Tata Safari Storme Review & Pictures

[jayadev]

All of my previous arguements were with respect to sale of this beast, will it make a buyer feel that this beast is worth every dime he put on it?
Maybe yes as a package but against the competetion it leaves much to be desired.
I agree on looks,ride quality,paint quality et al ,yet it is far away from what it takes to lure a scorpio or xuv customer.after going through all the reviews am I over assuming or understating?huh.

I wont find it good reasoning if one say that it is not for Scorpio or Xuv customer but for some unique breed of personalities ,,eh.funny it would be.

 

[Tornado]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

What is the use of saying Storme is the best product ever but sells only 500 per month?

Is there any vehicle in the segment of Prado/S-Class which sells 5 times more than them? If yes I would certainly say that vehicle is far better than the ones you mentioned.

If the storme fulfills your needs for that price bracket , then it is good, if the storme doesn't fulfills your needs for that price bracket then it is bad irrespective of sales figure.
The car buyer and user should not bother about the sales figure as long as spars and service is available. Sales figures are important only if the product sale touches nadir for a period of say 2 to 3 years so that the automaker is compelled to shutdown the plants.
If you take a road test of quality of the Storme , then you will realize that this will not happen in its case And if the old safari has survived very well for 14 years then tell me what is the problem with storme.If at all Tata doesn't get decent profit from storme , it is not our problem , it is TATA 's own problem , they are financially superstrong to bear with it.
They have a habit of announcing discounts whenever sales figure go down.Ultimately the buyer benefits.

Your statement on the s class and prado reflects clearly that your buying decisions are
democracy(numerocracy ) based rather than need/quality based.

 

[bhargav]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

i all after following this forum from july 2012 i decided today to become a member to post my thoughts.

This review has been superb ,
After reading all test drive reviews posted by members here and finally driving the storme i booked a 4x2 vx safari storme silver and the delivery is expected on 29 jan my elder sons birthday .

By the way iam owner of scorpio vlx model which i sold after booking the storme and i can with certanity say like other members who have driven the s,torme beats the scorpio in all aspects . Storme is indeed a refined car .
Thanx to every one for your contribution on this thread with pics and test drive reports

 

[THE XOVER]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

As far as sales figure is concerned,I think once Tata has launched it across India by February(hopefully:D),and once they start to promote it heavily(no TV ADS as of yet),then Storme will not disappoint its admirers in terms of sales figures.But if anyone is looking for XUV type no.s, by December,lemme tell you mate you'll be left pretty disappointed for sure.


EDIT:Tata Safari storme to get more power and an autobox

Tata Safari Storme is a long overdue replacement for the aging Safari albeit the old one still lives on.


The wait for the Safari Storme was long and now it seems Tata Motors is having a sort of second thought after launching the car. Gaadi.com reports that Tata will upgrade the newly launched SUV next year.


The Safari Storme is a vast improvement over the previous model and the biggest improvement of all is the much stiffer hydro-formed chassis which was inherited from the Aria. That, along with fresh interiors, disc brakes all around and the shift-on-the-fly 4WD has given the SUV the ability to surpass the Mahindra Scorpio, but Tata Motors is vying to take down the big boy XUV500.


In order to do that, Safari Storme needs few additional weapons in its arsenal. Reports suggest that the Storme will get a power boost, taking the output to 160 bhp/400 Nm from current 140 bhp/320 Nm by squeezing the 2.2 litre VARICOR diesel engine a bit further.

In a bid to pump up the premium feel and to counteract the XUV500′s long list of gadgets, the SUV will reportedly get a high end Harmon Kardon music system with sub-woofer and amplifier.

The Storme will also get an automatic transmission which is not available in XUV500, at least not yet. The autobox will come in handy while maneuvering the massive SUV within the confines of the city and also will go a long way in projecting an upmarket image.


With this upgrades, the Safari Storme would emerge as a promising contender especially considering the fact that it sports true blue off roading mechanicals unlike its rival which is a soft roader.

 

[manojodungat]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

If the storme fulfills your needs for that price bracket , then it is good, if the storme doesn't fulfills your needs for that price bracket then it is bad irrespective of sales figure.
The car buyer and user should not bother about the sales figure as long as spars and service is available. Sales figures are important only if the product sale touches nadir for a period of say 2 to 3 years so that the automaker is compelled to shutdown the plants.
If you take a road test of quality of the Storme , then you will realize that this will not happen in its case And if the old safari has survived very well for 14 years then tell me what is the problem with storme.If at all Tata doesn't get decent profit from storme , it is not our problem , it is TATA 's own problem , they are financially superstrong to bear with it.
They have a habit of announcing discounts whenever sales figure go down.Ultimately the buyer benefits.

