[GTO]

Originally Posted by thewhiteknight

GTO: Being the thread starter, I need your opinion on this sheet. will it help provide more clarity to the inherent intention of the thread? also, let me know if there are additions /changes that can general improve the sheet and the analysis.

Thanks for the compilation! It looks fantastic, and is much easier to see varied opinions on the same brand now. I also have a summary planned, but will only do so once this thread has more responses.

If I may request, do cross check that all comments have been entered accurately. Much appreciated.

[suman]

Originally Posted by thewhiteknight

PS: I reckon this is my first post; doesnt feel like it tho, i've been been visiting this forum for a while now.

And what a way to start posting, great job! Please do keep updating this at fortnightly intervals at least.

[aniketi]

Audi : Never used but must be good. i like there SUV a lot

BMW : Always dream about this car ... looks are great !! But price is more. I would prefer SUV like Fortuner or Captiva instead of BMW

Chevrolet : Good cars at comparable rate. But need to improve on ***. Resale value is low.

Fiat : They dont know how to sell cars :( Very good cars at good price. Linea is my favorite. Also pali i like. Bad *** & resale value.

Ford : Nothing great about designs ... Fusion is confusion car. Dont know wat exactly it is. Ikon is outdated, fiesta nothing great. Very costly *** & spares.

HM : No comments. I guess they should launch Contessa again

Honda : Good cars, highly reliable & fuel efficient. Luxury at reasonable price.

Hyundai : VFM cars with goodies overall. They understand the indian market very well. Others should learn from them.

Mahindra: Still in big cars only. But very robust cars, can go anywere. VFM cars with good resale value & ***.

Maini : No comments.

Maruti : Ahhh ... India cars. They know what Indian people wants than anybody else. VFM cars with best *** & resale. Very Fuel efficient cars. I owned 4 Marutis till now. Latest is Dzire & i am very very satisfied. It gives me 20 KMPL on highway I am very happy with that.

Mercedes : Still dreaming about this car. They should come up with some small cars with affordable prices around 10-15 lacs

Mitsubishi : They still makes car in India?

Nissan : NO comments.

Skoda : Good cars but costly. *** is poor & very costly. also poor resale.

Tata : Ahhh ... So many people comment on TATA. They compare with all like Toyota, Honda & wat not. We need to consider that they are just 15 yrs old & others are decades old. But i guess Tata is picking up very quickly now. Manza is latest example. But they should launch more cars.

Toyota : Very good cars with cost. I like innova & Altis a lot but out of my budget

VW : Lets wait for it ...

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Post Edited. Smilie usage is restricted to two per post on Team-BHP. Please refrain from using excessive smilies.

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[aniketi]

*** means After Sales Service

Originally Posted by aniketi

Audi : Never used but must be good. i like there SUV a lot
========
Chevrolet : Good cars at comparable rate. But need to improve on ***. Resale value is low.

Fiat : They dont know how to sell cars :( Very good cars at good price. Linea is my favorite. Also pali i like. Bad *** & resale value.
=========
We advise you to read the Announcements and Board Rules section before proceeding any further.[/b]

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by thewhiteknight

Unless most people find this sheet rather pointless, I will do this everyday, till such time that this thread is reasonably active, and upload the file every evening or every alternate evening.

Mr white knight - your armour is shining bright! Great work with the compilation. This sure is a super way to start posting on t-bhp

[RacingForIndia]

Audi : Thinking mans luxury car. Great AWD. Perfect brand if you want to own a German brand and don’t want to be noticed. Not as prestigious as a Beemer of Merc. A6 is a work of art.

BMW : Very high on desirability. Fun to drive and handle, but should they have kept their flag ship 7 series a pure back seat car? By far the only manufacturer who is fully focused on driving pleasure.

Chevrolet : Great looking, decently priced. Make the worst ads possible. Improper brand positioning (Aveo and the Cruz). Poor resale.

