[a4anurag]

If I am in the market for a Petrol Hatch, it will be Polo GT TSI and if it is a Diesel Hatch, it will be Hyundai Elite i20.

My vote was for the Hyundai Elite i20 in this poll. Best in class till date in terms of overall quality, features, ride quality. The next best diesel hatch will be the Ford Figo especially the Sports edition.

[NST440]

It has to be the Elite i20 by a far, fair and deserving margin. This i am writing not from anybody else's impressions but from my own experience and ownership of the following hatchbacks over the years namely:
- Swift Vdi Sold
- Figo (D) Sold
- VW Polo (P) Sold
- Nissan Micra (D) Sold
- Punto (D) Currently Having
- Elite i20 Asta (O) (D)-Currently Having

Other than Elite i20 , the only hatch which i liked till date is the Fiat Punto for its built, handling and looks. Coming to the elite i20, its a car which ticks all or maximum of the boxes which includes:
a. comfort
b. looks
c. Equipment list
d. City Driveability
e. Magnificent, smooth and silent engine
f. Enough Power, my punto misses on this.
g. Experience at service center.
h. Build Quality
i. Quality of interiors
j. Service costs if not less, at par with others.
k. Parts availability & reliability (though i have taken extended warranty.

One falls in love with the way this thing takes care of everything that matters and in my long journeys their is absolutely no fatigue whatsoever. Zipping this car to max revs is a treat and you just don't feel she has touched magical triple digits owing to its wonderful NVH levels. Have owned her for the past 2.5 years and theirs absolutely no rattle at all. I still remember my swift making all kinda sounds in its first year of ownership, not to mention swift's poor paint quality and wafer thin sheets. Hyundai's are a real threat to the blindly selling Maruti's and at the same time the resale of an Elite i20 is fabulous as well. I have never bothered much about the mileage since i weigh other things much higher than the "kitna deti hai" parameter. Surely, the elite is priced a li'l higher than the competition but it surely has proved to be worth it. I used to refrain from Hyundai's earlier as my friend owning a Santro used to say that its maintenance is too high but i never felt like that. I am happy to see the change in nations car buying behaviour which was earlier always skewed towards a Maruti, may be due to lack of options or awareness.

[anand.shankar]

I'd pick the Elite i20 any day, well rounded package, excellent fit and finish and gem of an engine. Hyundai service is unpredictable but manageable. Jazz a close second just for the space inside, followed by the Figo.

Sad the Punto dint make it to the list, it's still in production you know!
3 cars in this list have the same engine spec, one has a smaller mill. In terms of equipment, at most it misses the touch screen and start stop button. Looks a Lil dull in comparison, but a nice n
shiny Punto could still is a looker. Just a Evo owners rant...

[VRPAI]

The Elite i20 would be my pick in the diesel avatar. Have owned one for the last two years and 30kms. It's a great car for everyday use and the engine along with the ride brings a smile on your face on the highways.

[vb-saan]

Voted for the Ford Figo for its lovely Figo S diesel!

We really need some performance petrol options in the segment. The Polo is a veteran in the group, but for petrol, I don't see anything closely competent to the GT TSI

[Yieldway17]

Practicality - Jazz
Driveability - Figo

[gkveda]

I saw this thread today only. I am not sure why T symboled car is not appearing in the poll. More surprisingly, none of the Toyota fans here are talking about Liva.

I voted for i20 since, for me, below is the order of priority while choosing a small car assuming my driving will be 99% within city.

1. Ride Quality
2. Space
3. Safety and build quality
4. Consumption
5. Looks and Interiors

Safety has come in third position in the order of priority because, In a B2 segment car, my driving will be 99% within city and ABS, Airbags or high colloidal index have no significance for a city driven car. I donot think any airbag or ABS will be deployed within Bangalore city driving. (For long drive, 99% of time, I use my T-Fort)

[samy1117]

Voted for Honda Jazz. If i am in market for a hatchback, I would definitely choose Honda Jazz top Varient over others.
Honda Jazz scores high on practicality and fuel efficiency. We can carry that occasional big cargos without much fuss courtesy of magic seats.
Honda Jazz is spacious and have better looks than the competitors.

"Versatile package wearing sharp clothes. One car for several roles"

[Burn_out]

Its tough to vote for one definitive choice, as the segment demand a lot from the car. My vote went to the i20. But that's with a caveat.
- If I am looking for a Petrol + MT - Hyundai Grand i10 is my choice, closely followed by the Suzuki Baleno.
- If it's diesel + MT - Hyundai i20 wins hands down. If I have a good Ford service center around, then the Ford Freestyle/Figo S would be an alternative.

As you can guess, my choices are not solely based on driving dynamics. A hatchback in this segment has to play multiple roles, the above ones provide the best balance.

The Swift to me, lost its edge.
Maruti gave in to the mass market demands and made the once mighty Swift, soft, almost jelly. Its now hugely overpriced with a steering that will put Hyundai's to shame. It makes more sense to pay a bit extra and upgrade to the Baleno.

