Mr Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicle, Tata Motors talking to Siddharth from BWBusinessworld about all things Altroz.

From the Indica to the Altroz, Tata Motors has come a long way in terms of design and quality products. Tata Motors is entering the Premium Hatchback segment with the New Altroz, Scheduled to be launched in the first month of 2020. A fresh look thanks to the Impact 2.0 design language and the all-new ALFA platform along with premium features make it an interesting proposition. We have Mr Mayank Pareek, President Passenger Vehicle Tata Motors talking to Siddharth from BWBusinessworld about all things Altroz.

Excerpts :

What are your expectations from Altroz?

I think my expectations are very high, First is - The Altroz gives us entry into 12% of the 3.3 million Market, We started with our new product journey since 2016 with Tiago and slowly, the older products actually started making way for the new. Today, all of our products in the market were launched after 2016.

I think we are entering this Premium Hatchback segment with an absolute gold standard product. The customer will respond very well, And the initial response that we are getting from the people is very good.

What do you think are the features or USPs of the Altroz that will attract the buyers?

We are trying to set the Gold Standard in the Premium Hatchback segment so there are a lot of things. First is safety. The Altroz is the safest car on the road in its segment. Now, if you're to buy a car for yourself, your family or your friend, will you not buy the safest car? And It is quite an irony that many other players offer safe cars globally, but for India, they compromise. In Altroz, even in the base variant, we are providing dual airbags. Koi Nahi Deta Hai !! But being a true Indian carmaker and caring for our customers we have tried to set a gold standard in safety.

The second gold standard is the design. Just look at the Altroz, its a beauty, it stands out.

The third is the driving dynamics. You can take it to any speed and it holds its grip and doesn't wobble. The Wider track also gives its stability at higher speeds and more room inside the cabin.

Fourth is technology. We have loaded the car with convenience technology, technologies like cruise control, automatic wipers and headlights? All these features are available in cars that are way more expensive, we feel, why should Indian customer not get the best? and if Tata Motors doesn't give them, who will?

The fifth is the conveniences. The Altroz has 24 convenience pieces. If you see the glove box it is very big and chilled. You can keep yourself hydrated with cold drinks beating the Indian summers.

There are two features. I would like to really highlight one is the 90degree opening doors. This is a big deal especially if you are a little imbalanced or if you're elderly. And let's say ladies wearing Indian saree's. With Altroz's wide-opening doors you can just walk into the car. The second thing is the rear seat floor. Everyone says their car can seat 3 people at the rear, but when you actually sit there is a transmission tunnel which takes away the comfort. We have removed the tunnel in the Altroz and made the floor flat and the Altroz easily seats 3 at the rear making it truly a 5 seater. We have in fact created enough features for customer delight. That is what makes us unique.

There is no single USP of the Tata Altroz we have set the Gold Standards in the segment.

In this market which is going through a slowdown, what are your strategies for the coming year?

Our Strategy is very clear, It is to excite the market with new products. As the leading Automaker of India, we cannot just sit passively and keep, requesting the government to bail us out. We have to do our work, we have to make sure that we keep launching new products load them with technology. It is not like the Indian Customer is not buying cars. As a Carmaker, we have to excite them, give them something worth buying, attract them with feature-loaded products and that is what we are doing. In the next 6 months, you will be seeing much more activity from us.

Automatics are also a part of the premium package. When will the Altroz get an Automatic Transmission?

The Automatic segment is surely growing and in this premium segment automatics take 16% of the sales. One must understand, the global players just bring whatever is available with them and launch it in India. But we being an India Car Maker we have a Commitment to India that we should develop our own technologies that work well in our usage conditions. Good news is we are working on it. A premium segment car cannot work with an AMT, We are working on it and developing one of the most advanced automatics in the segment. It will take time, as we are developing it ourselves. Mangalyaan was a total in-house effort and it took time. But I can assure you it will be a very good technology and fit for our country.

What are your plans for Autoexpo 2020?

We'll be there. We'll be showcasing wonderful products. I can't tell if you much right now, but we will be there, with the largest stall. As we speak Our teams are working on concepts and materials etc.

From Indica to Altroz its been quite a journey, where do you see Tata motors in the next five years?

I think you'll see, Tata Motors as India's Most Loved Car company, I'm going ahead of numbers but "love" is an emotion on which you cannot put any numbers. We want to make products that customers fall in love with. I believe that Cars are not sold in the showrooms, cars are sold on the dining table while having dinner with your loved ones. Research says customers shortlist 3 cars before making up their minds and if you are not in the top 3 then you are nowhere. we want the customers to love our products and when there is a relationship of love we will always be in the top 3. And that's why we have told our salespeople not to hard-sell The Altroz.

We will give the customers a car that they will fall in love with and be proud of.

In this Industry which is slowing down to a crawl what are your expectations from the Government?

I am one who believes in doing what we can do, all I want stable policies. The problem with this year was the first six months, every alternate week, There was speculation that GST will come down. If GST comes down it is very good, but at least the confusion should not be there. The policies should be stable There's no business which has been continuously growing, Car industry has been growing for so long, it is cyclic and it is stressful, but you have to take it in your stride. When the industry was growing at 30% then no one was asking questions. Stability in policies is what I need. Cars are highly taxed almost at par with cigarettes, it is not SIN TAX, The industry creates so many jobs, it creates linkages with steel, rubber aluminium industry and creates so many jobs

So Are you optimistic about the future?

I'm more than optimistic and there's no reason the auto industry will not grow all this is temporary, I've been in business for a long time and I've seen things happening... It's okay. At this time we need to dig deep. This is for the longterm players not for the weak-hearted and weak-kneed.

Watch Our First Drive Review of the New Tata Altroz 

Watch Customer Reaction Video of the New Tata Altroz