[Steeroid]

Adya

I beg to differ - there is no "US" and "THEM" in the market. There are many more enthusiasts out there who are not yet part of the forum. Even the so called 'common buyer' does his own research before buying a car, because a majority of buyers today are buying with borrowed funds and not necessarily their own. You will be surprised at the amount of research, testing and reading that an A-Segment car buyer does before finally going in for his 800 or Alto, because these are usually the first cars in his life and he has to choose between these or 2nd hand cars that are also available for the same price.

Let us not generalise that the older generation is not in favour of performance. There are many old boy-racers I know of who are extremely well read about automobiles, know their engines inside out, and yet drive a NHC or a Corolla - cars that dont seem to fall within what you call "our" choice of vehicles.

While many of us love 'performance oriented' vehicles, it remains to be seen how many of us actually buy these machines when it comes to making that all-important decision in your life. And I'm not speaking here about spending Daddy's money or grandfather's money - I am talking about people who are spending their own hard earned cash. Put yourselves in that position and you will realise that BHP alone is not what matters - you have family to carry around so you need comfort and space, you have 50 kms to commute so you definitely need economy, you dont have time to spend in the workshop so reliability is important, you're already paying through your nose for the car so you need reasonably priced spares and good service backup, you need good ride quality and not sharp handling, you need power but that is if all the above permit....

Dont you think these are enough reasons why the C-Segment, which is not as volume driven like the A/B segments, has a sales chart that reads like this(Source Autocar India) for September 2005:

1. Hyundai Accent

2. Tata Indigo/Marina

3. NHC

Instead of lamenting why 'they' cant be more like 'us', we should probably analyze why these cars which are invariably NEVER recommended or discussed on the forum are setting the sales charts ablaze. What makes them tick is what the market wants. Enthusiasts can pick other cars and customise them - the numbers dont matter.

The question is not whether THEY can become like us. The question is whether WE are in touch with reality, which is where THEY come from.