Why Isn't The Maruti AStar Selling Well?

[supremeBaleno]

A sedan version of the A-Star, a la Dzire ? What will they name this ? Bizzare ?

But wait, compared to the few thousands that the hatch sells, this could lead to waiting lists for the sedan. Maybe they can address the rear leg-space and greenhouse concerns raised by many. Boot will be automatically taken care of when it becomes a sedan.

When the M1000 was launched, I used to wonder, why they can't release a sedan version of the M800 - you know, just add a wee boot to the car. Going by Dzire and now A-Star, maybe they will end up doing that too - an Alto-sedan.

[ashutoshb]

A Star CS rendering:

[Gansan]

^^ That doesn't look bad at all!

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

A Star CS rendering:

Looks decent in the rendering done.

But in reality it would be difficult in manufacturing while merging the boot seamlessly.


Cheers!

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

A Star CS rendering:

Hey, this looks cool man! A-Star is a difficult car to convert into a sedan. You have to do something to smoothen the extra bulge in the A-Star head lights.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by ra'ul M

The A* used by me was the one with ABS and airbags, but then it was over 4 lakh making it really close to cars from a segment above.

Add the cost of AT and it really creeps into higher segment. Eg. the A*_AT cost us 4.65L, while we paid 5L for our Swift-ZXi 4 years ago. But both are different cars with their own pros and cons.

Originally Posted by ra'ul M

The plastic quality is suspect. I have seen the AC vents falling apart one by one [ only the center ones]

Now that you mentioned this, one of the horizontal slats of 1 central vent broke off sometime ago - I guess kiddo was trying to poke a pen or something inside the slats, but still I wish it were a bit better built.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

BTW, I have seen an A* with HID. It looks stunning. The light spread and reach are simply superb. Better than many premium cars. May be because fo those huuuge deep dish bowl reflectors A* has. SB, try 'em on your car. You will love the effect.

Don't know man - I am the keep-it-stock guy, though wifey has a long list of add-ons she wants on the car (should not have introduced her to tbhp). The MGP spoiler seems to add character to the rear - for now thinking of getting that and remote locking too.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^ That doesn't look bad at all!

Yes, Gansan, it looks stunning!

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

When the M1000 was launched, I used to wonder, why they can't release a sedan version of the M800 - you know, just add a wee boot to the car.

Why Biju ? Were you expecting a basic car with a boot ? I think that is what the M-1000 did, except that it came with AC as standard and a 5 speed gear box. That is how an extension of any hatch should be, a bigger engine with slightly better comfort, not the same "national" engine in all classes, B,C and D.

[amtak]

Wow, that's a cool rendering. It'll look like the micra "sunny" I guess if sedanified

[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

Another minus point. If the car was to be converted to CNG in the future, there was no space for a 10kg tank!

My cousin has an Alto Lx which was converted to CNG (not sure of the CNG tank capacity, but it occupies 75% of the boot in Alto). I have an A-star, I think a similar sized tank would easily fit in the boot of A-star.

[Gansan]

I have seen circular LPG tanks that fit right in to the stepney well fitted in many hatches.

[Daewood]

Recently i TD almost all cars under 5L and A-star felt the most fun-to-drive. In fact i loved driving it more than Swift due to the low seating position. What spoils the party is the jerky vibrations at low rpms. If they can plonk in the 4 cylinder de-tuned version of the 1.2 K-series engine, i guess A-star will sell much much more, than it sells now. That would give crazy diesel like mileage and an amazing power to weight ratio like in alto-k10.
The car has everthing what a fun-loving, young couple or unmarried young executive/ student needs. Since the boot is small,60:40 split seats at rear is also a must.

[adg_andy]

IMHO the Cervo would have been perfect for the Indian market but don't think Suzuki has any plans of launching it here.


Attachment 220173[/quote]

Talking about cervo, even the msil dealers are telling that they had no idea that the Kizashi would be launched so soon. They were of the opinion that MSIL was due for Cervo launch sometime soon, then proceed onto Kizashi

Andy

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Daewood

Recently i TD almost all cars under 5L and A-star felt the most fun-to-drive. In fact i loved driving it more than Swift due to the low seating position.

Actually we first rejected the A-Star due to the low seating position - there was no TD car available and we were at their yard - just sat in one and it felt so low, I felt FIL would have trouble with the low seating and so we moved on to Estilo. Luckily the AT version has seat-height adjustment, which makes things better on the seating front.

Originally Posted by Daewood

What spoils the party is the jerky vibrations at low rpms. If they can plonk in the 4 cylinder de-tuned version of the 1.2 K-series engine, i guess A-star will sell much much more, than it sells now.

While I agree it would be a FTD car with the K12 engine, I doubt that NVH or lack of a cylinder is what is hampering sales of this car. Other than enthusiasts, who cares about NVH or 3-cyl vs 4-cyl ? To give an eg. I was driving an 800cc 3-cyl car since the mid-eighties and the first time I heard about NVH in connection with cars was on tbhp in 2004 - I dont remember feeling any vibrations in the car then - it was just pure fun and reaching 120kmph seemed awesome then.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

That is how an extension of any hatch should be, a bigger engine with slightly better comfort, not the same "national" engine in all classes, B,C and D.

I agree with you about value-addition - the example of M1000 vs M800 being pertinent, though the 8K p.m. Dzire buyers seem to differ with us.

[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Actually we first rejected the A-Star due to the low seating position ......... Luckily the AT version has seat-height adjustment, which makes things better on the seating front.

I adjusted the driver seat of my A-star automatic to the maximum height, and then sat in the passenger seat and driver's seat alternately to check the difference. The view was far far better in the (max height) driver's seat.
I think all versions of A-star need to have driver seat adjust as standard.