Team-BHP - Why No quality SUVs from Hyundai, Suzuki etc?

I wonder why companies like Hyundai, Maruthi(suzuki), Ford, Cheverloet, Honda has no Indian made, low cost SUVs in India? All these companies are now playing good in wide Indian mark, some of them even started exporting from India. But we still have to rely on Mahindra and Tata for SUVs - where their built quality is still are not competitive enough with SUVs which are imported. Why not Hyundai, Ford and Maruthi etc., are not planning to produce Santa Fe, Endeavour, Grand Vitara in India, and still keep a high price since they are imported.

I am sure SUV lovers has no good option to one for a cost of 9-12 lakh, and I am sure if these companies try, they can very well compete with Tata's and Mahindra's market. Tata and Mahindra found keep the cost low only by what they know - keep cheaper materials, poor quality plastics.

SUV lovers (including those who drive scorpios and Safaris) have you ever thought of this. Is that really hard for these Hyundais, Maruthis, Fords to build an Indian SUV and complete in the present Market?

to compete , you need a diesel engine. An SUV with a petrol engine, no matter how low the cost will remain a niche vehicle ( remember the gypsy)

besides, the volumes are in the UV market , not the SUV market , and there brands dont wish to affect their brand image i guess ( why else would toyota pull the qualis from the market when it was at its peak?)

tata and m&m came into the SUV market more from their already existing commercial vehicle platforms and over the time kept "refining" their offerings in small increments..

for manufacturers like MARUTI ( no "H") SUZUKI , Hyundai , honda etc.. i dont think
1) there are volumes enough for them to make an SUV only for India - meaning to start with a clean sheet of paper for just a India specific SUV in the 9-12 lakhs price range may not be justified by present volumes
2) they have their hands full in other segments where all their energies go into ( production/marketing etc etc )
3) as someone mentioned - having right engine options is also critical.

Quote:

Originally Posted by narayan (Post 743237)

1) there are volumes enough for them to make an SUV only for India - meaning to start with a clean sheet of paper for just a India specific SUV in the 9-12 lakhs price range may not be justified by present volumes

Perhaps another company like Sonalika will buy up old licenses and build Mahindra Marshals or similar discarded designs as Sonalika did with Qualis. They are still faced with the engine issue, however, as Sonalika is painfully learning.

Well, the basic fact is the volumes they are getting. And the second reason is that they need an excellent diesel engine.
Hyundai has diesel and even honda has a diesel. But hyundai has image problems. Suzuki lacks a diesel and very few people would buy a petrol SUV.

But I believe that Honda can launch a 8-10lakh diesel suv as they have a very great 2.2 diesel. may be the price would go up to lets say 12lakh, but it would be a great deal.

And yes, it a very nice question. Looks like you want this type of SUV from these manufacturers!

SUV sales are picking-up but not enough to make these foreign manufacturers do the knowledge transfers and ramp-up their assembly/ manufacturing lines for "made in india".

So they import and with the kind of duties they have to pay, they fail miserably to capture the markets and then blame that the market is not ready.

Everthing is based on economies of scale and profits.

Its a chicken/egg situation.

The manufacturers dont want to invest in setting up dedicated manufacturing lines due to high setup costs and expected lower ROIs in the SUV segments; resulting in a ridiculously high cost of the CBU unit thus limiting its sales even more.

The buyers, of course, wont spend Rs 20 lakhs buying an SUV that has the same or less specificiations/utility than another SUV half its cost.

Again, I dont expect Maruti to be even half-interested in biting the bullet and setting up an Indian production line for any SUVs - they have their coffers full for the next 4 centuries, thank you. Hyundai would have been more predictable earlier - but with their current focus on the i-series cars, I dont expect them to come forward as well.

In light of all this, the onus for making quality, affordable SUVs would still rest in the hands of Tata and Mahindra.

Had the GV been priced around 12, it would been more successful. Even with the 2.0lit petrol, IMHO. If only MUL considers CKD GVs with the 1.9 Multi Jet... No harm in dreaming right??
Hyundai had a great opportunity with the Tuc. But they HAD to price it over 15!