsession with SUVs.

Mahindra's ignorance towards VERITO and VERITO Vibe is killing nice reliable vehicles which can do wonders for the company.

It seems like M&M is not at all interested in VERITO range and it looks like they have stopped promoting it completely.

Though I may be very inexperienced to judge about reasons for Mahindra's ignoring VERITO range but personally I feel VERITO range should be given a chance by Mahindra due to it's inherited capabilities which other cars in similar VFM Segment are lacking.

Renault Logan now Mahindra Verito when launched didn't turned head interms of it's looks but people accepted this vehicle whole heartedly for it's reliability , fuel economy , cabin space , boot space, highway cruising ability , wide back seat, comfortable front seat etc....

VERITO has cabin space and back seat comfort similar to HM Ambassador.

Except for the looks the VERITO is very capable vehicle and has all the right elements to stand against other compact / VFM sedans / Hatchbacks such as Indigo CS , Swift Dzire (Tour Edition) , Swift Dzire , Indica, Wagin R etc....

I have not mentioned other compact sedans such as Hyundai Xcent, Honda Amaze , Tata Zest etc.. as they are more advanced and premium cars for comparing with VERITO. Though Dzire is also premium compact sedan but it is preferred by Taxi segment for it's reliability and fuel economy , low cost of ownership.

Low cost VFM reliable Sedan / Hatch

VERITO range still has lots of potential to be offered as economical Sedan / hatch within price range below 5 Lakhs where there is lots of scope as there are many people who have budget upto 5 Lkahs and are looking for a reliable vehicle with feature as mentioned above.

Taxi Segment

There is also a big TAXI Segment where VERITO range can do wonders.

With the spread of fast communication technology and it's accessibility in the hands of large population by way of "Smart Phones" the call taxi business is growing faster than expected in every metro cities and they are providing very efficient mode of comfortable transport to commute within city.

I frequently take services of OLA or UBER taxi and I have seen lots of Dzires , Indigo eCS , Indica eV2 , Wagon R etc... but they don't use VERITO or Verito VIBE which is equally capable to perform the task.

Tata Motors have kept Indigo eCS and Indica eV2 in certain price bracket where people are looking for a practical , comfortable and economical car than gizmos and looks and it looks like TATA Motors is doing good with various versions of Indigo eCS and Indica eV2 .

The same is case of Maruti Suzuki as there are lots of Dzires, Wagon R preferred by people and Taxi segment for it's best in class fuel economy and low cost of ownership.

M&M have similar vehicles and can follow Maruti and Tata and can introduce VERITO and VERITO VIBE with killer pricing to perform in the segment where they can target a big chunk of population as well as can rule the Taxi segment.

WHAT'S your opinion ?

Is it OK if Mahindra ignores a sedan and hatchback which is capable to target a big chunk of population and focus only on developing SUV type vehicles ? OR Is Mahindra is making mistake by completely ignoring the only products they have viz. VERITO and VERITO Vibe to establish some space in segment where many car manufacturers are flourishing

[librankur]

When they have far better looking alternatives coming in why waste time on a failed product lineup.

Verito

Verito Vibe

Are both UGLY LOOKING disasters

[tejasmehta990]

M&M have history of introducing and selling most ugly vehicles viz, XYLO (1st version), Quanto etc...and the latest ugly offerings from M&M is TUV 300 and also KUV100. Surprisingly TUV300 is also doing very good due to many reasons other than looks and the same may be applicable to Verito.

It is not about looks but about the capability of vehicle to offer best value for money and hassle free ownership experience .

In India most ugly vehicles are sold in good numbers be it Dzire , Alto, Bolero, Xylo etc...

It takes years of R&D and efforts to develop a good vehicle by automobile manufacturer and when M&M is already having capable vehicle viz VERITO they are ignoring it just because they want to focus only to develop vehicles in a particular segment.

[librankur]

You find KUV and TUV ugly , i am surprised , when people are drooling over KUV looks , TUV may look bad in a few colors but its not down right ugly.

Of all cars you find ( Dzire , Bolero , Alto ) ugly , how do you explain that .

Xylo wasnt that ugly but Quanto was and it surely failed. Thats why they are again refreshning these.

