[NaXal]

Two cars I completely disagree on this list are Figo & Yaris.

Why?

Figo is still a very potent platform, has excellent BS6 engines on petrol & diesel. It only needs a good cosmetic make over. Some fancy facelift with projectors & bit of interior gizmos !!

Where as Toyota needs to stiffen up the Yaris suspension & offer a Turbo Petrol & bring a diesel may be? Plus offer those fancy interior gizmos. Immediately it may put City & Verna sales numbers in pressure.

Considering their competition, both this platforms have enough juice in them, specially Figo. Just spicing up the cosmetics can immediately change its sad sales performance.

Thanks.

[TaurusSHO]

I feel like the new Santro should be discontinued soon. It's an overpriced economy hatchback, super ugly IMO and don't think Hyundai India is very much pleased with the sales numbers.

[Carma2017]

When I saw this thread, I remembered the first thing about cars that my mentor at Japan told me when I was starting off in the Auto industry. "A good car is one that sells well (as per company expectations) and not what you deem to be beautiful or technically competent. Every car maker exists to make profit and not to do charity except as demanded by law ( CSR)". 20 years later, I have not liked more than half the cars I have worked on but understand the purpose of their existence after looking at sales numbers.

[aayusht]

It would be sad to see the Yaris and Vento disappear.

If only Yaris was priced slightly lower, I would definitely consider it. 2 years back when I had test driven Vento, Yaris, City, Ciaz and Verna, the most comfortable one to drive was Yaris. Plus I find the seating just right and the ingress - egress easier. I finally put my decision on hold as I used to travel out of station too frequently and now am looking at a different segment, but Yaris would not be out of consideration if I were to relook at the segment.
It does deserve a proper facelift and either new features to justify the price or a price correction.

Vento on the other hand is one of the most solid cars out there (my in-laws have one and everyone who has driven it speaks of the solid thud) and the VW badge just seems to provide a better perception (key word: perception) of reliability than Skoda. Also, I feel Vento looks a bit better than Rapid. I would not buy it just because I find the ingress poor and seating lower than my preference.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Toyota Yaris:
====
We feel the Vento should be buried, and just the Rapid should continue.

[amitayu]

I think the Polo needs to die, if for nothing else but to make space for the Golf to come into India.

[Raghu M]

I am sure the manufacturers know pretty well about their products. There could be many reasons why some models are still being sold (old inventory, availability of spares etc.). I don't think we should be blunt in saying something sucks. Looks are of course subjective. There could be a damn good looking car but it might end up not setting the sales charts on fire. I don't think any Skoda car is any better than the mentioned list. Just because the engine of a car is not peppy enough, it need not be axed. What engine does an Alto have? It is low on power, not responsive enough and not worth to take on a highway. But it churns out the best sales figures for MSIL.

IMHO, only people with sound knowledge on automotives discuss engine, torque and bhp figures. Ask an average salesman what the specs are of a particular car, he will scratch his head. The average Indian buying a car wants a means of transport, that is where the need for a car rises from. 95% buyers are not interested in the details of an engine or transmission. They need a car, an affordable one. That's it.

[ASP007]

The complete Datsun lineup in India is eligible for this thread. Apart from that:

1. Honda WR-V: Jacked up hatchback on C-SUV segment. Still sells close to 1000 units a month. 3rd highest selling car for Honda motors in India.
   
2. Suzuki S-cross: Same as the WRV. However, with Brezza on offer, this should be discontinued.
   
3. Mahindra Verito, Vibe: This antique should be taken off from production, period. A whopping 8 cars sold in the last 6 months! My heart goes out to those who purchased it.
   
4. VW Polo: I guess the model sold in India is the 5th gen Polo which was launched a decade ago!

[Annibaddh]

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys, please note this list is from the BUSINESS perspective and the brand's POV, not safety.
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I wonder if we should be the one's to comment on business worthiness of a car in that case, to be honest. The fact is we have absolutely no sense of how much money a manufacturer in making in a particular vehicle's lifetime and therefore at what marginal numbers does it start to make sense for them. What further complicates the matter is strategic imperatives that may be driving choice of the car being sold. Any number of business reasons other than plain profitability / topline may be driving these decisions. Brands like VW may just want to survive with enough news and visibility on the road in relevant segments (till MQB A0IN). Perhaps these small volumes allow the brand to reach important manufacturing levels for components or even finished products combined with say export operations. Or keep a sufficient number of service centers afloat.

My personal opinion: I can comment on my experience with the car, the way I feel about it. Commercial visibility is too limited to have even an opinion I'd wonder.

[Adam]

I don't completely agree with this thread. For a car to be tagged as " Deserved to die " it should be that bad and doesn't deserve any takers. IMHO some of the cars in the list deserves more buyers.

But I totally agree on few cars in the list.

• Datsun Go/Go+ : The strategy by Datsun itself was BAD, they thought Cheap will sell in masses , and indeed they did make the car CHEAP !!
• KUV 100 : Its was a pathetic approach , styling was yuck period !! I know Mahindra designers get inspired of animals, but from which ugly bug did you guys took inspiration for this mess. But unfortunately Ugly Bug 2.0 is loading.

I have no idea on eVerito, I saw it once and I almost forgot its existence.

Hyundai Elantra : I wish it had more takers. Sedan are dying, but IMO no crossover can match the ride quality of a well made sedans in highways.So I think it doesn't deserve to die , It was let to die by Hyundai.

