[Ram]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Neither is truly American.

I agree. Nowhere near the long wide low Cadillac, Lincoln Continental, Mercury Cougar, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac TransAm, Camaro IROC Z-28, Ford Thunderbird, images that the buzzword "American" conjures up.

There is no American car sold in India today!

Originally Posted by v1p3r

The Fiesta is sold mostly in developing countries, and not in North America.

The Fiesta was born in 1976 as a tiny European supermini hatch to compete with the trailblazing Fiat 127.

AFAIK, the Fiesta was sold in North America from 1978 to 1980. These cars were made at Saarlouis in Germany on the border with France. US cars could even be ordered with airconditioning.

The 1999-2003 Ford Fiesta (fifth generation) model was sold and continues to be sold in India, under the name Ford Ikon.

What we get in India as Ford Fiesta today is the 2002-2005 (sixth generation) model. Thought to be dull and 'heavy' looking, it was a stylistic failure in Europe.

The current 2005 onwards Fiesta XR4 (the seventh generation), is not yet sold in India. It has more aerodynamic headlamps, soft-touch color-coordinated dashboard, a 2.0 litre 150 bhp engine and ESP.

And already an eighth generation Ford Fiesta is coming in January 2008. So again India will buy a three generations old car as new.

Ram

[hvkumar]

GM India seems to be living off Bangalore sales, the rest of India likes Japanese. Even the Amercians themselves have switched over to Jap cars. Looks like Bangaloreans are taking the US outsourcing thing a little too seriously!

[BlackPearl]

I saw innumerable number of fiestas (that too mostly white) during my seven day visit to Hyderabad in August.

[benbsb29]

Fiestas seem to be quite common these days. A visit to the Ford authorised service center would also make one gasp at the sheer number of them coming in for their servicing.

That aside, has to be the Swift which is very common here in Bangalore, with the Santro also having a marked presence.

[hvkumar]

Bombay is a total Honda City city - hardly any Fiestas, very few Optras and lots of Skoda Octavias, and now Toyota Corollas are catching up. American cars never got a foothold in this city. Of late, Maruti's SX4 looks like a hit, slowly displacing Honda Citys

[diabloo]

May be the public have found out that American cars are so expensive to maintain that get it out only on weekends

Originally Posted by nispatel

I was having my lazy breakfast of idili vada today morning on inner ring road at Kamakya Theater, BSK III stg traffic signal and unconsciously observed pattern of car for about 30 - 40 mins.

Originally Posted by nispatel

Is common perception that American cars are fun to drive (as opposed to Japanese ones) catching in India??? Or was this just a coincidence?

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by diabloo

May be the public have found out that American cars are so expensive to maintain that get it out only on weekends

Prove that, and then we shall have a discussion.

[diabloo]

People who frequent that place have found mostly Japanese cars on weekdays and mostly American cars on weekends. Why is that?

Originally Posted by appuchan

Good observation. Try sitting in the same place on a weekday and see the difference. It will be another story. The IT folks would turn it around. You would see more of NHC and Swift than anything else. Ofcourse, the regular share of Santros/WRs will be there. But the 'Americans' would fade out in comparison.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Prove that, and then we shall have a discussion.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by diabloo

People who frequent that place have found mostly Japanese cars on weekdays and mostly American cars on weekends. Why is that?

Well, on a weekday, i see mostly Indicabs and Sumos, and less of them on weekends. So, i safely assume that these vehicles are expensive to run on weekends. Amazing logic.

[diabloo]

Good deduction. But those Indicabs & Sumos are taxies and not private vehicles.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Well, on a weekday, i see mostly Indicabs and Sumos, and less of them on weekends. So, i safely assume that these vehicles are expensive to run on weekends. Amazing logic.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by diabloo

Good deduction. But those Indicabs & Sumos are taxies and not private vehicles.

Not dragging this further, but do ALL those who own cars drive them to work? There are many people (myself included) who use cars as weekend vehicles, and on working days, commute using either a two-wheeler or else company transport.

[diabloo]

Hey nispatel, hope you have found the answer. Let us know the results.

Originally Posted by nispatel

Or was this just a coincidence?

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Not dragging this further, but do ALL those who own cars drive them to work? There are many people (myself included) who use cars as weekend vehicles, and on working days, commute using either a two-wheeler or else company transport.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Are Honda really snooty in India? I thought Honda owners were a happy lot!

Steeroid, this is the reason I called Honda snooty -

Originally Posted by LLL

However, i agree with type0-ve...situation could have been very different had toyota and honda targeted real indian middle class which buys a small hatchback.

... not just hatchbacks, but 'affordable' cars.

[hormaz]

Originally Posted by diabloo

People who frequent that place have found mostly Japanese cars on weekdays and mostly American cars on weekends. Why is that?

Might be because they find American cars more of a luxury and fun to drive which they can use only on weekends than just a mode of transport( Japanese so called non expensive cars) which they use on weekdays.

[RacingForIndia]

Don’t have an answer to he question of why American cars are doing well in Banglore, but heres my two cents.
The Fiesta is by far the best car to drive in the C- segment. I found the Verna to be a good car too. Aveo is a fantastic car for back seat passengers. City is refined, but the ones which I drove didn’t match up to the refinement of the Fiesta.
SX4 is probably the best VFM out there, but no matter how much the Auto Jurnos try to convince me, I still cant rate it as a true drivers car.