[MunnabhaiMBBS]

Tech-Spec Comparison : Alto 2016 Vs Datsun Redi-GO

[agd19682]

Originally Posted by vsathyap

There will be an optional variant which will have "everything" that a regular car has today - but it will have a waiting period of 18 months and SAs will say some bull**** like "why do you want that feature? Ask your child to hold a baloon and sit in the front seat - its the same thing"

I can go on and will probably get a "cost saver of the year" award at MSIL.

Dude, the point about holding a balloon for an airbag really got me. But seriously, the designer's at Maruti should really be taken to task for carrying out such feature degradation.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by vsathyap

[*]Plastic Fuel Tank - no one notices the fuel tank, so why waste metal?

I understand your sarcasm, but just wanted to point out that this is already real. Cars like Maruti Suzuki Swift already have plastic fuel tanks as a weight saving measure to enhance fuel economy.

[vamsi2390]

Like most of the members have already said, i dont see why Maruti has to make something optional when it only costs 6000. Its not like they are undercutting any competition with that money.

And did someone notice that Maruti has now copied the trademark color of the old Figo as well after those headlamps and the hexagonal grill at the front in the previous iteration.

Originally Posted by vsathyap

Ask your child to hold a baloon and sit in the front seat - its the same thing

You mate, just made my day. Couldnt laugh enough.

[PNTLovesNano]

Maruti has really panicked with the Kwid onslaught. Instead of this lame facelift, they would have been better off if they could have made the Airbags compulsory on the cars and provided the AMT option. It is not available on the 800 variant and only in the K10. Also, AMT lacking in Kwid and Eon would have put the Alto one step ahead.

And LOL at the baloon remark, and maybe Maruti knows that baloon might be safer than their airbags

[petrolhead_chn]

No offence to any of the member's opinion here. But I am wondering why so much fuss about the this model?

I feel Maruti has focussed predominantly on "first time buyers/learners". This is an entry level hatch that might be used for office commutes, drive to temple, market, kids to school, etc., Have seen numerous brand new alto 800s with few thousands of kilometers on odo up for sale (upgrade).

The real discussion should be on how much of the costs saved by Maruti in this model are being passed on to buyers?
That has kept me thinking...

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_chn

The real discussion should be on how much of the costs saved by Maruti in this model are being passed on to buyers ?

There's no mystery worth losing sleep over, the margins on a car like the Alto must be very, very, thin by now.
If you track the price of the Alto, it's been around the 2.3L to 2.5L range for a very, very, long time; in fact when I bought my first Alto way back in 2001, the on-road price was ~3.2L.
It has most definitely not kept up with inflation ( ~6.07% over the past 2 decades ).
The only logical way that's possible is if Maruti has been whittling away at the manufacturing cost over the years, & probably reducing its margins too - just the cost of labor should have tripled in the last 15 years.
It's probably one of the reasons why things like child-locks have been removed & badges have been changed to stickers & so forth over the years.
In case you're wondering, my 15-year old Alto came with child-locks on both the rear doors & chrome badges to boot
.

[petrolhead_chn]

Originally Posted by im_srini

my 15-year old Alto came with child-locks on both the rear doors & chrome badges to boot
.

But I thought we were comparing the new alto800 with 800s of the past?

[desiaztec]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I understand your sarcasm, but just wanted to point out that this is already real. Cars like Maruti Suzuki Swift already have plastic fuel tanks as a weight saving measure to enhance fuel economy.

I doubt its a weight saving measure. Its plastic, certainly cheaper than metal tanks, takes less time to manufacture, rejection rate is extremely low, whatever rejection there is, it can be recycled into plastic pellets to manufacture something else if not this. A single injection molding machine will be capable of producing the entire unit in a single shot, as against a metal tank which would require multiple processes before it is packed by the vendor and ready for dispatch and hence low labor cost, low operating costs.

Plastic has always been a raw material used for cost cutting measures and for high volume production.