[PrideRed]

Average shelf life of a car model in India is somewhere around 5-6 years in India. Some cars though run longer. Ladder frame UV's usually have a long shelf life, for instance previous gen Innova/Fortuner/Pajero went on to sell for 10+ years without showing signs of slowdown in sales. There are some exceptions though, which I have listed below. While 7 years may be not long, when you compare with the current competition they are quite old.

Polo

Launched back in 2010, the car is good 11 years old. Over the years has seen plethora of engine/gearbox combinations, silly limited editions. Still sells about 1-2K copies a month.



Eeco

Launched way back in 2010, Eeco has remained same, except for engine. It came with 1.3L mill during launch as I recall, now comes with a G12 engine. Recently got BS6 makeover.



Vento

Launched in 2010, car is 10 years old in Indian market. Sales have dried up and there is no news yet on all new model.



Alto 800

Launched in 2012, model has remained same for almost 8 years now. Barring few feature updates, bumper/headlamp makeover, sheet metal and engine hasn't been changed much.



Ecosport

Launched in 2013, has got major makeover recently. Ford has kept this car relevant by updating engines/features etc. Sells in good number despite being oldest among rivals.



Octavia(3rd gen)

Launched in 2013 is on the verge of replacement. Octavia has been a key player in this segment and despite newer launches Octavia is able to hold on to its position.



Grand i10

Launched in 2013, now plays a second fiddle to Nios. Expect this to be axed soon. I don't think Hyundai discloses separate figures for i10 vs Nios, that said I see few new copies on road.



Note: I have not included few models like Dzire tour/Pajero sport etc. as I feel they are almost extinct or caters only to commercial segment.

Despite the age, many of these cars are doing alright in market(w.rto sales, performance or safety). Some of these car are still favored by BHPians/enthusiast despite newer launches. What helps manufacturers to sell a model longer? Better design? solid engineering(probably helps to meet evolving safety norms)? or just good marketing?

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

Other than some exceptional cases, one really cannot sell old models in India anymore. The product shelf life has come down drastically. Even Maruti brings out new cars sooner than earlier where it would sell the same generation for decades.

Here are two terribly old models from my side. Landcruiser 200. Believe it or not, the only 2-crore car that's been around since almost 15 years and feels so horribly outdated:


The Bolero whose lineage you can trace back to the 30-year old Armada (or even more):

[Shreyans_Jain]

Gosh, I never realised Eeco actually came after the Polo. I only remember it being on the road, well, always. Maybe that’s what happens when your product looks straight out of the 90s. It is nothing but a stripped down Versa after all.

[VKumar]

Same applies for the Scorpio too, multiple iterations - still one can recognize it right form the day 1 of launch to the one today - it's the same car!

And the award for the oldest shall go to our country's beloved van - the Omni! That's probably older than a large number of BHPians itself!

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Gosh, I never realised Eeco actually came after the Polo. It is nothing but a stripped down Versa after all.

Indeed, it came before Polo - as mentioned by you, it's a Versa who lost some features and a few bucks in price!

[padmrajravi]

Even XUV500 deserves a place here. Launched in 2011 and still doing numbers close to 1000 in monthly sales just before lockdown started. Mahindra must be the manufacturer with the most number of decade-old models. They protect their brands and keep updating them to never fall out of the customer's consideration set.

[AirWind]

if not for BS6, there would have been many more on this list - Nissan Micra+Sunny, Toyota Etios+Liva, FIAT Linea+Punto+derivatives, Mitsubishi Outlander+Pajero, TATA Safari to name a few...

[TRANSAM]

The Renault Duster as well, in its current iteration, is still available and can be easily recognised, it probably will continue to sell till 2021 or till such time they bring in the new duster.

