[Sangre]

Voted Crossover.
As pointed by the OP, the manufacturers are listening to the market and the market reinforces the manufacturer's intuitions.

I bought a Ford EcoSport (Ecoboost, Titanium+) in Dec. 2017 since it was the one Petrol option that gave me Safety (6 airbags), Power (123 bhp) and reasonable reliability (I had a Ford Figo diesel earlier) at that price point. I'd have bought the Fiesta Petrol if only it was on sale in late 2017.
I've enjoyed a first-hand experience of a few of the pros mentioned in the thread. Ride quality could be improved but given the handling and GC that I'm enjoying, no complaints there.
The only thing specific to the EcoSport that does bug me sometimes me is the visibility and the city drivability (with the ecoboost).

[Night Raven]

Voted for the crossover.
I have always loved handling and stability more than anything else. Untill recently my upgrade dreams were all circling around sedans like Verna, Elantra, City, Civic etc. Over the past two years things have changed for me. Firstly, most of the sedans I can afford in the market doesn't excite me anymore. Secondly and more importantly, the part of the country where I live suffers from waterlogging and floods almost every monsoon. Condition of some of the roads that I frequently drive is pathetic to say the least. Any additional ground clearance and water wading ability that a crossover gives will save me from a lot of heart in the mouth situations. I am willing to give up a little bit of handling and ride comfort for that peace of mind. Moreover, there are a few crossovers like the Ecosport and the Compass which handles well, looks timeless and has decent engines & features.

[adityak7]

My vote for the sedan.

IMO, there is simply no alternative to the driving pleasure that a low slung sedan will provide you. I am not really sure how much advantage a crossover provides over a sedan with the exception of ground clearance, and maybe a better seating position for people with back-issues.

With the road conditions in India improving drastically over the previous decade (including the hill stations). Is GC that big a differentiating parameter anymore?

[chiefpk]

I might be a minority here, but I would blindly go for a Sedan over a crossover. There are issues with ground clearance and egress ingress issues with sedans, agreed, but the premiumness a Sedan features over a crossover is unmatched.
A sedan straight away feels more premium and classy over an SUV. An octavia/superb/civic is my choice over a Jeep Compass, harrier or seltos any day.

[sumeethaldankar]

False SUV or real sedan? You get the picture. I drove a Creta once, I was reminded of me being seated in my company bus instantly. May be I am just like being down (closer) to earth or just that I lived on the ground floor most of my life and maybe I have unknown hidden fear of heights might be the reason I do not have a thing for SUV/crossover type vehicle. If I do buy a crossover type vehicle it would be because it is the in thing and everyone else is purchasing one citing poor roads etc

I for one do not buy the sedan vs crossover argument incase of bad roads being the reason. Modern sedans do have better ground clearance and they do ok over bad roads which are not everywhere. So if you encounter a large pot hole and if you are in a SUV or a crossover you are not going to slow down and brake? You are going to do the same thing as the guy in the sedan, two wheeler etc will do ie reduce speed and try to crawl over the huge speed breaker or the gaping pothole, only due to higher ground clearance your crossover might not kiss the ground as much as a sedan could. A small factor I am willing to overlook since as I mentioned modern sedans have better ground clearance than the older generation ones. More of the matter here (Ground Clearance: How much do you really need?).

The only reason for me to get a crossover/suv over a sedan would be that the former would have a better water wading capacity than a sedan. Mumbai's notorious roads not only a modeled after the lunar surface they are also crafted with water kingdom styles rides which you can have on the road surface. But that is akin to buying rainy shoes and using them for the entire year just because it rains 3 months of the season.So for me heart says ground floor style feeling while driving while the head says first floor type feeling while driving.

[lamborghini]

Personally, I love a crossover for daily commuting on Mumbai's forever potholed or under construction roads.
The superior visibility, and more often than not compact size compared to equivalent sedans (length) make living with one in a congested city much easier.
On the inside too, they offer more seating comfort than a similar segment sedan.
Coming from an extensive sedan and hatch background, we now have 2 crossovers in the garage, and the number may grow in the future.

That being said, sedans are the ones to pick if you value ride and handling, though the gap has narrowed.
Late nights, early mornings would still see me reaching for the keys of a sporty sedan over a crossover.

