[athray9]

Originally Posted by GTO

Audi, BMW, Mercedes are all happily selling very healthy sedan volumes.

I do believe the reason for Audi, BMW and Mercedes to have such healthy sedan volumes is their pricing.

In USA, the starting prices of certain models are the following:

• 330i - $44,500
• X3 30i - $46,900
• C300 - $44,850
• GLC - $47,100
• A4 - $41,200
• Q5 - $44,200

So essentially the difference the sedan and SUV counterparts are about $2,250 - $3,000 which is about ~1.8L to 2.5L INR.

But in India, the on road prices in Chennai are the following:

• 320Ld - 76.07L
• X3 20d - 86.84L
• C220d - 73.71L
• GLC 220d - 89.89L
• A4 Technology 40TFSI - 62.74L
• Q5 Technology 45TFSI - 82.37L

The difference between the sedan and SUV counterpart in India is about ~10.8L to 19.7L.

Now I believe the price would be a deciding factor for a considerable amount of people. For many people, 330Li itself would be a stretch, so I believe they will not even consider the SUV models.

Back in 2022, my dad was in a similar situation. He had a budget of ~65L INR. He wanted to get an SUV but the top models of GLC, Q5 and XC60 were in the range of 75L - 81L on road chennai, so my dad decided against the SUVs and booked a C220d, but finally ended up getting the Kodiaq.

Instead of purchasing a GLC, X3 or a Q5 in India, an enthusiast would happily purchase an M340i which 87.57L. But if you were in the USA, an M340i costs $57,600 which is about ~$10,000 more than an X3 30i.

[Emvi]

While I can't definitively say if the era of sedans is over, it's clear that sedans are not the preferred choice in today's market. This is due to various factors, most of which have already been discussed. However, one intriguing aspect that often catches my attention on the forum is the strong aversion some people hold towards SUVs / Crossovers / UVs, whatever you choose to call them. I haven't generally observed UV users or fans disliking sedans to the same degree, and that is quite curious.

People purchase vehicles based on their preferences and what best suits their needs. The market caters to the demands of consumers, it's as simple as that. Looking ahead, say ten years down the line, I wouldn't be too surprised if electric sedans gain significant popularity. Markets adapt to consumer demands and evolve over time. As an example, just look at sales numbers of the Alto. It is on a steady decline, and the day might come when Maruti decides to shelve the model altogether. You never know!

[avisidhu]

Other than the reasons mentioned above:

1) It's bothersome to drive in Sedans now with so many higher GC vehicles on the road. Your visibility ahead and ability to navigate the traffic is severely impacted. Add to it the glare from oncoming vehicles at night. Even in US/Canada, high clearance SUVs are a menace in these aspects. So better to join the crowd.

2) Most UVs have mature enough driving dynamics now. So much so that except enthusiasts, no one else has a pony in this race anymore. The driver has no issues driving, the whole family wants you to buy a 'badi gaadi' anyway. So it becomes a no-brainer.

3) To those who think this is a fad: look at the fitness levels and rise in obesity rates across the planet. You really think the future 30/40 year olds are going to ever be happy slouching and getting in a sedan? Not happening in our lifetime!

[SN88]

Nope. Sedans are dead and so much that Maruti Suzuki advertisements now proclaim they are the no 1 suv maker in the country

Everyone wants an SUV now mainly because of herd mentality which ofcourse no one will agree and give reasons such as road conditions, ingress, GC etc. This is so true in cities. Maybe in smaller cities, towns and villages sedans honestly dont make sense due to kacha roads, but in cities? Definately herd mentality about owning an "suv".

I hope sedans stay on. The class of a shiny black low slung sedan pulling up in a 5 star lobby is something else!

[neofromcapone]

A sedan's interior space ends at the C pillar.
In an SUV the space between C & D pillar enables the car to have an extended interior space.

This headspace has been a major factor for me, I don't feel boxed in heavy traffic.

I feel bad for sedan's, just like Nokia, they didn't really do anything wrong, the customer just evolved.

[sachin_cs]

I may be among minorities here, but I think sedans are not going anywhere, they will exist for long and the fascination with crossover may evolve to something else in future. The big three still get their major chunk from the sedan form and the mass market players, if they offer decent value, features and quality in their cars, they may revive the interest. Manufacturers not offering their product (Jetta, Octavia, Superb, Civic, Elantra- if priced well again then there are a lot of people who are ready to take the plunge) is also a big reason why sedan's share is loosing out to SUVs. No offence to anyone but to an extent, fascination with crossovers disguised as SUVs is a heard mentality, many members here have shown that you don't need a bug burly SUV (pun intended) to travel to the remotest part of the country, it is doable in low slung cars too. Ahemm...Hanley...GT...

