[Iyencar]

Too early to make such a statement. It really depends on how good our road development is. We have already seen huge strides in the length and quality of our highways. Where we lack is having good roads in pretty much any decent metro city, especially Mumbai and Bengaluru. I would much rather be driving a nice sedan on the Mumbai Pune expressway or to Goa, but as me to make a detour into Pen, Alibaug, Kamshet, etc. and I immediately feel the need for an SUV.

[GTO]

Sedans are really losing their appeal. I am a diehard sedan guy myself, but will admit that I get tempted whenever I drive a nice crossover. More style, taller driving position & higher ground clearance. Our family beater - the Sunny - is in poor condition after it got damaged by floods; just doesn't drive or feel the same anymore & lots of niggles because water got everywhere. We might be selling it at the 9-year mark and my family is only discussing crossovers to replace it.

Manufacturers too are doubling down on crossovers because of fatter profit margins + higher selling price.

Just look at the sedan graveyard in the 18 - 40 lakh price band (D1 & D2). There are hardly any sedans left, but the SUV / Crossover options are endless. Heck, more D1 & D2 sedans have gotten discontinued than are on sale (Cruze, Corolla, Accord, Jetta, Passat...).

[SoumenD]

Personally the fear of bottoming out in those gigantic speed-breakers and bad roads filled with potholes drove me to look for a high GC vehicle. But sadly within 10L we didn’t really have any decent options which are reliable with good auto transmission & hence had to settle for a hatch. Maybe Sonet diesel AT addressed it now but it’s again pretty expensive touching 13L+(OTR Bangalore ) for a decent variant with auto transmission.

Sedans would anyday be more value than these sub4m hatches on stilts but unless the road conditions improve I don’t see much of a future for them. Manufacturers are happy milking the fad(SUV stance craze) , public is happy with the unchi-gaadi(high GC) feel. Value seekers need to bite the bullet. Going by current scenario it does look like the last generation of sedans(talking of proper 4.2+ m sedans here, sub4m ones I can never digest)

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by Vitalstatistiks

It looks like that, at least in short to medium term. But riddle me this:
Both city as well as highway infrastructure is vastly, vastly better than what it was. Having driven extensively over North India and Maharashtra, I am confident that a sedan can go to 99% of the places that a 4*2 SUV can (4*4 is a different beast, but comprises a small minority of SUV sales anyway

I disagree with this. Yes, the road infrastructure has improved, BUT can you say that the average roughness/undulation/pothole per km of road is equal or better than say, advanced countries?Definitely not!

Maharashtra, for example ,and Pune in particular , have a huge density of road traffic. But the road conditions are simply appalling relative to the economic stature of the state.

Last year, a very senior exec in Pune was on his way for an important event in a Jag. His car was caught in a flooded underpass. The pure desi Hexa had to be summoned to his rescue.

That apart, the easy ingress/egress, ability to tolerate road imperfections courtesy longer suspension travel and taller profile tyres is an ability that the crossovers (beginning with compact Crossovers) have which sedans cant match. Yes, sedans have great handling prowess. But it isn't the case that crossovers are unsafe within legal speed limits (<120 kph) Crossovers equipped with ESP would certainly acquit themselves well. Above those speeds, all bets are off regardless of the category of the vehicle anyway.

In a nutshell, crossovers or SUVs are proving to be a more practical choice on the Indian roads. And sedans will increasingly be relegated to a niche set of buyers who just dig the form factor over the function.

[R2D2]

I prefer sedans for everyday use because I HATE the roll in SUV/crossovers especially if I am a passenger. Some of them go like boats. UGH! Yeah, I'd like one of them if I were driving and for the space, GC among other things. But a sedan is always my 1st love. Having a SUV/crossover as a 2nd car would be a optimal solution for me.

As for sedans going extinct, yes in India it does appear they are vanishing. People here equate size and GC with toughness and one must admit SUVs and crossovers do look butch and tougher than sedans, a USP in this country. Am I sorry to see sedans go? Simply put, yes.

[GTO]

I have another point to make.

The Compact Sedan segment will continue unabated. Reason = that is an incredibly price sensitive segment, and even a 1-lakh rupee difference between a compact sedan vs an equivalent crossover does influence purchase decisions. Plus, the compact sedan segment generates a lot of demand from first-time car owners, commercial buyers (e.g. Uber) and companies for employee transportation.

But in the C2 sedan segments & up, we will continue to see a decline of market-share in favour of crossovers & SUVs.

[INJAXN]

Sedans are certainly loosing their appeal to mini SUVs IMO.

Earlier, if any one wanted to upgrade from their hatchback, they had only 1 real option - a Sedan. But now we have another option in form of mini SUVs, in fact its a better one, as lot of folks have pointed out.

