I test drove the Scorpio today. AWESOME is the right word. I have
driven the legendry Toyota LandCruiser for a good time and now own a
Bolero. This beats both ends of the spectrum. Its not as big as the
LC/Hummer/Pajeros of the world, its not underpowered like the Safari
(I don’t consider Qualis/Tavera as its competition), isn’t only a
sports vehicle like the Wrangler and isn’t as expensive as the
Terracan/CRV/XTrail/Forrester. At the cost of being laughed at, I
think the Scorpio has created a new segment in the SUV market given
its low-price and great performance.
The torque and power are damn good. The accleration is linear. The
braking feels right and the steering it is a walk in the park. The AC
chills and the seating feels just right. From first, I shifted into
second gear and gave the accelerator a hard push and the vehicle
sprinted ahead like a car. It took the potholes in its stride like a
good SUV (better than the Bolero, I drove my Bolero over the same
potholes a little later). The gear shift isn’t as slick but I guess
the Bolero’s BA10 gearbox legacy continues. Too bad the crowded
traffic and potholed roads of Bombay didn’t give me much chance to put
the vehicle thru some speed tests. One thing where M&M could do more
work is engine noise. At idle, the engine clatter can turn-off the
rich snobs (not UV enthusiasts like me). CRDi anyone? Also, I would’ve
loved to take a 4x4 Scorpio to the Great Escape.
The advertising plain sucks. The cool dude carrying his car in a plane
doesn’t do justice to the Scorpio. It looks classy but it isn’t. This
isn’t what the Scorpio needs. M&M needs to come up with a campaign
that brings people by the hordes to the showroom for the test drive.
The vehicle will do the rest. My uncle who drove a Pajero for ten
years in the gulf bought the Scorpio after the test drive. And he’s a
SUV enthusiast too. What more can I say?
The product is an international winner, I think. I just don’t see why
would anyone buy a sedan? The Scorpio offers the best of both the
worlds - car and SUV. The critics have been proven wrong - the sales
numbers will tell you that. What M&M
needs is brilliant marketing to take it overseas. I feel the product
has the qualities to make it abroad. Hmmm ... Ohh!! Yes, M&M will need
Toyota’s quality levels to do that but.
The vehicle is about a nation’s engineering efforts. It goes to show
that we, as yet, don’t do much R&D. And quality levels are still not
that good as Scorpio owners here and there will tell you of niggling
problems. As for R&D, the engine was done in Austria, the 4WD system
by BorgWarner, the gearbox is BA10 from Peugot, the body from Japan,
and the suspension in Korea (Samlip). Did I leave out something? You
can outsource R&D to get a headstart but outsourcing R&D won’t keep
you ahead of competition for very long. Lots of people have claimed
outsourcing R&D as a sort of mini-coup in the area of automobile
manufacturing by M&M but I beg to differ.
I don’t think places like Kuwait and Spain are the right places to
introduce this vehicle. Why would a Kuwaiti buy a low-priced SUV from
an unknown brand when he can easily afford a Range-Rover, Pajero, LC
or a Hummer? Same goes for Spain. The right place would’ve been places
like Africa/Oman/Latin-America where they need cheap 4x4s.
I am giving it four stars and deducting one star for quality levels below the likes of Toyota bcoz I believe quality doesn’t require so much of investment as much as committment.
Just my two paise worth ;)
Cheers,
Siddhartha
Statutory Warning - I own a Bolero ;)