Fiat : Built like a tank. Good engines (their diesel is the national engine of India), poor after sales.

Ford : I own one so its got to be good eh? Excellent drivers car, decent interiors, well built. Poor "pre sales" and weak after sales service. Hope they get the Focus soon, its time for an upgrade.

HM : Comfy car, but who would buy a century old design?

Honda : Excellent engines, and at times it does not mate well with their chassis (case in point Accord V10 or is that a V10). Reliability, brand value and ownership. Premium pricing.

Hyundai : Excellent Excellent small car manufacturer. Their new design philosophy I think its called "fluid flow" or something is really amazing, case in point is the new Sonata and SantaFe. The premium brand in small cars. Should move away from their copy cat image.

Mahindra: Rugged, will carry a small village in a single of their commanders :-). Showed amazing daring to crack the urban SUV market with the Scorpio.

Maini : Good promise. Lets wait and watch.

Maruti : The people mover of urban India. Reliable, non offensive designs, and decent engines. Too much inbreeding at the lower segment. Don’t like the quality of their higher end cars. Cant go wrong image.

Mercedes : Love that Brand because they are associated with McLaren. Premium brand, good looking cars, and very high desirability.

Mitsubishi : Cant even call it the sleeping giant. Seems hell bent on running its hard work done in the late 90's. Makes excellent cars though.

Nissan : Good cars, expensive pricing. Boxy SUV design but brilliant on road and decent off road. Where as Teana is a perfect chaffier driven car, with great interiors.

Skoda : Their cars are very stately. Fortunate to be associated as a premium brand in India. Platform sharing with Volkswagen is obviously paying dividends. Expensive to buy and maintain.... make it very expensive to Maintain.

Tata : Indias very own brand. Tested their first lot of cars with Public money :-) Total VFM cars. Frugal diesels. Decent looking cars though not good handlers but good mile munchers. The Safari needs a face lift now. Needs to move away from the taxi image.

Toyota : So damn reliable that they are almost boring. Very safe (read bland) designs, and bulit to last a couple of nuclear holocausts. Top quality interiors and probably the best ride quality.

VW : Another peoples car, pricing itself as a premium brand in India. Bland designs, but brilliant engineering. Excellent diesels. Top notch interiors.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by thewhiteknight

I have compiled all the comments till 05/11: 1945 into the attached sheet. Hopefully this will help in analysis of the general trend towards each car maker. I have also added any disclaimers/caveats and additional comments which might help in deciphering a comment about a carmaker.

Good initiative buddy. Might I suggest you don't bother with the authors of the comments? Simply take their describing word and if it matches with previous comments then simply put an x2 or x3 depending on how many chose that word. It'll make your job easier and the data will also be easier to go through. Even the disclaimers are not important since we're talking about perception, which is purely an individual opinion. I applaud your hard work though! Distinguished BHPian in the making

[thewhiteknight]

Here is this evening's updates. There haven’t been too many comments added today, but I’m hoping this thread picks up over the wknd. This analysis can be pretty insightful once we get greater contribution.

OT:
Ram NP, GTO, Suman, and gomzi,: Thanks so much for the appreciation. I was on my back with fever the whole day yesterday and what better way to cheer me up than to finally get onto TBHP.

McLaren Rulez: Hey! Don’t fly me on that high a cloud yet, I’m barely a few posts old, but thank you very much for the wishes. Um, the reason I kept in the member handles was so that members would get a comparison about what they thought about a particular car maker and what the rest of the members thought. I’m keeping in the disclaimers because if a member says that he/she owns a Maruti and the comment shows that they love Maruti cars, you would know that it is slightly biased based on ownership. I haven’t yet started doing the most 'Common and Extreme Perception' marking but that should also happen over the weekend.

[jacksons]

Chevrolet : Good looking cars, expensive spare parts, rightly priced, Resale is average.

Fiat : Beautiful cars with loaded features at reasonable prices, 100% improved A.S.S., we need them here to stay for want of competition.

