[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Voted for Zest.

Simply because I didn't find any other choice to vote for this year. Even the Zest is not my ideal choice, given that the revolutionary diesel AMT is not present with ABS and airbags variants.

Among all the cars in the list, the one that I've put my money on is the Xcent. However, I am not voting for it as I feel the diesel variants are not as competent as the AT I've put my money on. The Elite i20 in its 'indianized' avatar fails to excite. And the City in its current generation has been reduced to a paper-tiger IMHO.

What a dull year!

Hoping for a better 2015 hopefully with a 1.5P Jazz, Figo twins, Maruti's upcoming launches, Abarth Punto (hopefully with sensible pricing) etc.

[anshuman_v]

I can understand that a lot of people are voting for Zest. Its an interesting conundrum - a good promising package, hopefully will hold together this time around. I remember a lot of positive vibes at launch with the Aria, but that did not necessarily deliver the promise. Lets hope Zest does.

I voted for the Celerio, incidentally - its a game changer of sorts!

[Reinhard]

Shouldn't the new Polo (1.5 TDI) & Vento (TDI DSG) be in the list as well? The engines are all new, the DSG diesel Vento is mostly a new car apart from the looks...If the MINI Cooper can make it, I think these two VW siblings may be eligible too.

[Vitalstatistiks]

Voted for Celerio.

Considered Tata Zest as the only other contender.

Can't understand why are folks voting for an Elite i20 or a Honda City. Nothing remarkable in these cars, case of natural progression. Better looks (subjective), more gadgets, improved ride dynamics? Out of the cars in this list (read this again before continuing), Celerio is actually a path breaker ! It provided what no other Indian car provided, an auto tranny for the masses at affordable cost !

It may not be selling in the numbers of an i20 or a City, but it is what Hyundai Santro was in 1998, a Tata Safari was in 1997 (?), a Tata Indica was in 2002, an XUV was in 2011 and Ecosport in 2013. Game changer ! We will see the effect in years to come.

[GTO]

Cast my vote.

Had to really think this one through...the choice wasn't as obvious as in previous years. It boiled down to the Tata Zest & Hyundai i20. Both manufacturers have made enormous progress...Tata with the quality, features and all-roundedness & Hyundai with design maturity, improved road manners etc. The 1st-gen i20 was a superb hatchback and the new one has further improved on it in nearly every way. That's saying a lot.

After careful thinking, my vote went for the i20. It's truly a world-class hatchback on sale in India. Premium quality inside out (quality betters some Rs. 15 lakh cars) and complete in nearly every way. In the most important parameters of sales & service, styling, space, interiors, diesel engine's power & economy, road manners and features, the i20 is either better than OR on par with its competitors. There's no real disadvantage with the 1.4L diesel i20....the only two things I don't like about the car are the petrol engine's outright power & that its lost a good number of features (vis a vis the 1st-gen).

The success is well-deserved. Despite being one of the most expensive hatchbacks, it sold over 10,000 copies in November! The i20 alone sold more than what 8 major global brands (VW, Ford, GM, Nissan, Renault etc.) managed from their full model range. Further, in the 3 months since launch, the i20 has 56,000 bookings.

A car I respect and one I'd buy without thinking twice.

[ILTDrive]

Two choices came to mind, Zest and the Elite I20, and I voted for Zest. For a company which is trying to make a new beginning into a market in which it has a very bad reputation and come out with a car which is so very right in so many aspects is saying something. If I were to be buying a car now, I would have brought the Zest. Hyundai is a hit or miss on the ownership costs and hence the decision.

A question though - Maruti Swift was also refreshed, though I agree it was minor but some of the variants have ABS now. Why not include that and include I20, which is also a refreshed version? Though I20 received a lot more changes than the swift, in the spirit of the thread, it is also a refreshed model and not a NEW model.

[kiku007]

It's i20 for me. This car car could easily pass on with a Peugeot or some European Car Maker Logo on it's bonnet.

Zest - Not a single car in my IT Park yet. Message? Tata still hasn't made the difference yet in people's mind.

VW-Skoda deserve a pat for the fantastic DriveTrain upgrades across the range.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by mobius 1

The competition definitely was between the City and the Zest.

But seeing what the Zest has done to the market and revolutionary safety and technological features introduced by Tata at this price point.

Zest is the clear winner for me !

Big thumbs up for Tata Motors

I love the Zest too but what are these "revolutionary safety and technological features introduced by Tata"? To my knowledge not a single new safety feature is present in the Zest.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by ILTDrive

A question though - Maruti Swift was also refreshed, though I agree it was minor but some of the variants have ABS now. Why not include that and include I20, which is also a refreshed version? Though I20 received a lot more changes than the swift, in the spirit of the thread, it is also a refreshed model and not a NEW model.

I believe it is an "All New" i20. Not a cosmetic change like the Swift. Just because the name stays i20 doesn't mean it is the same car. Its the next generation. Its only in India that we are used to see 800-Zen-Alto-AStar and what not in parallel thinking they are "new" car marque. They are next generation of the same ALTO.

The Swift 2014 really is just a "facelift" its not a next generation.

Originally Posted by Lobogris

I love the Zest too but what are these "revolutionary safety and technological features introduced by Tata"? To my knowledge not a single new safety feature is present in the Zest.

I think he refers to -

Safety - ESC seems to be present in versions with ABS with one of the latest versions of ABS. DRLs are also present in XT. Both are segment firsts.