Your statement on the s class and prado reflects clearly that your buying decisions are
democracy(numerocracy ) based rather than need/quality based.

I am going to TD one next month provided Tata launches it in Kerala by then. For me, sales numbers especially in the segment we are talking about has a lot to do with the quality of the product, its VFM factor , equipment levels and the confidence one has on the respective ASS. I can’t ignore the fact that why certain vehicle in a segment outsells the rest /another very badly over a period of time.
If one buys an Aria for a certain price only to see the company offering huge discount s[even up to 2Lac] in few months later, do you think people as a whole are benefitted?

 

[jayadev]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

As far as sales figure is concerned,I think once Tata has launched it across India by February(hopefully:D),and once they start to promote it heavily(no TV ADS as of yet),then Storme will not disappoint its admirers in terms of sales figures.But if anyone is looking for XUV type no.s, by December,lemme tell you mate you'll be left pretty disappointed for sure.

Xover,you have been saying similar since last 2 years concerning Aria I suppose,but nothing is happening other than discounts I am afraid . Those previous Aria customers would be feeling fool of themselves to buy a Tata car at such an early stage.

well how would it justify for the Storme ?

 

[Raja]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

All of my previous arguements were with respect to sale of this beast, will it make a buyer feel that this beast is worth every dime he put on it?
Maybe yes as a package but against the competetion it leaves much to be desired.
I agree on looks,ride quality,paint quality et al ,yet it is far away from what it takes to lure a scorpio or xuv customer.after going through all the reviews am I over assuming or understating?huh.

I wont find it good reasoning if one say that it is not for Scorpio or Xuv customer but for some unique breed of personalities ,,eh.funny it would be.

Your answer lies in post by our new member bhargav post number 163

 

[tornado78]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

First on Launch Strategy:

I beleive that TML has done this or infact doing this to create ripples after ripple to keep the news of induction of Storme Alive. See nowadays you laucnh a product and after some time the news died down, but not in this case. TML from begining knew that they will not be able to garner 10K or 20K or 5K booking on the day of lauch or after a short period so what shall be done?

The answer is to launch it in phases and they have started from North India, as many customers prefer to buy vehicle on Diwali festival time and also in Navratras. Which is followed by phase wise lauch events of storme all over the country. The word of mouth will make its publicity and the owners and TD taken people will speak about it and encourage others to take and TD and finalise the deal.

Each and every phase is in itself is a mega launch event in that state or territory and they are keeping the news alive. and will keep news alive for the next 45 days or so.

Second reason for launching in phases also depends on the consumption pattern of the old safari in India and the trend of launching also seems in sync with the consumption pattern. Like North India and than middle and than east and south India.

Note: Well now i have the facility to watch it on daily basis as one of our neighbour has bought a Silver 4x2 EX model of storme. and nowadays i hv started seeing it on delhi roads on a daily basis and that means that it is picking up its sales or booking has started turning into deliveries .

 

[dharmesh]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

i all after following this forum from july 2012 i decided today to become a member to post my thoughts.

This review has been superb ,
After reading all test drive reviews posted by members here and finally driving the storme i booked a 4x2 vx safari storme silver and the delivery is expected on 29 jan my elder sons birthday .

By the way iam owner of scorpio vlx model which i sold after booking the storme and i can with certanity say like other members who have driven the s,torme beats the scorpio in all aspects . Storme is indeed a refined car .
Thanx to every one for your contribution on this thread with pics and test drive reports

Hey bhargav, welcome to TAI. Congratzz for booking new beast. Now what we want is exhaustive report on Scorpio Vs Storme as now you have owned both.

 

[Tornado]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

For a volume player numbers are of utmost importance.

The Dec figure matters because it will give us a chance to compare with last month's figures to see-as you have noted below- if the graph is going North or South.

None of us is a volume player here. Seperate thread started by fellow TAI n Autosafari ' open letter to karl slym ' is available to advice TATAS about selling strategy. So sales figure need not bother us while discussing quality , pros and cons after the road test.

