[M35]

Originally Posted by Parm

Looks like a copy of Hyundai Santa Fe dashboard.

Really ? To me the dash design has some resemblance to that of Ford. Not surprised, Changan is the official local partner of Ford in China, in fact that of Mazda and Suzuki as well.

[Parm]

Originally Posted by M35

Really ? To me the dash design has some resemblance to that of Ford. Not surprised, Changan is the official local partner of Ford in China, in fact that of Mazda and Suzuki as well.

Thanks for clarifying it to me, please post a photo of the Ford dash design here for reference so that we call see it.

[M35]

Originally Posted by Parm

Thanks for clarifying it to me, please post a photo of the Ford dash design here for reference so that we call see it.

Not sure a copy or inspiration, but the interior looks decent to me, even a ‘cleaner’ design than the Hyundai posted earlier, IMHO. The front [exterior] is a bit overdone/flashy to my taste though.

[volkman10]

​Changan Automobile, China’s fourth-biggest automaker will be the first investment by a Chinese car maker in India.

The company has held preliminary discussions in Tamil Nadu with industry promotion agencies such as State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu for allocation of land and the Guidance Bureau, which handles investment facilitation.

The company has also looked at various locations, including Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.


Changan Automobile Company, China's fourth-biggest automaker by sales volume, has a joint venture in China with Ford Motor, Suzuki and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The Chinese automaker specialises in no-frills cars, sedans and SUVs. Some of its popular models are Alsvin, Benni, CX20, CS35 and CS75.

Link

[dZired]

China-based Changan Automobiles is reportedly planning to enter the Indian market in the next financial year. Changan is China's fourth-largest carmaker by sales volume. If these plans do see the light in the future, Changan will be China's first car maker to invest in India.

The Chinese automotive market is currently seeing stagnation in overall sales volume. While the SUV segment is soaring to new heights, sedans and minivans are constantly experiencing plummeting sales.

Changan Automobiles specialises in manufacturing basic, no-frills cars, mainly in the sedan and SUV segments. Popular models from the automaker include Alsvin, Benni, CX20, CS35 and CS75. In China, the company has joint ventures with Ford, Suzuki, and PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The Chinese carmaker claims to have 6,000 sales and service facilities in more than 60 countries around the world. It is still unknown which cars Changan is likely to bring to India.

Source: Financial Express

[aravind.anand]

I don't think they would enter, just one of the rumors that keep coming once in a while.

Honestly, if they have done any kind of market research, they should not enter this unforgiving peninsular country. Just look at how much these well established companies from around the world are struggling here. VW is struggling, Nissan is still trying to figure out what should be their next move, Datsun is praying for the Redi-Go to be accepted. Same case with Skoda, FIAT, Mitsubishi and many others. Even competent products like the Figo or the Punto or the good VFM Lodgy are not spared here.

Lastly, they should talk to GM about how much love we have showered on their recent Chinese-derived products

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by dZired

China-based Changan Automobiles is reportedly planning to enter the Indian market in the next financial year.

Here is another thread here on the same topic,

LINK

[pgsagar]

Haha....They lifted Acura's logo and turned it upside down. And as mentioned by Aravind, when many big brands are still struggling and actually going down, this obscure Chinese brand's courage to enter India needs to be admired. And that too with a car pictured above which is not a looker at all. Get a Land Wind or something here and may be it can work.

[i74js]

They have muscle power to pump money and produce made to cost products; if Redigo and Kwid can find place in the market, there will be buyers for Chinese products too.
I wonder if they could get something in the dream price of Nano?

[landcruiser123]

There have been many reports of many internationally not so well known manufacturers conducting feasibility studies in India. Proton (from Malaysia) conducted one such survey last year but was never heard of later. Unless the Chinese maker can offer something that is radically different, they'll just forgotten immediately after their product launch.

With big brands like VW and Nissan struggling, the Indian market is certainly not going to be easy for new comers.

Suzuki and Hyundai are going after volumes, whereas Toyota just wants to make maximum profit per car. Some where in between lie Honda(have lost the plot in the last 4 years) and Mahindra.

All other car makers seem insignificant in India. (I maybe slightly harsh on Ford)

[MHG]

I own a Chinese CoolPad F2 4G rebranded by Micromax's Rahul Sharma's second company Yu Televentures as Yu Yureka Plus. It is big, cheap, cheerful, works when it does but is mostly buggy and looks like a clone of a white iPhone 6S.

Unfortunately for Changan, this is the sort of impression most people are likely to have of a Chinese car.

Unlike the good old Nokia 1100 days, today phones (including those from Samsung, which is roughly similar to its Korean compatriot Hyundai in global brand equity) have a service life of 1 or 2 years and manufacturers never release any updates for older phones and kill them intentionally. This makes Chinese brands, especially the cheap (to the average Indian ear) Chinese sounding names like Oppo, Gionee, CoolPad (and even Indo-Chinese brands like Intex, Micromax and Lava), etc extremely viable as they usually have a service life comparable to those of more "international" brands like Sony, Samsung and HTC while offering much better hardware at a much lower price.

So while Chinese phones might be viable in the Indian market, cars which have a service life of 6 to 15 years in India whose average buyer is extremely loath to be seen as buying something "cheap" (read: Tata Nano's failure due to its initial positioning and the Renault Kwid's success) are something the Chinese would have an extremely hard time selling.

If a Chinese company manages to sell a barebones 4.5 meter long 5 seater sedan at the price of an Alto or do something similar though (the Chinese are usually seen as being good at this sort of thing) and impress atleast that segment of the market which appreciates it (read: families with drivers needing a 2nd car, cabbies and frequent long distance travelers on a budget) I think they stand a chance.

Then again, maybe I'm being too skeptic. Perhaps we should give them a chance and see how they perform. If anybody has a lot of money to invest and is capable of absorbing the losses if their plans fail, it is the Chinese. They sit on huge dollar reserves.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by MHG

Unfortunately for Changan, this is the sort of impression most people are likely to have of a Chinese car.


So while Chinese phones might be viable in the Indian market, cars which have a service life of 6 to 15 years in India whose average buyer is extremely loath to be seen as buying something "cheap" (read: Tata Nano's failure due to its initial positioning and the Renault Kwid's success) are something the Chinese would have an extremely hard time selling.

If a Chinese company manages to sell a barebones 4.5 meter long 5 seater sedan at the price of an Alto or do something similar though (the Chinese are usually seen as being good at this sort of thing) and impress atleast that segment of the market which appreciates it (read: families with drivers needing a 2nd car, cabbies and frequent long distance travelers on a budget) I think they stand a chance.

Then again, maybe I'm being too skeptic. Perhaps we should give them a chance and see how they perform. If anybody has a lot of money to invest and is capable of absorbing the losses if their plans fail, it is the Chinese. They sit on huge dollar reserves.

Its the Indian mentality of trying to act expensive when all he/she can afford is a 2 wheeled cycle. This is the typical mentality which makes fools of most Indians into paying through their nose for 'branded' goods which most likely are made in the same factory as the cheaper brands but have an expensive sounding label stuck to them. Classic example is mobile phones, white goods like refrigerators, washing machines or air conditioners and branded clothes like denims or tee shirts. I wonder what sense it makes for someone to buy a Note 4/5/7 or a iPhone xxx on EMI?
However strangely the car market is not really as brand conscious as the other markets may be because buying a car is a big expense second to buying a house and people do make value based decisions like reliability, usability and resale value when buying a car. This coupled with the typical feeling that all China made goods are unreliable (a myth considering all our electronics are made in China), makes the entry of a Chinese brand in India quite hard.