Ford : Average looking cars, bit pricey and expensive to maintain.

Honda : Average looking cars with good engine but Expensive to maintain ( service at 5000Km) and 30% more expensive in prices to its competitions,

Hyundai : Ugly looking cars and getting pricey now, expensive to maintain also

Mahindra: Still to go miles in automotive world.

Maruti : Small cars, bit cheap and very few options, Maintenance is very high because of low quality products

Skoda : Hell of cars but under decoits ( Dealers)

Tata : Cheap and ugly looking cars and only for wrestlers can drive, Fiat is changing their A.S.S. standard and engine powers

Toyota Decent looking cars but little expensive to maintain because of short interval of service and little expensive in prices as well.

[sterlingjames]

my perceptions of the brands.

Audi : executive cars


BMW : best of the rest

Chevrolet :american icon

Fiat :cheap italian

Ford :always the second american

HM ride of british-india?

Honda :the best jap.

Hyundai :no prestige, but value for money(like masala vadai?)maruti killer.

Mahindra:indian jeeps

Maini :from bangalore?..

Maruti :indian icon.seen everywhere all the time.

Mercedes :german royalty.the BEST automobile. period. it actually uplifts your status several notches.

Mitsubishi :japanese excitement.

Nissan :maker of the GT-R. THE super car of this century.(a car i would sell my soul for!)

Skoda :village cousins of the VW.

Tata :a great man's vision. brilliant concepts, but lousy execution.(acceptable to the masses.but not yet a brand to desire for)

Toyota :what maruti is to india, toyota is to the world.
seen everywhere all the time.

VW : german commoner. nothing unique.

[vijaythacker]

Audi : rich man's context, AWD is the one to own.A6.

BMW : drivers paradise, perfect driving pleasure.

Chevrolet :US gaint, indian market taking seriously, spark sparkled tillnow.

Fiat :solid built, superb engine, fails on *** plastic quality and spares.

Ford :1.6 fiesta, gem of engine, superb drivers cars to offer.

HM : do they exists, need to update their profile with current market scenario.

Honda :superb engine,quality assured with some premium charged over.

Hyundai :good built, superb interior qualit,affordable and easy to maintain.

Mahindra:ah the tough machines, scorpio doing superb.Quality average.

Maini :need to give some good drivable car like NXR/NXG

Maruti :superb ***,huge small cars lineup, ownership easy,quality can improve.

Mercedes :remium brand, luxury with its own sheer image and offering.

Mitsubishi :some superb cars they offered, seems lost their track somewhere in mid 90's.

Nissan :tiana, perfect chaffuer driver car, expensive tagging.

Skoda :robust built, poor *** and dealer network, maintainence on higher side, superb has some offering.

Tata :VFM cars, frugal diesel engines, take anyroad/noroad cars,capable to offer better cars.Plastics and interiors quality needs to improve with better *** department.After Fiat involving might see this in future.

Toyota :time and trusted brand, long term ownership.Designs are a bit borring and not aspiring but good ride quality.Seems toyota can go decades without much fuss.

VW remium brand here, superb engineering,bit borring designs.Interior are top notch.

[Satya79]

BMW : quirky styling, all round performer, stiff ride

Chevrolet : average in all areas, confused brand, low resale

Fiat : appeals more to the heart than the mind, excellent handling, sturdy build, best highway hatch, bad after sales, niggling issues

Ford : drivers car, feels like an extension of the body, perceived as expensive to maintain, love to buy but..., suspect dealers and service

HM : living in the past

Honda : vtec, ivtec, 100 screaming horses, precision engineering, reliability, hassle free ownership, long term keeper, perception of being overpriced since they skimp on the goodies

Hyundai : Copy cat!, best small cars for city, luxury for the asking price, boat like handling

Mahindra: robust, rugged, CRDi, horrible ride and handling, rollercoaster backseat

Maini : undermarketed

Maruti : VFM all the way, excellent brand building, excellent management and after sales, issues on rattling doors, dashboards, will always find an owner in any resale market.