TUV was thus born to redeem themselves for the gross wrong doing for launching the Quanto , we all know why they did that , it was a FILL GAP arrangement, to tackle the onslaught of the 5 Seaters Compact SUVs and Govt 4M policy , till such time the real product ,TUV , KUV launches .

But what did Mahindra do with Verito was to make it even more uglier with the VIBE , i / we was/were shouting then also, ( i will give that thread a nudge , if you care for the discussions on its launch then ) and frankly , no one buys ugly.

The Electric variant of Verito was also shelved when the primary car stopped selling.They understood no point banking over a failed product.

You clearly missed out the proclaimed ugly ducklngs Etios , Liva , i dont know why.

If you take pride in M&M , Maruti is not far behind , they produced the S-Cross , even then some people were saying its a winner , most of us rejected it right away , i personally rember saying somewhere for the SCross that it would be available for a discount even before its launch. Look even its base Delta variant is being accessoried to make a sale. A sure DUD , no matter what ,whoever says.

I will try to dig out that statement , from the relevant thread and try to post here.If i am able to find it or give that thread a nudge for you to see.

When its UGLY or trying to do TOO MUCH ,its bound to fail.

So no point wasting time on failed products , design and develop exciting products .

[sachins]

I think there are 2 points to consider in this:

1. Are Verito / Vibe ugly:

I guess there is no definitive answer as looks are always subjective and can't be generalised.

What one person likes/dislikes, may not be the case with other.

For me, I like clean lines so for me even XUV5oo is an ugly design. Scorpio seems far better.

2. Should M&M invest more on Verito/Vibe:

My answer: No

Their brand strength lies in UV and SUV's.

Moreover, these 2 products now are neither favourites with cabs like (Dzire, Etios etc) and nor with normal car buying public (competition has moved on far ahead).

[librankur]

You did not vote ,( at the top) , its a poll

[librankur]

@monocolonal

Thanks for voting

@tejas

After seeing this you should yourself be swayed to vote for us and let us win this poll

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-news/vehicle-styling-gaining-importance-for-new-car-buyers-in-india-jd-power-study-399283.aspx

[tejasmehta990]

It is rightly said that "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder" and it is matter of personal opinion whether a car is ugly or not.

I find design of TUV and KUV quirky and not very proportionate. If you see KUV from front it reminds us of Ford Ecosport but as we see further M&M gave weird curves and shoulder lines which looks odd to call it as vehicle for SUV segment. TUV also has some odd design characteristics as the side profile suddenly ends and the end when we expect to have a little more length in back. Also the tires of TUV seems smaller than expected which doesn't go well with overall personality of the TUV.

I feel reason to launch TUV3OO is to keep BOLERO brand alive as it is the best selling mini-suv from M&M's stable. If M&M launched TUV3OO as "New Bolero" it could boomrang just like Maruti did to ZEN and Tata did to SUMO and would have killed brand BOLERO.

But than M&M is best judge and they are expert in selling their.

M&M brand strength lies in SUVs , UVs etc... and they are "trying" to establish themselves as company who can offer SUV and UV based products in all possible price range.

But I feel M&M's too much obsession may restrict themselves to a limited customer group who believe in brand M&M and are looking for vehicle in a particular segment.

UVs and SUVs are offered by other car manufacturers also and they are doing quite well by giving tough time to M&M. Just take a look at the Mini-SUV segment where Ford, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan etc... are doing quite well and apart from UVs and SUVs theses manufacturers have other products to offer in different segment.

M&M brand lacks that premium feel and to get premiumness people look for other vehicles. Recently one of my relative opted for CRETA instead of XUV5OO because he felt Hyundai is more premium than M&M

Now if we return to discussing for VERITO, Looks of Verito which is plain jane and a generation old it promises lots of other things as below

reliable performance with unmatched fuel economy ,

best in class cabin space,

best in class back seat which can fit three adult very comfortably,

big boot space which can accommodate luggage even after having LPG / CNG cylinder.

It is very difficult for a company to have or develop a product with more advantages than a disadvantage called looks. Tata developed Indigo which had it's own inherited problems and just when it was about to be dead it seems like Indigo's most of the inherited problems such as gear box, suspension, steering (previous versions were tend to oversteer vehicle) etc are solved.

