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-   -   Is Indian market getting bulldozed with beige and excess chrome? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/103559-indian-market-getting-bulldozed-beige-excess-chrome-3.html)

I would agree with GTO and a few others. It is a matter of personal taste.

Remember, TBHP (large as it is) is not representative of the automotive tastes of India. Some of the members have FFE or K&E filters or turbo-charged engines. How many people do those mods? If one were to go by this site then one would be inclined to believe that such mods are the trend in India. Similarly, some of us here do not like chrome or beige. Most people out there love it. In fact, one of these days (when I get my hands on some money) I am going to completely pimp out a Padmini with oodles of chrome.

Let the market decide if something is excessive.

I remember choosing my first car in 2006 and the choice was between the alto and the Indica Xeta. The latter won because of the beige interiors which made the car look roomier! I am prone to get claustrophobic and beige works just fine. Cars over done in chrome , red and fake wood remind me of people who overdo their makeup and endup looking flashy in a cheap way.A big turn off. If it cant be classy , then plain is next.Gaudy is way down. Just my opinion. But I respect everyones personal preference.Mine is definitely not the superior one.

Having beige interiors and chrome ornaments is a personal choice, but if done tastefully will enhance the look of the car considerably. If you see a Skoda Laura/Superb, the half beige interiors look really good. Agreed they are more difficult to clean, but in my personal opinion they look much more nicer than the grey or black ones. In general, even if the beige effect is excessive, it does not become an eye sore.

The same can't be said of the chrome ornaments. If done subtly (Merc, New Fiesta), they look great. But go overboard (read Etios rear, Verito) and it starts looking tacky and cheap.

One O.T observation: if you live in an area where hard water is available (or for that matter soft water from the municipality tap) then if you don't wipe of the water carefully after washing the car, it will leave calcium residue on the chrome parts. And after a few washes, the chrome part looks horrible with the deposits. But, the same calcium deposits do not look so obvious on body colored/black parts.

Personally I don't mind excessive beige in the interior, but I would not prefer chrome plated handles or ORVMS. Instead I would go for body colored ones. They would look much more classy.

This debate can go on and on... agree:

Beige or Black interiors is a personal choice and I feel smaller mass market cars like Alto, A Star, Estillo, Wagon R, Santro etc look way better in black as it suits the interior plastic quality in these cars.

However throwing in some beige seat covers makes the cabin feel more roomier than black seat covers.

Cars with better cabin quality look great in beige and feels more roomier too for example : Corolla, Innova, NHC, Jetta, Passat etc.

Luxury cars like Mercedes, BMW etc look great in whatever color since the interior build quality is so good that they are built to last.

Also I feel that most of the time its youngsters who prefer black. Most people above 40 have an inclination towards beige.

Chrome is a different story. A bit of chrome never hurt anybody as long as its done tastefully and on the front grill, fog lamps and door handles.

I can go with chrome on the rear of the Etios but the Verito and Liva doesnt look so good with the chrome.

Doesn't the aftermarket chrome seen on some cars makes you go :eek:

Not sure about the youngster part.

But tell me folks, from pictures, movies or from personal experience, haven't you realized that beautiful/hot women prefer seating (or whatever) on black seats vs. sitting (or whatever) on beige seats? :)

Is there any way to remove the chrome strips and still retain the shine and finish of a new car?

IMO the rear of a Cruze LT minus the fat chrome strip looks way better than the rear of the Cruze LTZ, specially in black. Also the unnecessary chrome enveloping on the front and rear lights look tacky on any car. The new F10 BMW 5-Series looks stunning in every color with the tastefully done chrome and those corona rings.

On this subject and after looking at the pictures, I got to say that Toyota manages to get my goat every time.

I can understand the fat rear lip. I think I have seen it in some other car too.



But what the heck is this?

A mustache for the door handle?



As others have said, I think we should add "fake wood inserts" to the topic. I remember going to see the Toyota Innova and I just couldn't digest the garish yellow fake wood on the dash. I bugged the SE to try and remove it. Finally he says that the pre-Fortuner Innova came with the much more tasteful dark brown fake wood inserts (which have now gone to the Fortuner) and that it is not possible to remove it without damaging the dashboard.

Beige being a lighter colour will definitely make the interiors of small cars look roomy. But light grey can also achieve that effect somewhat with considerably less maintenance.

A simple analogy. Red lipstick : woman ; Chrome : Car. Some look hot and some too cold. But as we all know, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

Guess everyone missed the Innova. In my opinion, the beige and chrome blends beautifully for the innova. Just see the G and VX models next to each other. The difference is too much. Maybe because, Innova doesnt have too much chrome splashed around, but just sufficient for the size.

Also, see the interiors. The finish is outstanding. The beige areas of the plastic is so well finished, you just cant stop admiring it. Yes, it could be a personal taste, but for me, if done (not overdone!) well, I will go with beige and chrome.

I will add another item to this thread - the wood garnishing for the interiors! Any takers?

Cant agree with you better. I just coulnt figure out why they used a fake wood panelling in the new verna, it just looked so out of place on otherwise a very pleasing cabin.

I can quote more examples, but the bottom line is - wood garnishing looks equally bad as excess beige and chrome does on most of the vehicles!

It all depends of how it is used. Chrome can look good if it is used in the right way. Although I prefer black interiors, dual tone or beige looks good in some cars. What I cant stand is in beige floor.

I love chrome if it is done in a proper way. and americans know how to do it. when i was in USA saw too many cars, trucks in chrome and they look beautiful. i would love to import one of these cars listed below. uhh and that truck too :)

Intelligent application of chrome as on the E class, Vento and Corolla Altis definitely manages to enhance the looks of the car without looking tacky. But Indian consumers do go over the top in some cases :





Personally I hate these two particular examples.

One problem is the top end variant gets all the chrome. Even if the consumer wants all safety features etc and does not like chrome, he has to take it.

Consider the new tata safari. I used to love the old tata safari grill (Black and a chrome strip in middle). Now the top end tata safari front grill is all chrome and tacky. I inquired about a new top end safari and asked the sales person, if he could get the front grill changed and his reply was, sir why do you want to buy a top end variant then? Even if you buy it, it will look like base model. Such is the marketing and advertising that was done to make chrome a 'luxury' thing.

However, safari interiors have gone away from beige. The old beige interiors used to look much better IMO. Right now on the inside, apart from the new tachometer, everything else does not look as good as in the pre facelift safari.

I absolutely hate chrome on modern cars. If I had a choice, Id paint all the dumb looking chrome bits in the Body color. MAkes the car look much sportier IMHO. And whats with everyone giving stupid Beige. Why cat we have Black with a nice pinstripe or something. Id rather have a grey dashboard than a beige Dashboard. ANYDAY!!