P.S. It's good for sedan lovers like me that since sedans don't sell much, they offer more value when compared to a similarly priced so called SUV . Afterall, why would a manufacturer price a car lower when customers are ready to buy them at inflated price.

[Himanshu809]

I really don’t like this trend personally. I might be younger than many seasoned members here but I share many of their old school rules(guidelines as pirates would say).

I believe sedans are the true form of cars. How cars are meant to be. How they were conceived of. How they were and have been designed for the most part of automotive history. I guarantee all of the petrol heads would have mostly sedans in their list of all time favourite cars (irrespective of period of existence).

I know of no SUV which can make my heart twing like a 1960-70’s Ford Mustang Boss. Or a sleek, sharp and classy European sedan like a Jaguar XJL or a BMW 3 series or a Volvo S60 or even a Japanese Toyota Supra/Honda Civic Type R.

What we drive in our daily lives, for the most of us anyway, is more of a factor of practicality, cost and comfort at the end of the day.

That being said. I love sedans and will always do. But yes the market is gravitating towards SUVs/(More like raised hatchbacks in the case of India but that’s a space/cost/efficiency matter). I think there are two major reasons for that.

1. The major difference between what qualifies as a sedan in India vs the rest of the world, especially in USA, the land of landboats like Lincolns & Chevrolets and Cadillacs.
In the era of common chassis/engine platforms you can’t expect any company to invest millions of dollars to make a completely new mass marketable sedan JUST for India. With no success of guarantee, especially in an anti-sedan environment. Especially when the entry level car engines in USA/EU are double the size of entry level car engines here. Also fuel economy has never been a big concern for them, especially the USA for obvious reasons.


2. Market ultimately buys what you give them. Hence, the less than perfect (being very generous here obviously) roads the government can provide for us and the raised hatchbacks that are marketed to us as SUVs (talking about majority of the volumes) make a logical conclusion of what we see today.

Plus you look at the prices these days they are atrocious. Inflation is a B-word. When I was in school (13 years ago) you could buy BMW 3-series for 35 lakhs. But now you can’t even buy the top end variant of Innova.

Sure the Japanese have been selling some good sedans here. But honestly, their product demise is mostly their own fault for providing much less kit on sedans priced equally to entry level SUV segment and still selling it at a hefty premium, for their reputation of reliability and their brand value which funnily enough is not even close to what they have in the west, where they are considered cheap cars and not at all aspirational in any way whatsoever. For eg. Corrolla/Camry/Civic/Accord is not an aspirational car in USA, but is for a lot of people in India. Plus in a shrinking global economy, the Japanese are one of those who are doing the worst so they are caught in a middle ground when it comes to future outlook.


Sedans won’t go completely and I think they will make a comeback in the future when the road network is much better.

[Axe77]

The additional utility benefits of the crossover / SUV format which allows for more luggage / different kinds of luggage loading abilities. Crossovers in particular provide easier ingress / egress, more luggage, better comfort on drives etc etc. The practicality driven advantages are many. The ability to handle bad roads too is simply too fundamental an advantage specially in countries like ours.

This is one of the reasons I love my jacked up notchback. It provides me many of the advantages of crossovers and SUVs without the same level of performance penalty that a cross over would make over an out and out sedan. Its the reason, why a 3GT for me is the ideal compromise and preferred steed over both an X3 as well as 3 series (in a comparable analogy).

The luxury sedan market will remain intact of course because of their opulence and stately feeling but most households sporting such luxury steeds also share garage space with SUVs / MUVs. I’m in fact hard pressed to find wealthy 2 car households with only sedans doing duty and in some cases, they have only SUVs & MUVs in fact.

[AMG Power]

Question and Answer session with a typical automobile buyer:

1. Are you buying an automobile to show you’ve arrived?

YES

2. Is the size of the automobile you’re buying important to meet your aspirational requirements?

YES

3. Is it important to get your neighbors approval after buying an automobile?

YES

4. Is driving pleasure important when you buy an automobile?

Sorry, what’s driving pleasure?

Goodbye Sedans.

[vivek.ks]

I have moved from one sedan to another and am loving the experience.

The drive, the handling, the comfort, and the reflection of the car I see in glass buildings melt my heart. Elegance unlimited.

I might be from a reducing breed of car users, but I feel sedan's are going to stay and rather make a comeback as roads become better and millennials become older.

I do intend to buy a VW Tiguan down the line since I just love the pull of a 2.0L TSI when I have sufficient Vitamin M.

[dhanushs]

There is a reason why the in the premium segment sedans are still outselling the SUV's. The level of dynamics and comfort offered in a sedan body type is hard to match in a High GC SU. When real comfort and dynamics matters, sedans will always remain the preferred choice.