When I bought my first car 7 yeas ago, I wanted my next car to be a Sedan ( Obviously right? What other option did I have?) , but now I have so many better options in form of Creta, Seltos, Jeep compass, and these will be the first priority.

I have also seen few friends and family upgrading from hatch to mini SUVs rather than a full Sedan.

[turbo]

I think the typical sedan buyer is not an enthusiast, that is he doesnt spend his time on either forums such as ours, or on the YouTube comment section.
A person who is interested in the sedan already has a pre-decided product in mind, just goes out there and buys it. Ask any non-petrolhead dad what they think of the Honda city, and they will get all teary-eyed and act as if it was/is the chariot of the Gods.

If anything, I think the media is losing interest in them, because it doesnt get them clicks or hits or views or whatever fancy terminology they use these days.

Want an example? Sure.

Team-BHP actually went out and reviewed a 1.3 Duster, a car which sells sub 500 units a month, whereas both Verna and City, cars doing 2000+ units a month have been very conveniently ignored. (okay the City got a single-post 50 point analysis, with a pic which in which the very first thing you notice is a massive shit some wild animal's taken. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4852640) (No, seriously, thats the very first thing I noticed )

Another reason is, IMO, the product fatigue.
All products in that segment are rather lack-lustre.

Yaris? Yawn
City? Chauffeured dad-mobile. (Just like MUVs are called soccer-mom cars in USA)
Verna? A Dzire has more space at the back than that.
Vento-Rapid? Too old
Ciaz? Budget chauffeured dad-mobile

I think this segment is not dead, merely into hibernation, and will recover when next year the new Rapid comes and the new Ciaz comes.

Ofcourse, we need a distruptor to shake up the segment. We need someone to do what the Cruze did in 2009. We need a fast agressive sporty car. Something that car guys will lust after.

[saleem_k]

To add my 2 cents here, I must share from my most recent memory, happened a couple of days ago. It rained heavily in Hyderabad, with around 2 hours of rain bringing down 12cm-15cm of rain in different regions of the city. Unfortunately, I was out on the road and got caught in this torrential downpour. Now how is this related to this topic you may ask. Let me tell you what I saw.

1. I saw a Mercedes sedan (couldn't get the model name), a BMW 320d and the latest generation Honda city breakdown due to this. While I didn't see the Merc and BMW in water, I suspect they just passed a stretch of a flooded road and they broke down.

2. The Honda City was trying to pass through an inundated stretch and ended up floating. This caused a massive traffic jam as rest of the cars waited for the rain and inundation to subside and we ended up waiting in our car for nearly an hour, at the same spot. Once the cars were allowed to pass, we had to pass through the same flooded area where the City was caught in the waters and most cars, including a Wagon R, Altroz, etc. passed this stretch without any problems.

3. When eventually traffic started rolling and everyone was caught in slow-moving traffic and passing through flooded roads, I felt a lot more assured as I was in an Ecosport, compared to someone in low-slung sedan for whom the visibility wouldn't have been great in so much traffic and also the fact that there are many flooded areas to pass to reach home.

4. I must confess I eventually had to wait it out to reach home myself because just outside our apartment the water level was almost till the bonnet height of Ecosport and surely I wasn't willing to take risk coz I know a hatchback on stilts won't make it. Probably a jeep was the only other vehicle that could have taken risk in that stretch.

What ultimately matters to most folks is peace of mind and no matter how good the roads are in your city, if you are still stranded in such situations, the mindset immediately changes to owning vehicles that will not leave the owners and/or their families stranded. One might argue that the situation I faced isn't a regular one but then even bad roads are where I feel a higher GC vehicle has a greater advantage. Ride quality is probably a small price to pay for most people who aren't enthusiasts.

[KiloAlpha]

This was the situation back in 2011.
If you had about 9-15 lakhs and were looking for a vehicle, then you could take your pick of one among 10 (fairly current) sedans. Chevrolet Optra, Fiat Linea, Ford Fiesta, Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti SX4, Mitsubishi Cedia, Skoda Rapid, Volkswagen Vento, Nissan Sunny. If you wanted to buy something other than a sedan, you could choose from among 2 SUVs - Scorpio & Safari, and 3 MUVs - Innova, Xylo, Aria. And yet, we bought about as many of these crude non-sedans (Innova excepted) as we did sedans!! We have always associated SUV with "premium" image.
That year, the C segment accounted for about 12-13% of the total 2.4 million units sold in the market. Sedans accounted for about 6-7% of the total market.

