The Tata Aria is now available in a cut price two wheel drive version and Tata will soon launch an automatic gearbox variant of the Aria. The sales of the Aria though, don’t seem to be picking up after the sporadic increase in sales just as the two wheel drive of the Aria was introduced a few months ago. Even though Tata Motors has done very well in November, with sales showing a big improvement, the Aria has been a dud performer for Tata, by registering sales of a paltry 140 units, its lowest monthly numbers ever. On the other hand, the Mahindra XUV500 has managed to garner over 8,000 bookings within days of its launch.
This prompts us to raise the question of whether the Mahindra XUV500 Crossover is a big reason for the Aria’s dismal sales. To be fair to the Aria, the Mahindra XUV500 is a much smaller crossover than the Aria and while the engine specifications are quite comparable to the Aria, the XUV500 sits a segment lower than the Aria. Just the other day, I saw the Aria and the XUV500 in close proximity to each other and it was a no-contest when it came to sheer presence as the Aria simply towered over the smaller XUV500.
Even so, the XUV500 might be a big reason why the Tata Aria’s sales are tanking as value conscious customers might be favoring the XUV500 over the Aria in these times of a tough economic climate. Since, the perceived value of the competitively priced Mahindra XUV500 is much higher than the Aria, which was overpriced right from the word go, prospective Aria buyers gravitating towards the XUV500 is only to be expected. The going could got anything but more challenging for the Aria in the coming months and here’s why.
Mahindra XUV500 Crossover
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* The Mahindra XUV500 will soon be available on a pan-India basis unlike now where its sales is restricted to Indian metros and bigger cities.
* Mahindra is ramping up production of the XUV500 at its Chakan plant.* The Mahindra XUV500′s bookings are to reopen in January 2012.
* An automatic variant of the Mahindra XUV500 waits in the wings.
The sliver of hope for the Aria would be the fact that the XUV500′s “introductory price” could be hiked very soon. But will that be enough to discourage the hordes of XUV500 buyers and make them look at the Tata Aria as an alternative. It could very well be the case if Tata repositions the Aria before the gap gets even wider. That possibility though looks quite bleak as the Aria is Tata’s flagship vehicle and slashing off a big chunk of the Aria’s price to reposition it might be quite hard to stomach for Tata Motors. So, will Tata bite the bullet and reposition the Aria, is a question that only time can tell!
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