Another factor that is tilting us in the direction of crossovers is purely due to the lack of availability of truly practical and good looking sedans.
If you're upgrading from a 6-7 year old ₹12 lakh sedan (vento, ciaz, city), with a fair budget of ₹18-20 lakh, you're pretty much stuck in top end crossover territory if you want an 'upgrade', the elantra / civic base trims, or else go back to buying a new gen city / ciaz again which isn't really an upgrade.
Similarly when upgrading from a corolla / civic to a 35L vehicle : choices are again limited to a new elantra, or a civic, or if you wait the new octavia and the Superb sportline on the higher end of the budget.
But at the same time, that budget would get you some really nice crossovers like the CRV, Tucson, Karoq, etc. with the kodiaq and tiguan coming in on the higher side of the budget. Not to mention the proper MUVs/SUVs too which have eaten a big chunk of the pie - endeavour, fortuner, innova, etc.

We were lucky to buy an Altis - with its decently high rear seat (compared to lower civic, elantra) & good GC. Blends the fine line between a sedan & crossover for our requirements but picking a replacement sedan won't be easy.

[naveen.raju]

Voted for Crossover, reason being

1) Higher seating position - I like the 360 degree view from the inside. Very effective on our roads. No camera can beat this
2) Ground clearance

I always fail to find a good seating position in the sedan (maybe got used to the higher seating position). Most of the sedans are gone from our garage and have been replaced with either CSUV's, SUV's and MUV's.

[Shreyans_Jain]

A big reason for the one sided response is the fact that at any price band, crossovers are simply for competent than the sedans. Be it Creta vs City or Nexon vs Amaze or Sonet vs Dzire, the crossovers are simply better on so many counts. The only decided advantage of sedans is boot space, and here too the difference is only 10-15%. The buyer is simply looking for the best value for his money. It is the fault of the companies who have been giving their sedans step motherly treatment or are simply too complacent.

[distiller]

Voted for Crossover

The thread exactly captures my current dilemma

I am in phase of changing my ride. The needs are safety and long distance cruise-ability without breaking the back. And with the budget to spend it's a big challenge.

On hand there are few sedans who appeal to the heart and the budget. But, when I look at practicality, ease of ingress/egress, better GC (so that I need not worry about our roads), higher seating leading to better visibility the crossovers come to my mind. But the so called sales busters are asking astronomical figures! And here the dilemma starts

[BlackPearl]

I would either go for a 4x4 UV/SUV with low ratio GB or a full fledged sedan/hatchback. I do not like crossovers that are neither here nor there. They don't provide the driving experience of a sedan or the peace of mind and capability of an UV/SUV. So voted for sedan.

[TheARUN]

As cliched as it may sound, heart says Sedan but mind says Cross-Over. The main point that pushed me over the fence was resale value in the near future. I'm seeing more buyers for Cross-overs than Sedans in the used car market

[Sunil@786]

I'm still on the fence.
My concern would be that which car segment would be great for a senior person along with being a great car driving over potholes?
As per my knowledge a sedan is perfect for a senior whereas a crossover is excellent for potholes.
I'm unable to find one car segment that comprises of both.
I'd like to request my fellow BHPians to debate over it

[Gsynch]

Its Sedan for me.

But In India where "Badi Gaadi" is a proper noun and not an adjective, crossovers seems like bigger cousins of the same category sedan

Hence demand for crossover is going to increase overtime as more and more buyers from Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns join the tribe where having a huge GC is a must have.

[Tapish]

The poll that was skewed towards sedans early in the morning has moved towards crossovers during the day. Maybe that's how the market is moving.

Originally Posted by dipdawiz

Voted for crossover. Feel more confident driving a longer and bigger Innova than a Rapid.

Maybe you are comparing from two different segments. An Innova should compete with an Octavia according to the price band for example if longer and bigger is the parameter. + Innova is a body on frame UV and not a crossover.

Tapish

[speedmiester]

Crossover anyday. The advantages outweigh the negatives by a huge margin.

Cost: Since crossovers hold the value well, the initial higher cost is negated at the time to sell

Fun to drive: Personally it doesn't bother me. The confidence that a crossover provides over different road conditions, potholes, night driving is more important in day to day driving

Speed/FE: The gap between a sedan and crossover is very minimal for most drivers

Ride quality: This is where Sedan's outshine crossovers, but again not much difference. Creta offers a good balance between ride and comfort

Safety: It's on par. Except maybe odd evasive manoeuvre at very high speeds

If anyone has to drive regularly on state highways and rural single lane roads, crossover is the way to go. The higher seating position is also better suited for night driving.
Crossovers are also little forgiving when you hit an pothole or miss a speed breakers.