[scooby05]

Originally Posted by GTO

Among other things, Mercedes also makes cycles & cargo vans.

That doesn't matter. What does is what your brand is known for. Volvo is known more for buses than cars in India. Mercedes - on the other hand - is known as a luxury car maker that also makes trucks.

GTO, IMO, The segment that looks at Volvo cars, knows what a Volvo is, and I do not think people who identify Volvo to buses are the target audience anyways. Volvo is a notch lower than the Beemer and Mercs all over the world though. The only way they can be successful here is on pricing and long term reliability reports in years to come, besides fleets. I've used Volvo and Saab for that matter, and had very good experiences, except that the resale at that time[1990s] was very bad, and I guess even today.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I'd not be averse to buying a gently used 328i as well. Unfortunately there are none on sale in Bangalore or in all of Karnataka.

In fact I had actually looked at BMW premium selection before - there was nothing available in petrol other than a slightly run down 525i.

This place is diesel country and finding a petrol car is like looking for a needle in a haystack .

I've heard that Volvo is giving some great offers on their (demo) cars, maybe you should be able to grab a bigger one at a great price! Best of luck, in either case if you intend to keep the car for a while (4-5 years) I don't see why the V40 isn't a great choice, the new 1 series isn't coming anytime soon although they have announced the prices and personally I didn't find the A Class petrol to be peppy. Do share details if you do end up pulling the trigger.