TATA Motors on Tuesday launched a new upgraded version of its Manza sedan in its bid to boost sluggish sales.
Passenger car sales in India have hit speed bumps over last one year amid expensive loans and high fuel prices. Tata Motors passenger car sales, for instance, declined 17% year-on-year in September. Its overall global sales fell 4%.
Tata Motors has added a host of features like touch screen entertainment system, leather seats, alloy wheels, contrast coloured roof, air bags among many other things to the Manza club class.
The company has added new features without changing the starting price. Prices start at Rs 5.70 lakh for petrol and Rs 6.49 lakh for diesel variant, ex-showroom Delhi. The topend diesel will cost Rs 8.8 lakh.
This is the first passenger vehicle launch by Tata since Karl Slym took over as the company's MD recently.
He believes the company's biggest challenge is to attract consumers by providing class leading superior products. This will include refreshing existing products and fresh offerings in the long term.
"The quality of our vehicles, the capability, the durability etc has moved well beyond what the consumer is thinking about from years gone by. So I see one of our short-term challenges is being able to make sure we get those consumers into our cars," Slym said.
To get the customers to get a feel of the new Manza and the other products in its portfolio, right from Nano to the new Safari Storme, which will be launched on Wednesday, the company is also expanding its sales and service network.
It is opening 200 sales outlets and 200 service points this year. By the end of the current financial year, it hopes to have 1,200 sales and 1,000 service outlets for its passenger vehicles.
