[chiefpk]

Should I add the Elite i20 active and the Maruti A star.
A-star was a terribly designed product.
And one more thing I would like to add is, quite a lot of you have been considering Ford figo/aspire in this list.
Really surprising to see them being such disappointment for some.
The Figo and Aspire are meant for really selective audience in the Indian market. Many don't bother about the performance and reliability front of a car and hence, drop them from the list.
Add to that, Ford has done a lot of cost cutting removing bling features like those of touchscreens and Android Auto, in a market that has customers going for a product only based on such features.
My take on this.

[Romeo_Mike]

How has this masterpiece escaped this list? I remember when the Manza was showcased for the first time as the Elegante concept (in 2007 Geneva Motor Show.. no less!), the Indian media went gaga over it, heralding the model as the sign of Tata's arrival on the world stage

[mmxylorider]

Some of the previous posts allude to models that did not meet the hype but the sales were quite good and IMHO not suited for this thread. In addition, a car like the Tata Nano created a unique segment and deserves a distinction since there was no other manufacturer taking them head on with similar offering.
I would say, if sales are good, the hype is irrelevant and those cars are the ones I would be curious about. High Hype and Low Sales - Facts should support this.

[The Great]

Honda Civic (current gen - the other countries get great engine options)

Toyota Etios ( The success of Innova made it eagerly awaited car but sadly turned out a market dud)

Renault Lodgy (Just couldn't hold the launch hype)

Kia Carnival ( what we are offered is 2 generations older version)

[Raghu M]

I think the Nano will top the list. In recent times, no other car created such a hype and came out a cropper. I think for all the other cars, car enthusiasts would definitely wait and expect something but in the case of Nano, the whole country waited and were left high and dry with the outcome.

Out of topic but in bikes, I think the Hero Honda CBZ was the biggest dud of it's times.
Also, just to name a few.

Vespa,
Suzuki Fiero
Kinetic Challenger
Bajaj Aspire
Yamaha Enticer

[Mr.Boss]

1) All cars listed here are sales duds for sure, but my question is how many generated a lot of hype?
2) Intention is to find the one which created a huge hype and failed because there is a huge gap w.r.t on-paper (or hyped) spec and actual product? or am I missing something here?

Let me take the example of known devil, Nissan Sunny.
- Actual product had all the spec & feature 'hyped' pre-launch
- Had a decent sales figure (Initially over 2k, then consistent 1k for couple of years - I may be wrong on the number though, please excuse if so)
- Became a sales dud when company failed to upgrade the product in line with the market and benchmark

I'm puzzled how to consider the cases like this.

[Stribog]

My dad single-handedly kept the flop market alive in India for 2 decades.

1986 iirc he got the Standard 2000 (mega flop),

Thanks to the abysmal mileage he sold it in 3 years (his daily beater was his trusty old Padmini)

Then we got the national kidnap vehicle, Maruti Van in 91, in between he purchased the second flop model The Siphani Dolphin second hand from his uncle, my mom used to drop me in school in it and even as a 8 year old in 1988 it was a total embarassment. A two door car looked like a clown car back then.

He shifted jobs in 95 moved back to Chennai and was given a choice of an Esteem or Peugeot 309

Aaaaand he went for the 309.

It was with us till he quit this job in 2000. Though I must admit the car really stood out and I still think it has the best A/C of any car in its segment and power windows were an awesome party trick.

Once he was like "I want to sell the Padmini and Dolphin and pick up this new amazing car in the market the Mondego"

Thankfully though it never came to pass. Else he would have purchased one more flop car.

Since 2001 after I started working, I always took his advise on what car or bike to buy and did the opposite ��

[Sebring]

Maruti informs us that the Zen was returning, but delivered this ugly Estilo. This event splashed some major cold water on my dreams. LOL

[anjan_c2007]

I would like to add/supplement information on the LEMON cars that got launched with hype, but the going became tough and soon after, these cars due to obvious reasons disappeared from the scene. Some are already described by others, but are still being added by me with my narratives.

These include :-

- Standard 2000- luxury car so well equipped, but flopped due to the outdated Vanguard engine. DRI raids followed as they were claiming import duty concessions for fuel efficient cars, which were proved to be misleading. It ultimately killed the company.

- Fiat Uno - massive bookings followed by quits from buyers.