[BLACNWYTE]

The most stagnant models will be the Polo, Vento, Maruti 800, Omni and Bolero; design wise. These models must have had the minimal design changes in their life. It is also a fact that apart from Omni, none of the cars are even remotely unpleasant to the eyes. And Omni is well, Omni and is still an iconic car.
I have always fantasised about owning a Bolero but when I was in the market for a car, sadly the Bolero was not on my list due to various reasons. I hope down the line when I have enough spare cash I would gladly and swiftly buy one. I don't think Mahindra will pull the plug on Bolero in the near future. Only wish they keep the current base design intact and does not pull a new generation Hyundai Creta.

[Rajeevraj]

Wow, so the Polo is kind of the oldest car still on sale today. To be fair, does not look or feel like that. The never ending minor tweaks have managed to keep it fairly relevant. One reason why it still sells reasonably well. Of course VW missing the point that if it can sell a 11 year old model in 1000+ numbers, how much would they sell if they bring in the newer fresher models.

[dhruvritzed]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Average shelf life of a car model in India is somewhere around 5-6 years in India. Some cars though run longer. Ladder frame UV's usually have a long shelf life, for instance previous gen Innova/Fortuner/Pajero went on to sell for 10+ years without showing signs of slowdown in sales. There are some exceptions though, which I have listed below. While 7 years may be not long, when you compare with the current competition they are quite old. ......

Hey, there are a few mistakes in the details, mainly:
1. VW launched the Polo in 2010.
2. Eeco is not powered by the K12, it still marches on with the G13 derivative in 1200cc form.Also the Versa came powered by a 1.3, Eeco has always had the 1.2 engine for sub-4metre benefits.
3. VW launched the Vento in 2010 August.

Kindly correct the same as it may mislead used or new car buyers.

Thanks

[Bibendum90949]

Though not in production for civilian use now, the iconic Maruti Gypsy is one model which had one of the longest tenures. Except for the engine and few minor tweaks to head lamps, it largely remained the same throughout its whole life in the market. It was launched in 1985. So three and half decades of existence for Gypsy.

Bit of Gypsy trivia - " It is manufactured in India by Maruti Suzuki. It was introduced in the Indian market in December 1985 with the 970 cc F10A Suzukiengine and while sales were never very high it became very popular with law enforcement. It was codenamed MG410, which stood for "Maruti Gypsy 4-cylinder 1.0-litre engine". In July 1993, Maruti introduced the "widetrack Gypsy" codenamed "MG410W" replacing the MG410."

Production of the Maruti Gypsy for civilans stopped in March 2019. However Gypsy is still in production for defence. Bookings from civilians were taken till December 2018 and were delivered by March 2019.

Source : Wiki

May be Omni comes first in that list.

[vb-saan]

The Polo still manage to look quite modern; get reminded of its age only when you see the latest gen Polo. The Ecosport is another handsome model in the list, and it actually got better over the years. And 7 years is not that old

[HammerHead]

Nice thread. Just realized that the oldest car on sale from Tata Motors is Hexa which was launched in 2017. That's amazing looking at whats on offer from 'premium' brands.

[JojyKerala]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Eeco

Launched way back in 2010, Eeco has remained same, except for engine. It came with 1.3L mill during launch as I recall, now comes with K12 engine. Recently got BS6 makeover.

My cousin - a resident of the Andamans back then - won an Eeco in a lottery in 2012. He immediately shipped it to Kerala, parked it at home and returned to the Andamans.

Since he didn't know how to drive back then, he used to get a mechanic over to check the car every 6 months. The Eeco was like a prized possession back then. It still is.

The only thing that's changed is that he has now moved to the gulf and comes back only once in 1 or 2 years. He has learnt driving and still treats the car with the same love that he had when he first got it. Its driven around 15k to 20k km and he gets a lot of offers from buyers. But he says no to all of them.

One thing I must add here is that his expenditure on maintaining the car has been minimal. The car hasn't faced any significant mechanical issues despite low usage. Its a testament to the longevity of the car and the reason why Eecos still sell in good numbers.

[rajushank84]

I guess the Punto deserves a place here too, since the current Punto is just a styling update over the original Punto.