The Dec sales figure vs Nov sales figures comparo will give idea about ' prelaunch sales figures vs sales figures during launch' This comparo can not help this threads title. Moreover it will not help the forum readers too. Sales figure after one yr. might help all .

I am going to TD one next month provided Tata launches it in Kerala by then.

If one buys an Aria for a certain price only to see the company offering huge discount s[even up to 2Lac] in few months later, do you think people as a whole are benefitted?

Thank you Manoj for doing justice to the title of thread as you will be road test ing it and then discussing the pros and cons experienced by you.Prelaunch sales figure won't help anybody.
Let them launch the Storme , then let them sale , then we can debate the sales
figures importance on separate thread but not on this thread.


Discussing the discount related disappointments related to Aria is OT here.Post it on Aria thread I will answer it there , because hefty discount on ARIA is not at all a issue.

@Bhargav, congrats ,@@@@@@@@ few jalebis from me to celebrate.
Please let us know , wheather your decisin was based on blind TATA love or blind M&M hate or experince and info based on road test?

 

[Vinu]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

None of us is a volume player here. Seperate thread started by fellow TAI n Autosafari ' open letter to karl slym ' is available to advice TATAS about selling strategy. So sales figure need not bother us while discussing quality , pros and cons after the road test.

The Dec sales figure vs Nov sales figures comparo will give idea about ' prelaunch sales figures vs sales figures during launch' This comparo can not help this threads title. Moreover it will not help the forum readers too.

Let the readers decide what helps and what does not. By volume player I meant a manufacturer-here Tatas.

 

[Raja]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

Off course there will be plenty of such cases, but what's being offered will vary from person to person - just depends on which end of the spectrum you are coming up - we all have different rationale/needs.

But at end of the day its the sales number(relative to the competition) that is the final verdict for me - i cant and wont dispute it, nature balances things and if the sales is good there has to be something right about the product - i don't believe in the word "herd mentality" - you and me will have different views and so will all automotive lovers(but there is a much bigger/ broader and wider world outside who are not part of any forums), but ultimately the general truth does lie in the sales number. If its good, unique and VFM it will sell.

+100

I agree with you here . And what tornado ( Pune ) posted also has a element of truth . The product sells or not has many factors attached to it . And automobile world has many examples of products which dint gather a lot of sales inspite being a great product .

Is it not important in understanding if the car fulfills your needs personally rather then letting the sales figures and market decide it for you ?

My question to you is simple a Scorpio sells 4500 units per month and we don't have any data with us about storme lets go with critics here storme sold only 500 .
And as per your review it says that storme is a better product then Scorpio in most of the areas right ? So 1 must buy a less selling better refined product ( assuming its reliable ) or just a high selling product ?

I belong from a different school of thought like tornado ( Pune) I go with what the car offer me as a buyer I had a option to chosse a 20,000 units selling car alto and a 2000 units selling car spark . I opted for the spark and 5 years have been extremely wonderful driving it for us . Pocket friendly in terms of maintaing it and superb built quality .it has been paisa vasool car for us .

I agree like 1 member said " if the car catches the fancy of the buyer" it may or it may not but like tornado (Pune ) said it dosent verify that the car in question is bad .

IMHO ( subjective ) a highest selling car with niggles is a not so good car , but a not so selling car with good reliability is a hit car .

And main task for storme is to prove it is reliable if not then for me tata storme is a storme in a cup and nothing more its flop but if the storme is reliable then irrespective of the sales it is a great effort from tata motors .

 

[Gurrala74]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

Friends,

I was really wondering that why are we trying to gauge the sales numbers here ?? Are we working for TATA sales & marketing department OR we are studying at IIM,Ahmedabad if not, then

That is the job of the heavily paid sales and marketing team of TATA !!

Now it looks to me that I need to talk about sales numbers forcefully here, to be short

Sales numbers having lot of influence factors either it is Storm or duster or Scorpio. It really depends on the buying culture of the people. The Indian customer buying culture is not like other countries where they really get onto technical details, specifications and various road tests( I say this with my sales marketing career experience in Europe,UAE, Asia-Pacific) so now coming down to India

Hardly there are people who really go thru' the specs, technical stuff and do the extensive TDs and go thru' lot of forums and buy the vehicles, this is the trend so far and it is slowly started changing these days as most of the buyers are doing lot of enquiry on the web and getting into the details, but majority like told by IR the outside world in his words just buy the vehicles with the influences from their close friends,relatives, colleagues and finally with the smartness of the sales guys in the showroom. So how do we gauge a vehicle is good or bad by its sales numbers only

I think we are really on these kind of forums to discuss the good and bad of vehicles in terms of technology, specifications and other details which will be helpful for the buyers who go thru' the same and take their call.