However, we have evolved a lot with respect to dynamics and comfort and smaller crossovers now offer similar levels of comfort along with the added advantage of the seating position and visibility. Hence lower down the market, crossovers are outselling the sedans.

[satyaanveshi]

Originally Posted by GTO

Nope. And this isn't just for India, the sedan bodystyle is suffering a global decline. So much so that Ford abandoned it in USA.

For any bodystyle to make a "comeback", it has to offer significant advantages. But sedans lose out to crossovers in terms of GC, seating position and (arguably) styling.

SUVs/crossovers always had these advantages (GC and seating position). But they were not overwhelmingly popular 10/20/30/40 years ago. So what has changed fundamentally now?

If someone says crossover driving dynamics have improved, that only begs further questions. What technological changes have led to improved driving dynamics for crossovers?

[Aj_thenomad]

My two cents:
After driving an SUV (XUV500) for 9 long years ( though I had a sedan as a 2nd Car ), I switched to Sedan (A4) 2 years ago. While I enjoy its handling, speed and comfort, there is a thought always in my mind that SUV would have been better in this situation, specially space and view.
It becomes even more confusing when my family misses it every time and says we should buy another SUV as well, next year.
My parents, though the ingress and egress was tough in the SUV, still prefers it any day over a sedan.
We did a lot of trips(Pune to Bhopal) and they never complained about comfort. We did just one trip in Sedan and my parents avoid coming with us anymore on a road trip.

The reason is not the comfort, of course A4 is far more comfortable than XUV (At least for me), but the sense of space they used to get, how my kid used to sleep in their lap and how they could stretch their legs, is what they miss.

However, preferences change over time and there could be various other factors in future ( Policies, Design trends etc.)
When Lambi Car was THE Thing, the Oonchi is the new Lambi, and it is going to stay, for long.

[SriniTSI]

This is a very interesting topic which got me thinking and is absolutely close to my heart. Months ago I was in the back seat of a friend's Harrier and it was a long ride to Bandhavgarh from Raipur. The back seat comfort was abysmal and not match to a sedan, despite that everyone in our group vouched for SUVs and I felt the sedans' are unmatched in occupant comfort. I am on a lookout for an exciting sedan and have been considering good SUV's on and off but my inner conscience is fixated on a fun sedan as I already have a Polo GT Tsi and don't want my next car to be any less exciting. The budget is around 40 lakh in Bangalore and I'm open for suggestions. TIA

[Delta Wing]

Posting in tbhp after ages, and from my phone too. One major factor in sedan decline i think is policy impact. You are an OEM, your job is to make profits. Policy imposes less taxes sub 4m, sub 1.2L petrol or 1.5L diesel cars and penalises the ones above. How much less car per car can you sell in price bands of upto 15L, where segments are very price sensitive? Say you make the ciaz and sales are not great, you can make the fronx, use the tax advantage, add features, price it the same or higher than ciaz, sell it by the truckloads. More profits for you. Could you just add all the features to a ciaz? No, because the price goes up and buyers go away. This also answers why a fronx needs to as expensive as a ciaz, despite less space - the OEMs do not pass on policy benefit to users (yes you, hybrid and electrics), but try to make up by adding features of higher user experience worth, and rake in the volumes. As you enter category of premium or price no object cars, user's requirement dominates decisions - sleek body style etc vs tall stance, and these users don't care about price too much. so you don't need to change the product mix drastically. The 3 and 5 series coexist nicely in sedan and suv styles. So supply side in mass market is driven by policy, and premium cars follow demand side. 15-25L cars are an interesting case, because they don't get policy benefits and customer bears the extra cess etc. Considering this, it's much more car in each car for additonal money paid by customer. No wonder Kia started with seltos and then launched the sonet. For a sedan comeback, we need policy changes to factor in actual impact of engine efficiency to determine tax brackets, and not arbitrary segmentation. A 1L turbo with 120 PS gets 14% cess advantage vs a 1.5 NA with 110 PS just because it's in a sub 4m car, even if it is as heavy as the sedan with the 1.5 NA and guzzles more gas? Happy to understand the sense in this logic. Likewise, safety could be a factor to provide tax breaks. Also, a rule to make OEMs pass on at least half the tax benefits to the buyer would go a long way to promote hybrid and electrics. More than 10 years ago, i had posted a breakeven calculator between petrol and diesel purchase and recall some incredulity when i had mentioned something about long term impacts like crude going to 100 usd per barrel. Well, here we are today, with crude having been over 100 nicely. The conversation, however, is now about fossil burning vs alternate or sustainable power sources. While our policy does have provisions based on new trends, it does not have nuanced granualrity, and we need that yesterday. After all, devil is in the detail. Kinda rambling post this, not restricted to sedan bodystyle comeback, but i love sedans, and it's a bummer to see the sleek styled forms losing over boxy styles. Missing the trees for the forest?