Today, if you had about 12-18 lakhs to spend (we need to account for some inflation which will push the price point of the segment higher) and wanted to buy a sedan, then your choices are restricted to 6 models. 2 of them are decently current models - Honda City and Hyundai Verna. One is now long in the tooth (Maruti Ciaz), one is a dud (Toyota Yaris) and 2 of them are vintage - Skoda Rapid and Volkswagen Vento.
On the other hand, if you wanted to buy something other than a sedan, you have a choice of 16 SUVs and MUVs. Most of them are quite current, and all offer the customer the feeling of having bought a "premium" product.

The numbers speak for themselves. The C segment today accounts for just over 30% of the market, and yet, sedans account for just 2-3% of the market!!

[sodapop]

I don't think we'll really see an "extinction" of sedans. The SUV trend is just periodic and we will see sedans getting back in form some years down the line. As oil prices rise, small cars will be back in demand.

Secondly if we stare into further future, sedans will again be in form because they are relatively easier to eek out the max range and performance from in an EV due to the obvious aerodynamic advantage that the crossovers will never match. Also with all that torque on tap and insane speeds, sedans will feel a lot more confidence Inspiring on the road than crossovers with a high COG

[Schneller]

I think sedans will be back. I had been searching for a replacement for my Vento 2015 (1.5TDI AT) for more than an year and simply put, there was nothing on offer which felt like a upgrade. Even going into a higher budget, the civic feels so not worth it. OEMs have stopped putting efforts into this segment. I have a Hyundai Creta at my house since 2 years and, that car really just put off the Crossover tag for me. It is so boring to drive with so much body roll at high speeds and inspires no confidence at high speeds whereas, the same engine in Verna is fun. Now while upgrading i had a lot of options to consider if i went the Crossover way. But, the only 2 real contenders were the Jeep Compass and the Skoda Karoq. Both of them offer a better and planted driving experience than almost all the other Crossovers, i do not feel much difference in dynamics while driving my Karoq over my Vento when driving through bends at high Speeds.
The Karoq, Compass and T-Roc all feel very good to drive and comparable to a Sedan.

Also, one more point which i think influences our decisions is the easy ingress. My dad, who is 6’2 had to somehow bend and come into the vento which used to make him uncomfortable. In the Creta and Karoq? It’s just like walking in. Also the one thing i like about crossovers is the upright seating position. It is much more comfortable in longer drives compared to Sedans laid back styles (personal preference).
None the less, if we had the VW Virtus or the next gen Skoda Rapid, i would have bought them. In my case i think the really deciding factor behind the Karoq was build quality and a very good + fun driving experience + superior tank like build quality. Which filters out almost 95% of the cars less than 30 lakhs. I have jumped on the Crossover bandwagon now. But if options improve I wouldn’t waste time in going back to Sedans.

[PrasannaDhana]

Well, the sedan space is definitely going further into oblivion.

Just look at the monthly sales data. The dashingly handsome, comparatively sporty handling, dynamic, faster verna sells 20% of what the Creta sells.

People somehow are lured to the "sit above and have a better view of the road" myth. I have been an owner and a driver of SUVs for over two decades, until I happened to take the 1.6 polo gt TDI for a long journey. Contrary to popular belief, I loved the low seating position and the amazing low CoG that a low slung car brings. Also the negligible body roll when compared to the traditional ladder on frame SUVs, which means I could take curves at much more speed than I would do on a Safari or a Fortuner.

Both of these are mine, but the sedan is closer to my heart than the SUV




Personally, I like the cocooned effect that sedans bring. And I find sedans very comfortable too, be it my daily driver Ciaz or the sedans in my extended family -Rapid and City. The longer wheelbase, lower center of gravity, better aerodynamics, better power to weight ratio, better fuel efficiency for the same powerplant and a lot more fun than the SUVs and pseudo-SUVs.

Oh wait, a proper 3 boxer looks lovely, doesn't it? I turn back for a second look whenever I see the discontinued Jetta, old baleno, Old Honda city, Lancer and even the Rapid.



A diehard SUV fan, now totally an admirer of these short and long beauties.

[Vijin]

https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/t...x-months-2020/

As per Forbes, top 20 selling passenger vehicles in USA has just 4 sedans. The rest are either UVs or pick up trucks. Also note these mentioned sedans are the usual suspects - Civic ,Camry, Corolla and Accord. No new entry!
Despite the infrastructure available, if Americans are avoiding Sedans, not sure why we should expect anything different here.

[Schneller]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Well, the sedan space is definitely going further into oblivion.
Contrary to popular belief, I loved the low seating position and the amazing low CoG that a low slung car brings. Also the negligible body roll when compared to the traditional ladder on frame SUVs, which means I could take curves at much more speed than I would do on a Safari or a Fortuner.

On an empty stretch or Highway, Definitely the driver is much better in a low seating but usually my family isn’t comfortable being a passenger in one. But, travelling in crawling Delhi traffic? I’d take a crossover any day. When will this traffic problem be solved in our country.