Nissan Kicks is not necessarily a bad car, it was let down by the Brand. Nissan took us to a point where people will only consider Nissan if its extremely value for money. Their products are now basically incapable to compete within the same segment unless and until they price it a segment lower.

Originally Posted by ASP007

The complete Datsun lineup in India is eligible for this thread. Apart from that:

1. Honda WR-V: Jacked up hatchback on C-SUV segment. Still sells close to 1000 units a month. 3rd highest selling car for Honda motors in India.
2. Suzuki S-cross: Same as the WRV. However, with Brezza on offer, this should be discontinued.
3. Mahindra Verito, Vibe: This antique should be taken off from production, period. A whopping 8 cars sold in the last 6 months! My heart goes out to those who purchased it.
4. VW Polo: I guess the model sold in India is the 5th gen Polo which was launched a decade ago!

I always feels like S-Cross was one of the better made MSIL product came in this decade. It wasn't high riding as an SUV but it can go to places where an hatchback cannot, a true crossover. I did like that product but I can totally understand why many people didn't like it, Crossovers always had polarizing opinion in India.

WR-V they never should call it an SUV its Hatchback

[TrackDay]

From the sales number chart I feel Mahinda needs to get rid of the TUV 300 & KUV 100. The naming itself is so confusing . I am surprised to see the Scorpio sell in good numbers !

It's a bit cruel to say "Deserve to die" since most of us love automobiles despite whatever their shortcomings might be. But I understand the point driven by the original post. A company might be dragging on dead weight by carrying these models when the time and energy could be used to focused on other products. Sometimes for a model it is better to go out on a high rather than stay on too long and see itself beaten out like an ageing sportstar.

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." This movie dialogue is also applicable to cars I feel. Look at the below two examples. They were innovative and best sellers in their hey days (Even we had a Tata Indica Xeta till recently which was peanuts to maintain and a good car. However the image in the society was bad). These 2 were a crucial part of our economy as it helped in the transportation segment while our economy was growing. However they stayed too long and it didn't do the company any good until they were laid to rest .

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys, please note this list is from the BUSINESS perspective and the brand's POV, not safety.

Oops, missed the quoted portion from the opening post. Perhaps the heading should have also said that.

Anyway moving back on topic:

Still disagree with the Figo and Vento forming part of this list. Why?

The Freestyle and the Aspire are built on the same platform as the Figo. So the incremental cost of producing the Figo is almost certainly less than the incremental contribution the car delivers to Ford India even with very low sales volumes. Makes immense sense for Ford India to retain every single sale they can when they operate in India. However, do I see a material chance that Ford decides to shutter or sell the Chennai factory and exit India? The answer to that question is Yes. In fact, they are at the top of my list of endangered car brands in India.

Similarly, the Vento is effectively the same car as the Polo and the Rapid. And it helps to sell to customers such as @adimicra who want a VAG sedan but are unhappy with the local Skoda dealer. So at least until the Taigun and other MQB - A0 IN cars hit the market, I would retain the Vento if I were running VW.

Agree that the Datsun brand was a grave error on the part of Nissan - they produced really BAD cars with that brand, and probably hurt Nissan’s brand value as well. The sooner they kill Datsun, the better. I would keep the Kicks if I were them, some customers who come to see the Magnite might uptrade, and I foresee a boost to Kicks sales with the Magnite doing well.

The Yaris is a neither here nor there car - probably doomed to be scrapped sooner rather than later. For all you know, they are just using up components that may have been ordered anticipating much higher sales. The Jazz is probably on its way out as soon as the 4th Gen City sales fall off a cliff, but the WRV (which is the same car) will follow it. Hope they come up with a genuine compact SUV in their stead.

The KUV / Alturas / Elantra will be unlikely to see another generation in India. I think Hyundai will make a second attempt at the EV space with the next gen Kona - while the current car has probably hurt their reputation, they can certainly afford to try again.

But overall my belief is that our second guessing the bean counters in the auto majors is pointless, any competent company would know exactly what contribution it is getting from each product it sells - and will retain the product only if the contribution is positive.

[bhavik.1991]

S-Presso and Ignis can be put to rest. Poor cars and low volume by Maruti standards

[1.2TSI7DSG]

Like babies, no car deserves to die.
You may stop buying them. I have worked on bolero and scorpio and agree that they might be old for the era. Do the deserve to be killed? NO
Can they wither away in the oblivion:- only if you stop buying!

Buy good cars, all bad ones will go out!!!

[DonHyd]

Like many here, even I feel datsuns and mahindras mentioned may deserve to die but I can never ever say that about figo and elantra, no matter what the business sense is. And Ford doesn't have too many cars anyway that figo can be considered as a waste of showroom space. Regarding Hyundai, better they decide. Earlier they discontinued santro in favor of their newer models and reintroduced it later when their production capacity increased. They can do something similar with elantra to accommodate a more important car but doesn't mean elantra deserves to die. In fact, for someone looking for a reliable luxury sedan with good service at 20 odd lakhs, elantra is the only option.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Hayek

- Maruti Alto
- Maruti Eeco
- Maruti Celerio
- Maruti SPresso
- Renault Kwid
- Mahindra Bolero

If we want to contract the Indian car market by ~ 6.5 lakh units P.A, there can't be a better idea than this!