Coming down to storm, I think it is better to leave the phase wise strategy of TATA to them itself, why we should bother about it, there may be n number of reasons for the same. So not only Storm any vehicle after its launch across India depends on its merits and demerits become popular then the real numbers start, so for some vehicles it is very early and for some it is bit late and for some it will be never. so we really need to wait and see what happens to Storm in terms of so called sales numbers and till then we need to look into its dynamics by driving it and learning from others and learning the experiences of owners. That's it, I really do not know something people again and again say that fanboy'sm what exactly that means, if some body put his efforts and share some good information will that called fan-boy-sm ?? so what exactly you want ?? you want every body to write that Storm is really a pathetic worst vehicle from TATA, if so then there is no meaning for this thread hear. YES if short coming things are there then definitely those can be presented here but all the time they should not become a major cause to shadow the good things of the vehicle keeping their ASS experience or some other thing in mind

I am really worried when I see when few members always trying and trying to killing a product completely on the website and lot of lot of efforts on that, but please understand it will not help in anyway or it will stop the sales of the product. If somebody say that only some "unique breed people" will buy Storm then I am again worried that these kind of people are increasing day by day here in TAI and the latest addition in the list is Mr.Bhargav

congrats Bhargav on your decision of buying Storm, please come up with your report talks about good and bad of Storm !!

Finally I say something again to members, please do not conclude your self so quickly without even seeing the Storm in flesh and not even driving it once. Think if I am saying this so many times, means there is something left when you drive it. Also leave some time to use your super calculators of sales numbers and right now leave it to TATA sales people.

To give one simple example, when I have seen the car called "Splash" in Europe and the same car launched as "Ritz" in Indian 2009, I just felt like " which idiot will buy this car " but after 3 years I became one of such idiots last year, who knows after some time Storm may hit or die leave that job to TATA and do not bring in Aria into this we have number of threads to talk about that and bash TATAs on that, I am already doing it on the other thread and you can join there

 

[Superbad]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

+100

I agree with you here . And what tornado ( Pune ) posted also has a element of truth . The product sells or not has many factors attached to it . And automobile world has many examples of products which dint gather a lot of sales inspite being a great product .

Is it not important in understanding if the car fulfills your needs personally rather then letting the sales figures and market decide it for you ?

My question to you is simple a Scorpio sells 4500 units per month and we don't have any data with us about storme lets go with critics here storme sold only 500 .
And as per your review it says that storme is a better product then Scorpio in most of the areas right ? So 1 must buy a less selling better refined product ( assuming its reliable ) or just a high selling product ?

I belong from a different school of thought like tornado ( Pune) I go with what the car offer me as a buyer I had a option to chosse a 20,000 units selling car alto and a 2000 units selling car spark . I opted for the spark and 5 years have been extremely wonderful driving it for us . Pocket friendly in terms of maintaing it and superb built quality .it has been paisa vasool car for us .

I agree like 1 member said " if the car catches the fancy of the buyer" it may or it may not but like tornado (Pune ) said it dosent verify that the car in question is bad .

IMHO ( subjective ) a highest selling car with niggles is a not so good car , but a not so selling car with good reliability is a hit car .

And main task for storme is to prove it is reliable if not then for me tata storme is a storme in a cup and nothing more its flop but if the storme is reliable then irrespective of the sales it is a great effort from tata motors .

A subjective view is a view seen from a coloured glass. The texture and saturation is off balance.

A perception is created by the brand itself which cannot be created or destroyed by a single member .
It is the company which gets the perception by the brand focus, sales strategy and after sales treatment.
Logic says not to try to mix these two up.
And i am still trying to find a member having a successfult product with lot of niggles on our forum.
So that view turns and in turn the reliability is a false and premature question.

 

[jayadev]

Re: Tata Safari Storme Road Test Review

As per Guralla ,no matter what we should invest in Tata car ,if it returns bitter experiences we should feel like an idiot and if it gives pleasant experience... that happens rarest of rare concerning Tata.