Why Aria Failed To Take Off But XUV Did??

mercedised · Sep 10, 2012

As far as I have read the reviews on the net, all of them have praised XUV for its superB high speed handling and lesser body-roll.

I must say that XUV is a better package and anyday if one asks me to buy a sub 15L S/M-UV, the answer would be an XUV due to its VFM factor. The only thing I hate is the cheap DRL's or whatever people call them, they look like a DIY job..

TSIVipul · Sep 10, 2012

^^My dear I have a stock of Autocar,Overdrive and Top gear.
And I am yet to read "XUV has better high speed handling" in any of them too.
One thing for sure,upto 80-90 kph XUV handles better but above 100-120 its Aria which is far more confident.
Maybe what they meant was steering response and what I mean from handling is overall dynamical performance.
In other words,handling may have different meaning for different people.

On the body roll point,at good speeds..XUV feels more unsettled and due to a softer suspension it feels more like rolling while taking turns at good speeds.
But yes,for sudden lane changes XUV will be better because its quick in getting settled again while Aria can be handful once it gets unsettled.

Raja · Sep 10, 2012

THE XOVER said:

Have you not driven the aria and xuv ?

IMHO ride quality and interior quality( subjective ) are better in aria .

Travel on a very bad road on aria and xuv the difference is very very pronounced .aria is seriously ahead of xuv .

Rest all things about looks( subjective ) features , price ( most imp ) xuv outclasses the aria .

TSIVipul · Sep 10, 2012

@Raja:
What makes the difference on the bad roads is the BOF layout of Aria and slightly better build quality.Where XUV judders(not literally,but slightly or say to ignorable levels) if you make it cross a small speed breaker even at 90 kph,the Aria passes through it with a minor thud.

Actually I'll again mention the same words which I had mentioned somewhere else "XUV has got what it takes to become a market leader.Only the car is missing the right badge else it would have done 10,000 units per month if it would have got a more desirable badge".

raj_5004 · Sep 10, 2012

Even I will agree with 'mercedised' that all reviews have said that XUV has lesser body roll than Aria.

Forget the reviews, I have driven both and yes, I do personally feel that XUV rolls lesser and feels much more confident around corners. XUV has a stiffer suspension setup than Aria.

Ride quality of Aria is much better than XUV though.

TSIVipul · Sep 10, 2012

Body roll is measured two ways:-

Sudden steering inputs.
High speed on wide curves.

In the first one,XUV feels to roll lesser or say more confident.Which I have already mentioned in post no.349.
But in the second case,the Aria is far more confident than XUV and hence I declared it less rolling.

XUV has stiffer suspension?How the hell is this possible?
I mean then why XUV is less planted than Aria at high speeds?Also why XUV gets more unsettled at high speeds on uneven surfaces?

raj_5004 · Sep 10, 2012

TSIVipul said:

Those are the very traits of a stiff suspension bro!

Take the XUV over a huge pothole and then take the Aria over the very same pothole. The XUV will emit a loud thud and shake whereas the Aria will softly bounce and glide over it. The suspension is soft and hence gets more leverage.

Take the Aria at high speeds over a bump and the rear end will bounce (albeit not uncomfortably) but the XUV will just give one single jerk and settle.

Anyways, to each his own.

TSIVipul · Sep 10, 2012

^^I agree with the last line.
Because if what you mentioned in first point are done at high speeds then also the same is observed and amazingly soft suspension makes the vehicle emit that loud 'thud' but tighter one just gets presses and depressed.

On the second point,my dear any vehicle with tight suspension(as much tight as of an SUV) has a tendency that their rear end pounces on uneven surfaces if no one is travelling in the rear seats.
Reason:-
Lower weight on the suspension.

While any RWD vehicle has a tendency to get slightly unsettled(though not to the limit of getting out of control)if it strikes a rough patch with throttle pressed hard.And we can't ignore the fact that Aria is RWD.

TSIVipul · Nov 17, 2012

Okay guys, with Aria's current sales figure being at 'just' 147 units and XUV at 4300+. It looks like Aria, despite of being a very competitive product and of course a very capable workhorse is continuously loosing the ground in front of XUV. Now what do you guys feel is the reason behind this?

BTW, can anyone provide us with the data if any discounts etc are being offered on Aria now? Also what are the ex-showroom prices of various variants of Aria?

Gurrala74 · Nov 17, 2012

Vipul,

I see few possible reason here for Aria low sales

1. Its looks are more like a big van and not like a SUV. So I really do not like this comparison of Aria with XUV due to this reason. As both are different

2. As everybody knows about it the price

3. The bad image created by TASS for TATA from the years

4. Not a big deal, but some may fall short of parking space

But if somebody want to understand Aria as just Aria without comparing with any other UV and keep the price a side. It has lot of good things in it !!

jayadev · Nov 17, 2012

Xuv is very tech looking flashy striking type. Where as Aria looks sober and laidback. Having both cars standing side by side majority of the masses would be attracted xuv just for it looks from outside meanwhile if one enters in Xuv have some more sweet surprises which includes 6th gear,and bit more agressive on performmance edge.
i guess Xuv makes sense all the way for a modern car wheras Aria is bit overhyped UV. Owners have confirmed that there nothing extra ordinary sedan like ride or handlelling Aria as Tata have claimed to but Aria is just better than Uvs like Tavera or Innova and which rides similar to Suvs like safari or Xuv. so where is the distinction left to plonk additional 2 lakh ?

Vishwas · Nov 17, 2012

TSIVipul said:

Looking by the sales figures, i think Mahindra is least bothered about Aria(everyone knows it doesn't do well) and their main competitor is the Fortuner.

Raja · Nov 17, 2012

Vishwas said:

For your kind information fortuner is a 25 lakhs plus car the competetion is captiva , sante FE , BMW x 1 .
Rexton from mahindra is their fortuner competitor .

Are you serious in your comment here that xuv is competing against fortuner ?

The fact is xuv as a monoqoue SUV has no competetion atall and having free run in the price segment it is placed and with aria not doing anything great its helping it even more .

Vishwas · Nov 17, 2012

Raja said:

I am very much serious in my comment buddy, no doubts regarding that,
I know Fortuner competes with the said SUVs, in real world you see people comparing it fortuner too. There is no harm in comparing these two IMO.

Ah yes forgot about this, I don't know how the market would respond with this comparo.

TSIVipul · Nov 17, 2012

See guys, as I have already mentioned numerous times in numerous threads:
Aria and XUV are completely different vehicles and targeted at completely different customer ground. But it's an irony that they are from same segment, offer same utility and have a bit too much of same things that we are forced to compare them.
Aria has its own positives which can't be matched by XUV and XUV has its own which an Aria can't match. We have discussed a lot on both the cars in last 25 pages and the another issue I find with Aria is the brand image of Tata. Why not analyse it for once?

M&M has gained the image of a good SUV maker but Tata hasn't. Agree or not, this fact can't be changed.

Why Aria Failed To Take Off But XUV Did??

mercedised

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TSIVipul

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Raja

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TSIVipul

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raj_5004

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raj_5004

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Gurrala74

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jayadev

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