Technology - ESC, AMT, Custom made Harman system which seems one of the best in class if not the best. Certainly the best in segment if I compare with the other sub-4m hatchbacks.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

I think he refers to -

Safety - ESC seems to be present in versions with ABS with one of the latest versions of ABS. DRLs are also present in XT. Both are segment firsts.

Technology - ESC, AMT, Custom made Harman system which seems one of the best in class if not the best. Certainly the best in segment if I compare with the other sub-4m hatchbacks.

The Zest doesn't come with ESC- Electronic Stability Control in any variant.

[400notout]

Interesting reaction to this years poll. The Zest seems to have captured a lot of peoples respect. Here's a short summary of what I felt.

Luxury cars: Too niche, there's never really an embarrassment in owning a merc, audi, jag, etc. (unless you are stranded in one)
But still the brand works for itself they don't have a necessity to please all.

Alto/Celerio: Don't like either designs and the AMT doesn't excite me.

City/Ciaz: The Ciaz doesn't have the presence of new car on the streets it looks quite dated (personal opinion no offence to owners)
The City is definitely a winner of a car but not a game changer as it always had great brand value the diesel just made it more practical.

Datsun Go: Really like the space it offers and the way it looks. Crashworthiness I guess is not worse than other cars in its segment,
so wont blame this car alone. But it couldn't change the fortunes like Nissan hoped it to.

Mobilio: Decent but way too expensive.

Scorpio: Enjoys good brand value, continues to sell like it used to. But after seeing it for a while now doesn't look very different from its predecessor.

Xcent/ i20 elite: Dont like the xcents or the grand i10's design. The i20's rear design puts me off too. That said both cars are proven successes for Hyundai.
But the i20 Elite has just carried on from where the previous model left. Even before the Elite model the i20 did 6-8k units a month.
The i20 is a good car which enjoys strong brand value and is getting extended sales due to its novelty and is among the best hatches to buy.
But since I prefer a petrol engine for daily commute the i20 Elite doesn't excite me.

So Like many other folks on this forum my vote goes to TATA ZEST

Its a true underdog story. And don't we love underdogs. The car is appreciated highly as it carries on itself the onus of TATA motors revival. And a worthwhile car it is.
For a stopgap arrangement which needs to pull in numbers till TATA comes with an all new car, this baby does well to carry the responsibility to keep sales afloat.
Considering the decreasing brand value of the Vista and brand value of TATA vis a vis Hyundai, Maruti , Honda etc. an average of 3.3k units per month is not a small feat.
It will soon have Bolt for company but if it had failed Bolt's fate would have been no different either.

The people have lapped up this story as they understand the tremendous stress the Zest carries in its attempt to revive TATA MOTORS.
Its a brilliant car priced lucratively and delivers more than what competition offers. Had it been any other brand, numbers would have been bigger.

This car even if it continues sales around 3.5k units till a new car arrives, I think it would have done its job and done it well.
The Zest is TATA motors only chance in instilling confidence in its brand and apart from other cars it has the potential to get TATA back into the game.

So it deserves my vote as Team BHP Car of the Year 2014.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Lobogris

The Zest doesn't come with ESC- Electronic Stability Control in any variant.

What does this stand for then? [From the Zest's official site. Which still shows the original spec XT alloys .]

[goldie_malhotra]

For the last 3-4 years we had cars (SUVs) which were completely new offerings, broke through segment barriers, created new segments of their own and were runaway successes. They were truly game-changers.

This year doesnt bring such a clear winner and high hopes piled on debutantes like Mobilio, Zest, Celerio and Ciaz, though I wouldnt say have been dashed - they havent really been that exciting.

My picks would be between the above 4 - given they are truly new offerings and most relevant to the current indian market, whereas most others are new iterations of existing models.

Celerio gets ruled out as its USP - the AMT is truly disappointing to drive. Perhaps expectations were set incorrectly.

Ciaz is way, way underpowered for a segment that is expecting more and more.

Zest is a great step forward in terms of looks and quality from Tata. But I would buy an Dzire or Amaze any day over it.

End of the day, the Mobilio gets my vote as a practical city and highway run-around for the family, that is as easy as a hatch to drive and park in the city, and has enough grunt for those highway trips. The interiors are not exciting, but are quite spacious, and its priced well for the small urban family. Hope Honda sorts out the production issues before people lose interest.

[Marauder]

Voted for the Audi A3.

I think it is the only game changer among the contenders. All the other cars are iterations of their previous gen or existing cars.
None of them are providing anything majorly new to the market.

Cars like the Scorpio, i20, City are iterative updates to their previous generation models. They have similar characteristics and are just evolutionary in terms of changes.
Xcent, Mobilio and K10 are just extensions to their base cars.
Zest might be revolutionary for Tata but it isn't a revolutionary car for the market.

Amongst all of these the A3 is the only car which provides something new and creates a new set of buyers. It might not be as popular as other mass-market cars but it is the only car that deserves the tag of Car of the Year.

[Gannu_1]

Surprised that the Avventura did not make it to the COTY list! This was a definitive contender for the list this year IMHO. It may have the same engine in a different tune but the externals are completely different and cannot be compared to the previous generation Punto. And this has to be one of the better looking CUVs to have come out after the Ecosport. And not just a hatch with some shoddy aftermarket-looking cladwork. Quite honestly, I miss Avventura’s entry into this list.

Casted my vote for the Zest. Tata’s early venture into the automatic diesel sub-4m sedan market may give them a head start. The innards look fresh and German in appearance. It has already put a dent on Amaze’s sales going by October’s sales figures. The waiting period for the AMT variant is killing it though. I sincerely hope the Zest and the upcoming Bolt changes things for Tata.