Mercedes : the marquee to own, screams out that I have arrived, HVAC and electricals suspect, reliability is questionable lately

Mitsubishi : EVO!, sharp and predictable handling, great engines, mismanaged, a risk to own in India.

NISSAN: latecomer, may never catch up

Skoda : overhyped from the start, sturdy, but that's all. An old horse shod with new shoes, shoddy A.S.S., reliable as the Mumbai rains

Tata : giving mobility to the common man, revolutionized private taxis' in India, fit, finish and reliability issues, spacious

Toyota : bullet proof engines, bullet proof everything, understated, does everything well, long termer.

VW : german toyota without the good points, over hyped, beetle.

[Madan Gopal]

Audi : dream cars

BMW : dream cars

Chevrolet :Korean offering with US badge

Fiat :solid build, good diesel engines poor marketing

Ford : Nothing exciting

HM : survivor

Honda : good cars but too much of premium

Hyundai : stiff competition not only to maruti - now 4th largest car maker in the world

Mahindra: tough vehicles, quality average

Maini :has a bright future

Maruti : xcellent small cars - good management of dealers to provide very good A.S.S

Mercedes : stamp of royalty

Mitsubishi : superb cars, bad choice of JV partner in India

Nissan : yet to make presence felt in India

Skoda : well built cars - poor A.S.S

Tata :VFM Indian cars - will catch up with the best in a few years

Toyota :Reliable cars

VW : Their peoples car will be their acid test in India

[Silver Knight]

BMW : Prestigious brand.


Fiat :Solid cars. Low on resale and maintanence a nightmare

Ford :Sporty cars, expensive spares

HM :when are they shutting shop?

Honda :Jap reliability, cars that work like clockwork.

Hyundai :VFM.

Mahindra: Rugged UV maker trying hard to break the mould


Maruti: Right prodcuts at the right place at the righ time

Mercedes : A status symbol

Mitsubishi ont know what they are upto. Not committe to India

Skoda : Expensive to maintain. Extorbitant spare costs

Tata : Great VFM marred by low reliability or can I say the lack of it

Toyota : Ultra high reliability. Conventional. Cars that can go on and on

VW : Not living up to the epxpectations in India

[psp62in]

Audi : Upmarket, high quality, but not the same snob value as the BMW and Merc

BMW : Tops in luxary, great german engineering and reliability, Wish I could have one.

Chevrolet : A good brand once upon a time, Now surviving on revival of old korean models

Fiat : For those with driving passion, Very Robust cars, "safe as a tank", solid built, good engines, great handling, average A$$, poor resale

Ford : Just acceptable quality, poor ergonomics, average overall package, poor resale,

HM : Ancient and surviving on govt sales

Honda: "honda is honda", overpriced, costly spares, yet great engines with high performance, poor interiors and skimpy accessories and hence poor VFM. Amongst the top three

Hyundai : Improving on quality every year, poor longevity of the vehicles, great A$$. very good resale, very good VFM

Mahindra: Build to last, like tractors, but not refined, buy if you want to run a public transport

Maruti : Great small cars, Will never face face spares problems, neighbourhood mechanic friendly, cheap to maintain, average A$$ but service centers everywhere, fantastic VFM

Mercedes : Owner must be a bigshot, but BMW still beats the Merc.

Mitsubishi : Great, smooth and robust cars, costly spares, Heavy on maintenace, deminishing sales

Nissan : Typical Japanese refinement, but not the same prestige as Honda /Toyota

Skoda : cheaters, Hopeless A$$, something to stay away from

Tata : high VFM Low end poducts, roomy vehicles, truck like robustness, but lacks refinement and finesse, trying to improve on engines and other quality issues but miles to go.

Toyota : outstanding allrounder on performance, quality and A$$, built to last , built to perfrom. easy to maintain, no-so-costly spares, the best amongst the Jap cars.