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-   -   Compact sedan? No thank you! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/143528-compact-sedan-no-thank-you.html)

I happen to involve myself in the car buying experience of someone with a budget of around 10L. The preferred choice was a compact sedan like Honda Amaze. But a little bit of research led me to believe that it doesn't make sense to buy a fully loaded compact sedan like Amaze V diesel, Dezire Z diesel for close to 9.5-10L (in Bangalore).

At approximately 20% higher we are getting VW Vento TDI highline, Nissan Sunny special edition, Honda City S+. The compact sedans have such in-your-frace build-to-cost feel which left me wondering why wouldn't someone pay 20% more to get a car that is SO MUCH better built.

You can say the same logic applies to every segment upgrade due to overlapping prices. But usually the top-end lower segment car feels equally rich compared to entry level next segment (Vento-Jetta, City-Civic, etc.) I mean who can say City V with leather has a terrible cabin compared to Civic basic? But when you step out of Amaze/Dzire and sit inside City/Vento, you feel you have been rescued.

We ended up short-listing Vento and Sunny and may end up buying Vento. To be honest I was depressed to see a 9.5L+ Amaze/Dzire and kept wondering OMG, is this all we Indians can get for a whopping 9.5L+?! No offence meant for people buying compact sedans, maybe entry level ones make sense, but those who are buying top-end compact sedans should either stick to basic variant, or get the next segment.

Most people I know who have bought Dzire/Amaze have bought it for two reason:
1. Additional boot space as compared to their respective hatch sibling such as Swift/Brio.
2. A sedan like road presence without actually paying for a full grown sedan (read Vento/City).
Also the excise duty exemption for sub 4 meter car is icing on the cake.
A lot of the Dzire/Amaze buyers can settle for the Swift/Brio or any other hatch if it's not for the above two reasons.

Also the additional 20% money which they have to pay above the compact sedan price to buy a City/Vento which translates to around 1.7L-2L rupees is I think a huge amount of money and would restrict a lot of buyers to go a segment up.

IMO if one is buying the top end variant due to the safety features then he should stick to it if the next segment's basic variant does not offer it. ABS and Airbags can prove life saving in some unfortunate situations.

I have a top end amaze diesel and vdi dzire . Both brand new . Yes interiors are built to a cost . But when I get 20kmpl in city and 24 on highway i'm smiling . For the amaze that is.

You're right in some ways. The compact sedan segment, in my opinion, is a misuse of the 4-meter small car norms. The tax benefit to me is great for bringing world-class hatchbacks to the Indian market, which would be too expensive otherwise. The Polo (especially the GT TSI), Jazz, i20 being examples. But the best use of the 4m rule is the Ecosport from a features, size and price perspective.

The reason I say you're right in some ways is because the market obviously loves the sedan body shape within that length going by the success of the Amaze and Dzire. Can't blame the manufacturers for meeting demand.

First things first, compact sedans generally look hideous with the exception being the Indigo CS which imo seemed okay. The Dzire and the Amaze to be frank look too messed up and trying to be something they are not. And the Dzire lacks boot space also!

Another point to be noted is that no one knows how they would fare in a crash test either. Most compact sedans seem to be build of cardboard at the rear.

I completely agree. For our (now aborted) Swift diesel replacement, we had ruled out the dzires of the world for that reason - the incremental boot space cost was fairly high over the hatchback.

The Sunny (and to an extent, even the Verito, if not for the wife's veto!) made much more sense. As would have the Nissan evalia if it hadn't priced itself out of the market:Frustrati!

Well, I would rather go down to a premium hatch like i20 or Polo or even a Ritz than a compromised budget sedan which is just a sedan in shape and offers no extra comfort or safety. The boot in these compact sedans is more of a ego satisfier and nothing else.

A matter of perspective!

My father in law stretched his budget big time and upgraded from a Ritz to a Amaze S petrol only because it was a sedan! Let us face it: a sedan is considered by most to be an upgrade from a normal hatch. Premium hatches are destined to be an urban phenomenon.

The success of the sub 4 m sedans like the Dzire has always amazed me. These cars offer inferior boot space to versatile hatches like the Jazz, but far outsell them and command a higher price. The fact that all these products are made for India tells us something about the odd psychology of the mid end Indian car buyer.

By writing a cheque for a sub-4m car, lots of buyers are probably extending their budget by 20% more than what they had originally planned for. That is, a significant percentage of sub-4m cars buyers could have started looking at a hatchback first, before deciding on a compact sedan.

I expect most compact sedan car buyers to compare it with their hatchback variants, rather than Vento/Sunny/City.

Hey, waitaminute! Aren't Vento, Sunny and City sedan variants of Polo, Micra and Jazz? How is the psychology of Vento/Sunny/City buyers different from that of Amaze/Dzire buyers?

It makes perfect sense to pay about 2L lesser, at cost of perhaps 50% less boot space. Compact Sedan is just another class of cars, having bits from both, the hatchback and the sedan categories.

If someone rejects a CS, and goes for a Vento for example, I would say his budget allowed him to do so. But, if you have plans to spend around 7L, and you can stretch the budget to 10-20% more, why not to have more boot space, feel/presence of a sedan, and the small bits they offer more with CS cars?

Interior quality, IMHO is better in an Amaze, than in a Sunny. It is, for me, an intelligent choice, as you are paying lesser tax, to own a CS, than to own a fully grown sedan.

+1. In general I agree. But I think OPs point was only about top end variants.
May be guys buying the top end variants have also stretched their budgets to the limit.

Actually a lot (if not the majority) of Indian buyers start out with a budget and then try to force-fit the available vehicles within it. As @smartcat put it correctly, some of them raise the budget by 15-20% but again it's the $$ figure that decides the final shortlist. And hence these boot-ized compact sedans win out of the shortlist
- they are "better" than the better hatchbacks (e.g. Jazz) because of the boot
- they are "better" than the C/C+ sedans because of the lesser price

Thanks for pointing that out!

The difference between top end compact sedans vs lowest variant C segment sedan is not just the price. Top end Dzire/Amaze will have alloy wheels, integrated music system, safety equipment (airbags/ABS), electric mirrors etc.

These might not be available in base models of Rapid/Vento/Linea/Sunny etc.

If I am walking into the showroom to look at the amaze or dzire after considering the brio/ swift, I will be ok with the quality. My budget will not permit me to look at the city or SX4 ( jumping two segments). But if I have the budget to buy the top end amaze, I would rather spend the money on the base city, particularly since it has all safety features. Of course, there will be people who will prefer to take home the fully loaded amaze/dzire rather than the barebones city/SX4.
I think base variants of the entry level sedans pull some of the hatchback buyers to the showrooms. Then it is quite natural for people to move up a variant or so depending on the features they like. To move up a whole segment higher may not be possible for these customers.