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Of late most manufacturers roll out specific variants of a particular model only in some colours.
The top end Laura for example is available only in black. Even whilst purchasing my E6 Xylo I had to choose from Toredor red, Black, Gold Shimmer and Mint Green. To make things harder the interior colours were different too.

Xylo E6
T.Red- Black interiors
Black- Beige interiors
Gold Shimmer- Beige interiors
Mint Green- Black Interiors

Will it not be easeir to keep things simple and offer all colours across all models? I understand that they might be doing it to identify particular variants and offer individuality for variants. At the end of the day we are limited for choice.

Reva is the only car that the common man can buy and customise completely with over 2000 exterior shades and a couple of interior tones too. However would the common man buy a Reva is a different question all together.

What are the offerings from other manufacturers? Is there any manufacturer who rolls out all models and variants in all colours?

first class point made in this post beejay.

indeed I had made the same points when I wrote to Mahindra's a long time ago - maybe a year plus back.

they gave me some explanation citing Marketing Strategy - consumer micro segmentation, differentiation, value add and whatnot.

I can only agree with them as far as the Taxi Market in India goes - there can be a few shades specifically kept aside for the Taxi Market which need not be served to private consumers, but other than this, there should be no other restriction.

Indeed, there are clearly visible external badges and other indicators as to variant, which should more than suffice to differentiate between the various variants of a particular make of vehicle.

I think frankly Reva is on the right track - the world is all about maximum customization as far as possible - the consumer of today expects the earth and the moon and why not? He is after all paying for what he wants!

One of the silliest decisions made by Mahindra was to discontinue the lovely shade of Henna Green and Turf Green which they used to offer on the Bolero and the Scorpio. The current shades on offer are not so great - except for the Rocky Beige (in my opinion).

The same with the Gypsy where they used to offer a Dark Green Shade (in the 1980's) - this shade subsequently darkened to a deeper Green in the late 90's and 2000's. Now it is completely off the market.

The top end Laura being available only in Black is a dunderheaded idea - I do not for example like Black cars - they absorb and retain too much heat when parked in the sun, they are extremely prone to visible scratch marks, pits and scars, not to mention the "key graffiti art" when some "infidel" gives vent to his artistic and creative talents using the parked car as his "canvas" while passing by!

If I were to buy a top end Laura I would expect to buy it in Silver - and why not - considering it is a Rs 18-19 lac car - why should I not get the colour of my choice considering Im paying so much?

crazy strategies thought up by some idiotic board-room warrior who has been sitting in his ivory tower for far too long and consequently is completely out of touch with the consumer on the street!

Thats exactly the point. A buyer who shells out 18 to 20L is limited for choice. Its insane when you think of it.

I used to love those green shades too, unfortunately all the old greens have given way to the latest shades of green. Have you seen the Mint Green on the Xylo:Frustrati .

As you have rightly said there are quite a bunch of people who are hired to work for the wrong reasons.

the Xylo mint green is a rather insipid shade to say the least.
the Dark "Turf" green of the VLS/ VLX Scorpio is too dark in comparison to the earlier 2003-2004-2005 Turf Green.

Just another way for the brands to differentiate between the top end & lower variants, I guess. It's a pity really, Indian car buyers anyways have an extremely limited colour palette compared to other countries. Maruti, in fact, is the car manufacturer who offers the widest range of colours.....metallic greens, pinks (Estilo!) etc. etc. Even the recently launched Fortuner could do with some rich blues, maroons & greens.

Are you sure about this? I'd be extremely surprised.

We are completely spoilt for choice with Maruti:D. I agree the Fortuner should have rolled out more shades too.

Even Reva gives almost 2000 shades to choose from. When will we be able to customize a brand new car in India.

Even ANHC has good color options outside India.

But they limit the black interiors only to the top end versions outside India. In India, even that is not offered :Frustrati

Things are bound to change soon. I am sure you saw the list of colors for the new, to be launched chevy beat.

Good to read that I'm not the only one who thinks this way!

I'm planning to buy a Scorpio SLE in a couple of months, and Rocky Beige is my colour of choice. But for some strange reason, M & M don't deem it fit to offer black/dark grey interiors in it!

What's with the beige fixation that automobile manufacturers have these days?? :Frustrati

Cheers,
Vikram

And along these lines, can anyone tell me how much it costs to have body coloured bumpers, door handles and mirrors? I hate how lower spec variants never get body coloured parts. It spoils the design very badly. Prime examples are the Alto, the Fiesta, some older Palios etc. Sure I may not want some features but why do manufacturers have to highlight that I skimped out?

The dealers charge a bomb to get the bumpers painted. You could probably get better quotes from outside. And there are some guys who do a pretty good job than these authorized stations.
I don't know if its just me, but I like some cars with black bumpers. Picture a white zen with black bumpers. Looks neat IMO.

I agree that some cars look really good with the black bumpers. The old Wagon-R was also one such car, loved the silver car with black bumpers....
But the present day cars, I mean most of them look really horrible with black bumpers(i10). Maybe due to design changes?

Its not that black bumpers are inherently bad. Its a good contrast but the paint used on the black bumpers is different from that of the body. Its a non metallic, plasticky looking thing. That's why I dislike it almost universally.

It would have been nice if GM had added some new colors with the newly introduced Cruze automatic. Darker version of gray is sorely missing :Frustrati

Hi Team,

Background: When I and my wife set out to buy i10, one of the things we debated upon was color.
My wife did not like any of the colors and asked why can't car manufacturers spoil us with various color options?
However, in the end we settled down for Champagne Gold.

So I tried to do an analysis of various color options provided by manufacturers in India.
This is not an extensive analysis and I have considered only car models (not all of them) below 10 lacs.

Source: Manufacturers India Website as on 20-Mar-2010

Here are the details in the attachment

Car Colors Analysis.xls

Analysis
1. It seems all manufacturers (except for few exceptions) provide only 6 to 7 color options
2. All of them seem to play safe with standard colors.
3. Almost all of them offer variants of following standard colors
a. White
b. Black
c. Red
d. Grey
e. Silver
f. Beige

4. The above colors are most widely used
5. Surprisingly only Santro, i10 and Ritz offer more than 7 colors.

Query
1. Why can't Manufacturers pamper with special colors. I think some of them do it for their special edition models.
2. Do manufacturer change colors for their models from time to time?

The attachment also has a sheet on color and personality. Again the data has been sourced from internet.

Moderators: I am not sure if the above analysis violates any of rules. If it does, please delete the thread.