[blackwasp]

GTO had earlier started a neat discussion on SUVs vs Sedans, but that was from an era when the only SUVs around were Scorpios & Safaris. The "crossover" tidal wave we are witnessing today didn't exist then. It was even before the Duster was launched!

Crossovers have delivered a body-blow to the sedan segment. Look in any price range and you can see the enormous popularity of this body style, and how it's eating the sedan's lunch. Unlike body-on-frame SUVs, crossovers are more car-like to drive. Which do you prefer and why?



Advantage CROSSOVER:

• Higher seating position offers superior road visibility & easier ingress / egress. Will also suit those with a weak back.

• It could arguably be said that crossovers are more stylish than sedans, and offer their owners a better image.

• More boot space & practicality, including the ability to fold down the rear seat for greater flexibility.

• Optional AWD - Some crossovers offer AWD, making it possible to take your ride almost anywhere in India.

• Thanks to the higher ground clearance, you don't have to baby crossovers over large speed breakers or broken roads, both of which are so prevalent in India.

• It could be said that a crossover is easier to drive than a sedan in the city, because of its superior visibility & the fact that other road users give it a little more respect.

• Since crossovers are enjoying phenomenal demand, I predict they will be easier / faster to sell when it's time to upgrade. Ask anyone who tried to sell a 4-year old Creta vs a 4-year old Verna.

• A taller seating position can result in superior space management.

• In some segments, you will find a more inspiring choice of crossovers than sedans. Example, there is hardly any interesting D1-sedan today, but there are many appealing crossovers. Even at 10 - 12 lakh rupees, there are so many more appealing crossovers than sedans. Manufacturers are basically following the market and offering a wider choice where there is demand.

• 3-row seating is available in a few crossovers, but never in a sedan. Even if it's a 5 + 2, that's still space for 2 more kids.

Advantage SEDAN:

• A sedan is usually cheaper than its crossover sibling. You can save lakhs of rupees upfront. One more way of looking at it is you could buy a sedan with more features instead of a crossover's base variant.

• All things being the same, while crossovers are very car-like to drive, a low slung sedan will handle better & be more fun to drive. Is there any crossover that can match a Rapid TSI for fun @ Rs. 10 lakhs?

• Faster: Because sedans are lighter & usually have an aerodynamic advantage, they will accelerate quicker than crossovers.

• Another advantage of being lighter is fuel economy - most sedans will deliver higher FE numbers than a crossover.

• Ride quality - You can tune a sedan's suspension for comfort, but manufacturers cannot make crossovers too soft because of their height & odds of roll-over. Just take a spin in the EcoSport, Seltos, Nexon etc. and you'll know what we are talking about. Tune a crossover for comfort and its handling is all over the place (e.g. Hector).

• It can be debated that a sedan is safer because it will handle an emergency manouveur in a more composed manner. A crossover has a higher chance of toppling in an emergency manouveur @ 120 km/h. But then, crossovers can be seen as being safer due to their taller seating position + better visibility.

[GTO]

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

Gosh, this is going to require a lot of thinking. I have traditionally been a sedan guy, but I would pick a Kodiaq over the Superb, a Seltos over any C2-segment sedan on sale and a Jeep Compass over any same-price sedan. The crossover product onslaught has led to a lot of interesting choices.

[Nithesh_M]

As a tall person with a very high center of gravity I would steer away from vehicles that induce body roll just to keep the contents of my stomach intact.
Also, I enjoy chucking low slung vehicles around fast corners.
Picked sedan.

[Tapish]

I would choose a sedan or a hatchback over the crossovers. Don't see many crossovers that have more space than say an i20 or a Jazz (sub 4m space). The added height is negative with the same (similar) width for aerodynamics. Also, most hatchbacks, sedans and the crossovers will be built on the same platform with the same engines, so paying more for a little more height does not make sense for me.

Also, the road presence of the crossovers is bad, I would rather drive a hatchback than a hatchback on stilts like most sub 4m crossovers are.

Tapish

[KPR]

I've voted for sedan. My requirement is lowered seat position, comfort, stability and minimum body roll while long journeys. A sedan/hatchback provides them. But when it comes to better GC ? Fiat gave me that in a sedan/hatchback form (Linea/Punto post 2012 suspension setup) with raised GC. But the way market is moving I will vote for a crossover maybe in 2023.

[vb-saan]

Voted for Sedan

Nowadays crossovers do provide good driving dynamics, and the scene is getting better every day. And for some manufacturers the crossover scene is much more exciting than other segments (e.g.; Volvo).

Having said that, I still prefer a sedan. The crossovers do give that high seating position and visibility, but I prefer to have that sit-in-the-car feel, rather than the on-the-car feel. The low seating position and that cocooned feel is something I still enjoy. Given a choice I will go for a 3 series instead of a X3, or C-Class instead of the GLC. On the lower segments, the lines are more blur though. For e.g.; a Tiguan with its car-like driving position may get my vote over an Octavia.

[Acharya]

As someone who shifted from XUV to 1.8 TSI Octavia, I whole heartedly voted for sedan.
IMO, cross overs are 'neither here nor there' category, would either go for full scale SUV (Furtuner/Thar) if I wanted a SUV again or pick a proper sedan than go for cross over.

