[wheelguy]

Out in the market, major percentage of buyers are non-carheads rather than carheads, their decisions are solely based on looks, comforts & features, reliability, ease of running and maintenance etc. Out of my interest to know the cars loved by non-enthusiasts, while on the road I show different cars to my family & friends and ask them if they liked that particular car, and I get some interesting answers. Created this thread to discuss about cars loved by non-carheads.

Here's a short list from my family and friends:

Sister: VW Polo, and Mini-Cooper. Though not a car-person, she is clear about what she likes. Interestingly my sister never considers price while buying anything, and also never cares to compare various products, she just buys whatever she likes.

Mother: Fiat Punto, Ford Ecosport, and most of the D-Segment sedans. She always tells me that to her car means a proper sedan.

Father & Grandfather: So uninterested in cars that I never asked them about cars. But on one particular occasion my father said that he didn't like Beat's backseat comfort. My father while buying anything just sets a budget and never cares to look beyond the budget.

Cousin 1: Hyundai i20

Cousin 2: Hyundai Creta

Aunt: Maruti Suzuki S-Cross

Uncle: Maruti Brezza

Friend: Renault Duster, and Tata Hexa

And the car loved by all(except few) is Toyota Innova.


On a side note, the car I own is Tata Nano, and it is one of the many cars that I love.

[VWAllstar]

Few reasoning I have heard on why people like certain cars.

Renault Duster : Because it looks BIG.

Bolero: Because it SCARES others on road.

Kwid: Because it can be driven like a SCOOTER.

Harrier: Because it comes in ORANGE.

Swift: Bhartiya MINI Cooper.

Ecosport: Because it has a TYRE at the rear.

Fortuner: Entry into POLITICS.

Fiat Palio: SACHIN advertised it.

Mercedes: Because it is a MERCEDES.

[GeneralJazz]

jeep, jeep jeep! Maaruthi jeep, Tata Nexa jeep, Ford jeep, MG and Seltos jeep, Hyundai jeep. Gist of the responses I got from friends and family when I asked this question.

[avisidhu]

Swift/Dzire -- Not so long ago, this was the aspiration for the first time buyer/Alto non-enthusiast category. The fact that you saw so many on the road, or that all (except latest) iterations of Dzire were downright ugly, did absolutely nothing to reduce the 'love', even though that love had a lot of practicality associated to it.

Scorpio -- The road presence of this one is unlike pretty much anything except the Fortuner, and some non-enthusiasts of the rugged variety salivate each time they see one. Ditto for Royal Enfield, although the sentiment is reserved just for the black old gen 'bullat' in some geographies, rest are viewed with indifference or disdain.

Fortuner -- Enough said.

Creta -- Along with the Innova, this is the one who's love and desirability spans multiple customer segments, income levels and even genders.

Harrier -- Among so many new launches, this one in specific gets the pulse racing of non-enthusiasts. I hear a "Ye kaun si gaadi hai" almost each time someone sees it on the road first time. Wish Tata could have leveraged this appeal better.

[jetsetgo08]

Black Scorpio & Fortuner - For that butch car feel.
Red Polo & Blue i20- For that elegant design.
Baleno & Swift - Because many others own it.

[RedStallion]

All Cars from MSIL.

General people love the brand as they see more cars from MSIL on roads. Also, resale value.

[srini1785]

Wife : Anything with 4 wheels and a driver (me). Only condition it should be
white in colour. No other colours allowed.

Son : Anything as long as he gets to sit in front.

Father / Mother : Anything as long as it is gifted by company and not bought by
son(me).

FIL : Strictly no cars , only public transport or cab services (at times).

MIL : Mahindra Reva since its compact.

Rest of the family/Friends etc are a pain and i don't ask them.

[R4m4kr15hn4n]

Audi, BMW and Mercedes sure gets a second look from my family members. Other than that, Honda City is another one which they can identify. I know that looks are subjective, but for my parents, these cars look sleek and hence they like them. Wonder what they'll say if they see a Ferrari or a Lamborghini.

[Cooltronics]

HM Ambassador - Every adult's wet dreams in 60s-70s. Luxury on wheels, robust and dependable but never in an affordable reach then

HONDA CITY - Ubiquitous choice of kids grown in 90s. Carried the biggest aspiration value. "I will buy CITY one day" resonated every where

WAGON R - We call it " Wagon R Patel" - 80% of Patel community has one . Reason - low cost, tall boy big car feel, Maruti - the name says it all

HONDA CIVIC - "Purple Civic only" . no other cars have purple color hence the choice. That's one specific friend of mine

TOYOTA FORTUNER - Toyota, road presence, massive size

TOYOTA INNOVA - Toyota period. Only car that appreciates in value.