-Peugeot 309 sisters the petrol and the 309 GLD- Outdated for its time, but a tough car. Friction between PAL and Peugeot compounded problems and killed the car. The court case for the PAL-Peugeot Kalyan plant continues, 20 years on.

- Daewoo Cielo and Matiz - too good for their times, but the collapse of the South Korean chaebol killed Daewoo the world over incl India.

- Ford Escort - huge body not compatible petrol engine, exorbitant cost of spares, service cut the life of this car.

- Brand Opel - The Astra, Corsa, Corsa SAIL perished due to GM's unplanned ways, again high cost of spares, high cost of repairs. These have now disappeared, even from the second hand car market.

- Brand Chevrolet Spark, Beat, Enjoy, Aveo, Cruze, Tavera, Trailblazer, Captiva, Optra- the brand though gave plasticky, small Chevrolets other than the Tavera, Trailblazer, Cruze, Captiva and Optra was another flip-flop by GM, who failed in marketing completely and again messed up changing over from Opel to Chevrolet. They should have rather brought brand Chevrolet from Day 1 in 1996 and stayed on with a strong marketing team. They were very casual about the Indian Market. Luckily, they didn't rebrand the Cruze as a Buick Cruze to regain the market, thinking that it fits in an executive slot for our country.

- Tata Nano - after the initial hype about this Re 1 lakh car, when it ultimately reached the showrooms, it was found that the higher pricing (a two year used Alto would be available at a cheaper price) and its branding as a people's car undid it. People by then wanted something more than a basic 'people's car. The Nano fires are famous. All the fires stopped from the day the Nano was discontinued. Tata did not aggressively counter allegations from fire episodes. Nor did they make the fire enquiry reports if any, public.

-Maruti A Star and Ritz- The largest car maker also becomes shaky and uneasy at times. Uneasy lies the MSIL head, that wears the crown. These models launched around the same time did not go places. They had proven powerplants, but perhaps their confused placing in the MSIL folio and also their design could have led to their premature demise, whereas the Alto, Omni, Swift, DZire, Versa /Eeco that were launched earlier than these two stayed on and on. The Zen Estilo can also be listed as a still born, freak Maruti. It was to carry on the Brand Zen further. But the Estilo other than the three letters on its badging was no match for the real Zen.

Freaks will come and go and the story will go on and on with the kind of planning prevalent in our car industry.

[Nav-i-gator]

Not a sales dud from an industry point of view, but going by Maruti standard, I would add S-Presso to the list.

How we all were drooling over the concept images and how it was born

And sales are not chart topping for Maruti as well.

[srini1785]

One gets the impression from reading through the thread that almost all models of every brand has been mentioned by someone or other. It would be more interesting if members can also support their dud car nominees with actual sales numbers and comparison with similar offering in the same segment.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by Stribog

My dad single-handedly kept the flop market alive in India for 2 decades.

...
Then we got the national kidnap vehicle, Maruti Van

This made me laugh. You have a good style of writing

[redohabitat]

Originally Posted by TorqueSteer

Does anyone remember Hyundai Sonata ? Not today's one. Hyundai launched a Sonata long back with round headlights that looked like a Mercedes knock-off.

Sonata was a Jaguar x-type knock-off actually, not a Mercedes knock-off. Cars like Hyundai Sonata and Opel Astra were never meant to be made as hot selling products. They were aspirational products to showcase their parent company's talents, so their juniors such as Hyundai Accent and Opel Corsa did sell in good numbers.

One car I think that no one has pointed out yet, is Opel Vectra. Sonata still sold a lot more than Vectra, though Vectra had so much more going for it.

[TorqueSteer]

Originally Posted by redohabitat

Sonata was a jaguar x-type knockoff actually, not a mercedes knock off.

Was talking about this. This was the 4th gen Sonata for international markets. But 1st gen for India and launched as Hyundai Sonata Gold.

The one you are referring to is 2nd gen for India I believe and was launched as Hyundai Sonata Embera.

[meghantp14]

I guess Mahindra Quanto tops the list followed by Nissan Sunny.

Even Tata Zest and Bolt are the victims of all hype and no play.

I own a Quanto and it's a service nightmare.

Sunny with its dimensions gave a spacious sedan like feel only to be let down by a sub-par performance and Nissan's hit and miss ASS!