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Old 4th November 2009, 17:57   #61
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As spacious as Alto, but priced way higher. Big turnoff :(
The Merc E Class should be scared. As spacious as an Ambassador but priced way higher
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Old 4th November 2009, 18:20   #62
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As A-star owners say (bhanusrinivas,mansat) say A-star sports a peppy engine, great handling and cool styling. I haven't seen anyone who criticize its design but have found many who love those cheeky front..A-star is targetted at professionals who are single and love sportiness. Unlike the spark, it remains steady at high speeds and one of the few hatchbacks to remain good over 120kmph.Really a nice car who want to drive sporty
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Old 4th November 2009, 18:25   #63
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As spacious as Alto, but priced way higher. Big turnoff :(
In which way? The boot is smaller than Alto, so is the rear seat space. Only front row is more spacious.

Heck even the glove box & door pockets are smaller than Alto.
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Old 4th November 2009, 19:21   #64
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As spacious as Alto, but priced way higher. Big turnoff :(
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The Merc E Class should be scared. As spacious as an Ambassador but priced way higher
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In which way? The boot is smaller than Alto, so is the rear seat space. Only front row is more spacious.

Heck even the glove box & door pockets are smaller than Alto.
I meant that it is as cramped as Alto. "spacious" was used in the context of "very less usable space".
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Old 4th November 2009, 20:18   #65
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In September 2009 A Star sales were just 1791 units vis a vis the Alto's 20045- thats not even 10%. And it has replaced the Alto in the export markets! MSIL is well entrenched in the Indian market and knows the buyer's psyche. So their Alto continues.
Unlike TKML which totally discontinued the nicely selling Qualis in 2005 and brought in the new Innova. Their gamble paid.
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Old 4th November 2009, 22:21   #66
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Unlike TKML which totally discontinued the nicely selling Qualis in 2005 and brought in the new Innova. Their gamble paid.
Toyota could afford to do it because Innova was by no means inferior to Qualis, was more spacious and practical than the Qualis. By releasing Innova, TKML was able to pull in a lot of customers to consider their MUV over a sedan thereby opening a whole new segment.

But Alto is much more superior in practicality and space than the A-star. This is one of the reasons why MSIL dare not replace the Alto with a product like A* in India where rear leg space and commendable boot space is an absolute necessity for selling a car.
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Old 5th November 2009, 11:05   #67
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But Alto is much more superior in practicality and space than the A-star. This is one of the reasons why MSIL dare not replace the Alto with a product like A* in India where rear leg space and commendable boot space is an absolute necessity for selling a car.
What you say about Alto vs Astar is true, but I doubt Suzuki cares enough about Indian customers enough for that to be the motivation, the real reason is probably that they have finished realizing all the value of their dies and other investments in Alto over a decade and are keen to keep milking the same for a nice profit, in the only market where they find suckers to buy 10 year old models.
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Old 5th November 2009, 11:46   #68
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It really depends on the person and what HE wants. If a college going kid knows that apart from him and a couple of friends no one will use the car then there is no reason to use the word cramped. So lets not compare it with the alto. The alto is a great car so will this car be in the future.

I think the A star is a great city car, with a brilliant engine and handles like a gem.
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Old 5th November 2009, 12:05   #69
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I was waiting for A* to be released after selling the M800.We were looking at a city car, and defenitely not be used on highways. Went to the showroom the same day after release. Mom found it extremely difficulty to get in and out of rear seats. Dad found the dashboard too high and affecting the visibility. No boot space even for groceries and vegetables. Add to this the 4 lakh+ for the Vxi variant.

Settled for Alto Lxi. Much more practical and VFM + good for city use.
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Old 5th November 2009, 12:20   #70
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Quote:
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I think the A star is a great city car, with a brilliant engine and handles like a gem.
Once Alto/ WagonR also gets updated with KB series engines to meet the Euro-4 emission norms, Maruti will have a real tough time selling the A-star at anything near the current prices!

They will have to come up with a better features/price. Currently its USP is handling, which alone wont be enough to move the car off showroom floors, IMO.

Also IMHO, Launching the A-star as a 'Zen' instead of the current Estilo could have made more sense from a marketing prespective.

Last edited by CrAzY dRiVeR : 5th November 2009 at 12:26.
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Old 5th November 2009, 12:24   #71
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I"ve seen at least half a dozen A Stars during my 2-day stay at Goa last month---not sure if it is a favourite among hatchbacks in that area.

Maruti has ruined the car with its exhorbitant price---one can get a more spacious car like the WagonR at almost the same price.
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Old 5th November 2009, 12:41   #72
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The A-Star would have done well as an Alto replacement and I'm sure buyers would be happy if the A-Star was priced at Alto levels. The A-Star cannot replace the Alto because of the way Maruti has positioned it.

The cheapest Alto sells for Rs. 2,69,202 and the cheapest A-Star sells forRs. 3,58,942. A difference of almost a lakh matters a lot in this price sensitive segment. Also I guess a lot of people consider the Wagon-R a superior car to the A-Star and wouldn't mind getting a Wagon-R instead when spending that much money.

IMO if Maruti really wants to sell A-Stars, all it has to do is drop prices to Alto levels. I'm sure the increase in volumes will more than make up for the drop in margins.

Similarly the Ritz was intended to be a Wagon-R replacement but again the cheapest Wagon-R sells for Rs. 3,22,157 while the cheapest Ritz sells forRs. 4,05,872. Maruti clearly has no intention of discontinuing the Wagon-R or the Alto.

Last edited by khanak : 5th November 2009 at 12:43.
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Old 5th November 2009, 18:06   #73
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I, for one, think the A-Star is fun to drive. Balanced chassis. The only problem is the pricing, small interiors and a coarse 3 cylinder engine. Maruti got the numbers all wrong on this one.
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Old 5th November 2009, 18:26   #74
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According to me main reason for A-Star's failure is presence of
Hyundai i10, which has better interiors, better space, equally good A.S.S and resale value at similar price.

IMO overall i10 is a much better package than A-Star. I don't think majority of the Indian customers even consider ride quality and handling to make or break decision while buying a car in 3.5 to 4.5 Lakh price band.

If somehow Maruti can improve (read as comparable to i10) following in existing A-Star it can beat i10.
1. Rear space
2. Boot space
3. Better interior's
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Old 5th November 2009, 19:05   #75
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what i see in common man aspect as inconvenience about this car,may be reason for it not selling properly...

1.its too too small,we had an idea to exchange it our santro,but we felt santro like sea when seated into it ie a-star,four of us,four adults.

2.the center (ac vents,so on..) bulging is so irritating when two tall people sit in front,its like a compound wall,moreover it was obstructing view to possible limits.My dad & myself are 6' & 6'2 in height.

3.why would a family leave out a comfortable santro to get into this really SMALL car,just for sake of exchange ?,mileage isn't too arguable ?(Santro gives us 17+ average non ac),for styling !!(a big yes for it,hell lot of styling,actually styling alone,looks like Benz Hatchback,if anyway)

i think like our family many must have analysed & would have dropped the idea waiting for a better one.
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