MERCEDES - no specific model, any model of the brand Mercedes & works in what ever condition. Again a style statement

[Nav-i-gator]

White Wagon R, period. Any other car is just a waste of money and show-off for parents. And, Dzire too now - since Sharma ji ka Ladka have bought one recently

[rrnsss]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

White Wagon R, period. Any other car is just a waste of money and show-off for parents. And, Dzire too now - since Sharma ji ka Ladka have bought one recently

I love my Wagon R . Too bad I could not wait to get the white. I got the silver instead. I was young and could not control my impulses

There is no car better than the Gen1 - Gen2 Wagon R in the Indian Road according to me.

Whenever I am inside my Waggy, I feel at home. It is like an old friend who knows all the back alleys and the best hole-in-the-wall eateries.

The new gen Wagon R is an abomination. It is a blasphemy. It destroyed the very essence of why the Wagon R was created.

[Nav-i-gator]

Originally Posted by rrnsss

I love my Wagon R . Too bad I could not wait to get the white. I got the silver instead. I was young and could not control my impulses

There is no car better than the Gen1 - Gen2 Wagon R in the Indian Road according to me.

Whenever I am inside my Waggy, I feel at home. It is like an old friend who knows all the back alleys and the best hole-in-the-wall eateries.

The new gen Wagon R is an abomination. It is a blasphemy. It destroyed the very essence of why the Wagon R was created.

That's not love for the car, sir; That's nostalgia.

I agree on one thing though. 2nd Gen blue eyed was the "best ever Wagon R" ever sold in India (I even seriously contemplated buying it once), and latest one is the worst.

But the statement in bold is taking it too far I guess, for a car which twerks at every road bump

[rrnsss]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

That's not love for the car, sir; That's nostalgia.

I agree on one thing though. 2nd Gen blue eyed was the "best ever Wagon R" ever sold in India (I even seriously contemplated buying it once), and latest one is the worst.

But the statement in bold is taking it too far I guess, for a car which twerks at every road bump

I just like the "I am just a simple car and nothing more" attitude of the Wagon R. Believe it or not, if someone put a gun to my head and said, you can have only one car, what would it be... I will say MY WAGON R without second thoughts.( even though it is not white ) .

As I say,
It is a car for the man who does not want a car.
It is as less car as possible for the money.
Why rue the traffic when you can become it?
It is a wonderful thing when you do not even notice the car you are driving.

Yes, it is a bit jittery at highway speeds, but it is a sign to slow down. It can comfortably do 80 Kmph on the highway and that is good enough for me.

Indian roads are a lawless jungle where the poorer person is ALWAYS RIGHT and there is mob rule.

[fhdowntheline]

My wife loves any sedan, she was ok when I moved from Santo to Dzire back in 2008.
My mom also essentially likes a sedan, specifically liked Corolla Altis and Octavia1.8 Tsi . Not a fan of SUVs or rickshaw-like hatches(read Ignis) . Loves the solid feel of the Polo though.
My father - “loves” the Linea / Polo for their solid build and “likes” the City, though for some reason he also loves the Xcent for comfort (his favourite Uber ride). All his professional life he has been chauffeured around in cars ranging from Padmini to Ambassador to 118 NE/ Esteem to Lincoln TownCar/ Lexus 300 , so every other Indian car , save a S class/RR would be a downgrade.
For some reason, parents were not great fans of my former Duster, inspite of its cosseting ride.
Sister’s favorite brand is Maserati !

[swiftLife]

For the people around me, the likeness for cars have always been about the size. Specifically a sedan is always better than a hatchback.

So for them, a Dzire is much better than Baleno whereas a Ciaz is only somewhat better than a Dzire.

Similarly, all C2 sedans are compared only based on the manufacturer. So for them Ciaz < Verna < City < Rapid because Maruti < Hyundai < Honda < Skoda.

But now the craze is all about the SUVs. Again for them, an SUV is not a vehicle capable of going off-road but something which is larger in size & has relatively bigger tires. So people now try to buy the biggest SUV they can which can come in their budget.

Worse is, that now the amount of gizmos and gadgetry help to decide when there is a tie or a confusion.

I remember when a relative of mine who purchased a BMW F10 320d, equated it to an i20 Asta (which he bought for his son), just because both have push button start-stop, Bluetooth hands free, ICE screen in dash, reverse parking camera etc.