'The Marina is all set to revive the defunct
estate car market.'
RIDE
RULES
Disintegrating roads and a chronic lower back problem has made me acutely
sensitive to ride quality. I find the new breed of cars have a hard edge
to their ride which
at times borders on the uncomfortable. This is particularly true at urban
speeds where a lack of compliance in the suspension is easily felt. Take
the new Hondas. Instead of greeting potholes with a cushy and muted thud,
both the City and Accord react with a harsh, unyielding clunk. This is
one of the few areas where the Camry with its cosseting ride wins over
the Accord.
The shift towards lower profile tyres is one of the reasons why ride quality
has gone down. Many cars come with sub-70 profile rubber; while this might
improve the handling and even the looks of a car, the shorter sidewall
reduces the tyre's crucial cushioning capabilities. Most foreign brands
come with 'India-spec' or beefed-up suspensions, designed to last on our
roads. However, the stiff suspension further degrades the ride quality
in the
urban environment
in which car owners operate 90 per cent of the time. The flip side is,
on an open road, a taut suspension always gives a better sense of control.
As a result, cars like the Merc C-class, which have a lumpy and stiff-kneed
ride in town, feel unbelievably safe and secure at high speed. It's the
same with an Optra, which has a jiggly ride in the city but is incredibly
composed once speeds build up.
The real challenge is designing a suspension that feels nice and soft
in the city and yet doesn't lose its tautness on the highway. Only a handful
of cars like the Forester, Octavia and Corsa manage to keep this fine
balance.
REAL
ESTATE MARKET
You could hear the collective gasp in the audience when Dr V Sumantran,
head of Tata Motors' passenger car unit, announced the price of the Indigo
Marina at its glitzy launch. Price is Tata's trump card, which it has
always played to tackle competition. However, no one expected a sub-Rs
5 lakh sticker price and that too for the diesel Marina. The Marina's
killer price is sure to set the cat among the pigeons and redefine the
way people look at an estate — no longer as a niche or weekend vehicle
but as an everyday car. At this price, the Marina is certain to revive
the defunct estate car market and become an attractive alternative to
lower mid-size sedans and even large hatchbacks like the Getz. One reason
why estates have failed to take off in this market is because the companies
that made them (Fiat, GM, Maruti) priced them at a huge premium, in some
cases a lakh more than equivalent sedans. So how did Tata manage to peg
the Marina almost on par with the Indigo sedan? The truth is that the
difference in manufacturing costs between the sedan and estate derivatives
is minor. All Tata did was price the Marina honestly, for which it should
be applauded. l Tata Marina full test, p64
IS
IT IN YOUR BLOOD?
One of the best auto-mobile ads I've seen of late is not for a new car
or bike but for BS Motoring, a magazine produced by petrolheads for petrolheads.
Nothing works better than a simple yet powerful picture which, as the
saying goes, is worth more than a thousand words. Superbly shot black-and-white
images of a strong, sinewy hand (another ad in this series uses a leg
as well) with a little car cleverly morphed into the veins with the tag
line, 'Is it in your blood?' says it all. There's no need for any more
text or a copywriter's spin. I couldn't think of a better way to perfectly
sum up the mag's DNA and that of its readers who are more interested in
kph than kpl. Our colleagues at BS Motoring have never been short of creativity
and along with ad agency ANC conceived this ad, which I think is worthy
of an award.
October 2004 