I feel that M&M is making mistake by ignoring a nice vehicle called VERITO.

[librankur]

If you are hell bent to bring it back

Ask Mahindra to replace another of their uglies E2O and give us a Electric Verito.

Even then i would like it to COMB IT HAIR and SHAKE ITS REAR, before entering the ROOM.

[tejasmehta990]

It is my opinion. Who am I to bring back Verito when M&M is not interested.

Already M&M faced setback in New Delhi as there is blanket ban on new registration of diesel SUVs so M&M have no choice but to develop new products that coincide with current situation.

[sachins]

So M&M is planning to rollout Verito Electric next year.

Estimated to launch around 13.5 lacs.

Need to say more about it's success.

http://overdrive.in/news/mahindra-verito-electric-could-be-priced-around-rs-13-5-lakh/

[librankur]

Haha ,

Really Electric Verito is coming .Why did i not wish for something better last night.

But again this price of 13.5 L is way too high , why dont they shoot themselves in the head for once , it would be better than shooting in the leg again and again.

Anything over 10L and I can say GOOD BYE even right now.

Remember the Hybrid Civic was sold at 13.5L after a price cut of 8L over its original 21.5L

No one will buy such an expensive ugly vehicle, apart for the corporates who can avail a 50% depreciation right in the first few months of purchase.

The FEB Launch , I anticipate is a step in this direction , Mahindra seriously knows something that we dont know about the new FAME policy of the Govt yet to be announced.

[tejasmehta990]

@librankur - Since now M&M owns Pininfarina we can expect good looking Verito and other vehicles.

M&M should roll-out good looking , reliable hatch and sedans so that consumers can have more options from M&M other than SUVs / UVs.

[rameshbabu.n]

I feel that Verito is doing a good job for M&M. Every time, I take a flight, I ride on two Veritos (Logans).

I travel a lot (last 8 months - about 16 flights). And, most of the taxis I get are Logans or Vertios. So,

they must be doing a great job.

Moreover, with the increased competition among Ola, Uber, TfS, Dot cabs, Meru and a dozen others,

I find a lot of new Veritos being inducted in the call taxi segment - which is growing by leaps and bounds.

I am told that if you buy a new car and offer services to these guys, they will give you 30,000 INR per month

if you clock a minimum of 7 pickups daily for one week. These sort of offers from these guys is resulting in

more and more new cars coming in. Most of them being Veritos.

With Pininfarina in their bag, M&M can use their services for refurbishing the already-damn-good-and-reliable

Verito and Vibe into something more fluidic and more pleasing.

I wish that whatever they do externally, the engine, the gearbox and the space - the best features of Logan/Verito -

are not tampered with.

Moreover, the M&M service is very reliable. That's a big plus point for bulk buyers. Other major player in the

segment, Tata Motors, got miles to go before they can ever be compared with the service quality of M&M.

I can vouch for this because of my very dependable Xylo, shall be entering it's 8th year next month.

[esteem]

I guess in CIVIC's case the issue was more time tied, as that D&A(Day & Age) was not ready to embrace a Hybrid vehicle. More so Honda did not make even the slightest of attempts to promote those limited number of cars which they were trying to sell at a premium.

Civic was, is & always be one of the variants which is loved by many & drooling over its futuristic & cool looks was an immediate side effect. Nuff Said!

M&M is an organization to reckon with & I strongly believe they know it damm well how to strategize, so Verito as a product can have some hidden potential. More so India as a country is full of surprises what doesn’t work for me can work for someone else, therefore its darn hard to estimate.

[librankur]

Cartrade says Electric Verito launches tomorrow and to my liking the prices are below 10L ,the fair price we had argued a few posts back.

[dr_nishu]

Verito was a capable car but it needs to upgrade time to time to rival with its competition which sees the maximum action in its segment. Since this segment is Alien for Mahindra, they have no expertise & dedicated R & D team for it. So they didn't much with it. 

But again this segment is too hard to ignore too. Once again A licensed body shell, a Frugal & refined engine backed up with good Development team can bring Mahindra back into action for this segment which came once with Mahindra Ford Escort, Mahindra Renault Logan. They're capable & understanding enough.