[nmenon]

Selected the Baleno since that is the only one in this list that really fits my requirements.
I'm not a big fan of the Jazz and none of the others offer the space the Baleno does.

If one could add hatch based "crossovers" (so called I add) I wouldn't mind the Ford Freestyle, especially the top end Titanium Plus variant for its safety features or the Honda WRV for its space.

Note: I'm not considering diesels.
And the Baleno RS/ Polo GT/ Punto Abarth. Those cars are a different kettle of fish.

[ZMG]

Voted for i20, although I am not a big fan of Hyundai!
Hate their light steering.

In spite of being a huge fan of Swifts design, especially the rear, I will not be able to convince myself to buy the new swift.

The reason being:
1. 10 years ago, making cars with less safety features was okay, not anymore. Swift and Baleno, although come equipped with airbags and ABS, they are just too light! I cannot accept the fact that my car has a dent because someone leaned against my car while taking a smoke brake in office!

2. Polo, although good quality, why do they not fix the rear seat space by reducing the floor hump? Also, please update the seats, my 14 year old honda city appears to have better side bolstering.

3. Figo, is again out due to its looks and built! Come on Ford, just give us the built quality of last gen Figo, the current diesel - DCT combo and non funky dash, you have a winner!

4. Honda Jazz, again built quality suffers, although the most spacious of the lot, might still consider it.

5. Lastly i20, never thought I would vote for this, but it is the only car that has good built quality (thick sheet metal, that does not flex), good interiors and a good diesel.
Wish they gave a nice petrol with a CVT or 6 speed auto at a decent price, and they would be selling like Altos (okay maybe not)

The urban commuter wants a car which is safe, spacious, reliable, powerful enough, convenient and looks good. i20 ticks 4 out of 6.
From what I get, people are not looking at upgrading cars every 3 years now, and hence want something which they can stick with for longer without getting bored or troubled.

Tough place to be in indeed.

Cheers

[dennisjs]

I'm going through this exact dilemma as I'm looking for a petrol B2 hatchback to replace my 2008 WagonR. In the current scenario I'll go for the Swift petrol.

Positives
- Fun to drive. Fuel efficient too. MSIL, please bring the 1.4L Boosterjet here .
- ABS & Airbags standard across all variants.
- Exterior & Interior styling. Its time for the Baleno to get the refreshed interiors & steering wheel (if so I'll have tought time choosing between them).
- Service & Spare parts availability

Negatives
- No auto-dimming IRVM/Rear AC vents
- Missing features from the International variant - Side/Curtain Airbags, ESP, Cruise Control. Suzuki, you already have the technology globally but still think India doesn't deserve these?
- Fuel tank capacity

Can't say this as a negative at this point of time. But I'm still concerned about the build quality of the cars from MSIL stable. I'm not expecting a European door 'thud' but should have a strong passenger cabin as any other car in the global market. Looking forward to see how the Swift will perform in the upcoming BNVSAP (will it come? 2017 is already over) crash test.

My opinion may change once the New Freestyle/Figo petrol hit the roads. Eagerly waiting for the Team-bhp review of the same.
Also, if the Polo GT TSI came with a manual gearbox, it could have taken the cake. But currently my vote goes to Swift.

[Aaron:)]

Petrol MT - Maruti Baleno

Petrol AT - Honda Jazz

Diesel MT - Hyundai i20

Diesel AT - I'll skip this segment altogether and get the Honda Amaze CVT

[Sherlocked]

For petrol, I had voted for Maruti Swift in this poll just because of one thing - engine!

But after looking at the pictures of damaged Swift, Baleno, Dzire and Ignis from our Accident pics thread and other sources online, I'm seriously concerned about the build quality of these modern Maruti cars sold in our country.

Many will say that Swift has cleared the Global NCAP crash test and we are getting the same Swift here but we all know what Maruti did with the previous generation Swift. IIRC, the Made for India Swift failed in the same test in which the European Swift cleared, so we just don't know if we are getting the same car here built with the exact same safety standards or not. Who knows what else they've ommited from the global Swift apart from the manual temperature gauge.

If only Elite i20 had a better petrol engine my vote would have went to that car but since it doesn't, I would wait till the Figo comes updated with the 1.2 Dragon engine. From what I've read online, that engine isn't as peppy as the 1.2 K series but still packs some punch. Eagerly waiting for our Ford Freestyle review to know more about it.

[Ritzvxi]

Jesus, no please. I took a test drive of the new Swift ZXI (whats with the +,-,*,% signs) on the weekend and I am sure not touching the car again. Just does not cut it for "ME", looks very nice from the outside (the paint finish, maybe) but on the inside it feels like sitting in an empty, hollow tank (the water storage ones), I could've called it a Sintex tank but we are yet to see the days when Suzuki starts using A-grade plastics for outer shells.


The shiny (over polished) black dashboard and interiors, that smell and feel of creepy super shiny black faux Leather seat covers, does not help either.

And take a look at my signature, I am a born Maruti Suzuki fan boy.