Having said that, its evident that such preferences are akin to finding exotic bird in the woods. Most of the people prefer crossover for practicality and suitability on Indian roads (or the lack of it!).

[ashis89]

Crossover.

Two main reasons:

1. Higher seating which allows to walk in and out of the car. Higher seating is also more comfortable for me on long drives

2. Ground clearance which is a necessity on Indian roads.

Two demerits:

1. Sedans have better handling, no second thoughts. But a crossover with a well tuned suspension is not very far off. It can have a better ride quality than a sedan

2. Crossovers are overpriced vis-a-vis a similarly equipped sedan

For me, the merits overcome the demerits by some margin!

[ramki.grandhi]

Another advantage with tall seating position is, we dont get blinded easily during night time with on coming traffic using high beams. With sedans, chances are pretty high. Thanks to all narrow minded people using high beams with in city limits.

And sales numbers clearly vote for crossovers. There is no single sedan in our market that matches with creta or seltos sales numbers.

[extreme_torque]

A crossover in India any which day. Higher ground clearance, more space for luggage and people inside and almost similar mileage and handling.

[Vibhav-Van]

Crossover, or a sedan with higher GC like the Linea (second facelift onwards)

One of the biggest pains for any enthusiast is to watch their car scrape its underbody. What's worse, driving with that fear in your mind. I used to own a first gen Punto. Though it handled like a dream, it was a heart-in-your-mouth feeling while passing over large bumps or unscientific speed breakers.

Few cars that come to mind which balance high GC with comfortable ride and handling are the S-Cross, 2nd-gen Linea/Punto, and of course the magic-carpet Duster.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

I think the time has passed for this question. Sedans are barely hanging on - with only one exception - DZire.

August 2020 shows 13% sales for sedans as against 26% for crossovers and SUVs. That sound relevant! However, exclude just the DZire - and all the other sedans together form just 7% of sales in the market. DZire is a lone sedan presence in the 'Top-20 best sellers list' which includes crossovers like the Creta, Seltos, Venue, Vitara Brezza, SPresso () and Nexon. Creta + Seltos sells 5x more than the C segment sedans can manage together. Honda City and Verna barely manage 2k units these days.

Sales has in-turn affected the attention manufacturers pay to each models. Creta gets the 1.4 TGDi and a whole lot more features compared to the Verna which gets the 1.0 similar to the smaller Venue, Venue gets preference over the stablemate Aura and similar features as the bigger Verna. City received an extensive facelift rather than a new platform, skipped the diesel automatic and the tubo-petrol, whereas the new Ciaz isn't seen testing yet.

The only reason to pick a sedan over a crossover - handling and fun - but even that isn't their forte anymore! Gone are the days of the Fiesta and Linea - the modern sedan is designed for comfort and even a Creta can keep up with them - while managing our roads better. Infact, the only sedan I'd rather buy right now - is the Rapid Rider - as base budget fun and as a template for potential mods.

If the trend continues - sedans will mean only compacts within a few years, like the D segment was killed by the C2 segment few years back.

[Vijin]

Voted:Crossovers
- Ground clearance, based on my usage pattern.
- Road presence: Butch perception, less bullied on highways

[Axe77]

What a brilliant thread and indeed very pertinent.

I am already one step removed from Sedan when I picked the GT which had a minor crossover advantage.

To me, the biggest advantage of a sedan against a comparable size crossover is the relatively more comfortable back seat, when it comes to underthigh support and. So a Superb will offer more comfort than a Kodiaq, same for a Dezire / Amaze over a Brezza/ WRV.

However, the added convenience of the ground clearance of a crossover is just too convenient to ignore. Flip down seat flexibility is another reason but I specifically then look for 60:40 splits. If its a bench flip down I don't value it as much.

My personal take:

1. Entry segment: I would pick a crossover over a hatchback (spend more money for former if needed) but I think a same price sedan like Dezire offers better comfort as well as outright boot space than crossovers like Venue etc. The other reason that would tip me to crossovers in the entry segment is better gearbox / engine options of cars like Venue and Sonnet than the budget class TCs / even AMTs that the entry sedans offer.

2. Creta segment:

Definitely, the cross overs. I would any day pick a Seltos / Creta over a City for its sheer flexibility. The fact that they are currently providing better and wider range of engine / gearbox / fuel options is an added sweetener.

3. Octavia vs Compass / Tucson etc:

Subject to comfort with Skoda, I would pick the Octavia over the cross overs. Because the Octavia matches most of the advantages of the softroaders in a fun to drive comfortable and flexible (notchback) format. Add to that the fact that this cross over segment in this is particular dull (Tucson and CRV are not exactly that desirable anymore).

4. Superb / Kodiaq / Camry:

I would struggle here. In pure body style terms the Kodiaq appeals the most and I would definitely want to pick it over a Superb with price being the only thing that could alter that decision. But because of discomfort with Skoda I might prefer a Camry over a Kodiaq, specially if I have a second car like a Creta / Thar which can offset the sedan for those times that you need the ground clearance or rougher package.

[shabash]

Voted for cross-over. It's probably just because of my height (I am 186 cms). I simply find it difficult to enter-exit sedans, especially the ones that are really low slung (like the Civic). Also the driving position is way more comforting for me in a cross-over.

Over the years, my urge to chuck vehicles into corners have also gone down (may be age is catching up...)