Perception, Price and Looks : The factors that sell a car

prateekm · 7th February 2010, 15:46

Audi : Bible for gizmo freaks! Bland looks, not very reliable

BMW : Expensive maintenance, best driver's car available.

Chevrolet : Trying to come back into form with great launches whch are VFM.

Fiat (india) : Performance based vehicles, looks cute! Bad A.S.S

Ford : Not a big portfolio in India. Endeavor is built to last, expensive maintenance.

HM : People still buy their cars? Talking about HM cars, not with it's tie-ups.

Honda : Reliable, not at all VFM. Great resale value guaranteed. No diesel so not the car for me.

Hyundai : Nice cars, sell well in the sub 10l range. Prefer their hatchbacks then that of a Maruti.

Mahindra: Not reliable. One car can be great and just the next one a lemon. Scorpio is a good offroader though.

Maini : Electric cars have not come of age as of yet in India.

Maruti : Indian = Maruti. Good VFM, last for many years though there might be niggles in the 1st year itself. Resale value is awesome. Not all cars look great.

Mercedes : Snob Value. Would prefer an Audi to a Merc since it's more loaded.

Mitsubishi : 1st car was awesome, then everything failed. Fail to understand why they have a 10 yr old car and a new loaded SUV for the same price? Beats me.

Skoda : VFM, gizmo loaded car for lesser costs. Superb can be compared to E-class. DSG gearbox is heaven. A.S.S is hell.

Tata : Good VFM products, A.S.S sucks though.

Toyota : Reliable cars. Would last more than the owner. A bit overpriced.

VW : Commands the same price as a Skoda but isn't as much loaded. Passat is known for DSG failures.

alpha1 · 9th March 2011, 11:05

Audi : Sporty, expensive, younger appeal

BMW : Sporty, expensive, older appeal

Chevrolet : reasonably priced good sedans, now trying hands at small cars. wrongly labelled as high priced, unreliable american

Fiat : good looking new models

Ford : hmm, fine, good. nothing jumps out though

HM : ambassador. thats a noun, adjective and adverb

Honda : over priced, new designs, faster cars

Hyundai : cousin of honda, not able to get out of small car image

Mahindra: jeep

Maini : don't know

Maruti : inexpensive, small, realiable

Mercedes : expensive, classy, mature appeal (compared to other germans like audi and bmw)

Mitsubishi : doesn't exist in india

Nissan : doesn't exist in india

Skoda : unreasonable/unfathomable snob appeal

Tata : trucks

Toyota : reliable, drab

VW : newcomer, lets see

eq24 · 19th December 2012, 11:10

Yesterday a couple of friends and me were discussing this topic and it got me thinking to get the experts opinion on this. So the question was

What are the real specialties of Car Manufacturers, the one word you would associate with the brand which highlights among other things the pinnacle of the said companies accomplishment. What we came up last night was the following.

Ford - Handling, Ford car's are master handlers except a very few models released which suffered from Handling issues, almost all Fords are class leading in this field. Apparently Mercedes has been behind Ford to give them this technology for a long time now.

BMW - Drivers car and this I can say from experience most BMW's out there are just WOW to drive.

Toyota - Reliable. Among many things Toyotas are known for this I would guess would be their best feature.

We couldn't get more than these three and these took around two hours

of debating to reach to unanimous conclusions. But what about the others we couldn't decide on a load of brands namely Mercedes, Audi, Nissan, Renault, VW and even the Indian ones namely Maruti. And what about Tata and Mahindra, what would be the one word for them.

So what do you guys think.

MYB · 19th December 2012, 11:26

My tiny bits

Maruti - Resale
VW - Overpriced
Tata - Cheap quality
Toyota - Reliable
Fiat - Engineering
Mahindra - Wannabe

That's all I can think as of now. There are many other words which come to mind when you talk about a brand. Some can be mentioned others are better off in your mind.

SDP · 19th December 2012, 11:29

Very good thread. I had thought about somthing similar some time back, but somehow was pretty sure that a related thread must be existing. (Never got time to search for that thread OR start a new one though

).

Finished the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell a week back and the book is all about how our sub-conscious is faster in terms of summarizing thousands of parameters and making that 'first impression' which is quite accurate.

So here are my 'one-words' for some of the brands:

Maruti - boring
Hyndai - bouncy
Tata - old
Ford - classic
BMW - mean
Audi - beautiful
Mahindra - jeeps
Honda - overpriced
Hindustan Motors - dead
Mitsubishi - lost
Fiat - handling
Mercedes - solid
VW - Rich-folks
Mini - cute

PS : A similar 'one-word' for each car-model would also be a fantastic exercise.

sourabhzen · 19th December 2012, 11:30

Good thread, a few that I can think of:

Maruti: People's car
Hyundai: Good looking
Mahindra: Adventurers
VW : Solid
Renault: Innovations
Nissan: Ugly (my opinion only, no offence)
Mercedes:...well Mercedes

vinair · 19th December 2012, 11:41

Having owned just products from two manufacturers (Hyundai and a Honda (two wheeler)), here's my views:

Hyundai - Reliability that is affordable!
Honda - Refinement!

sa_kiran · 19th December 2012, 11:48

Maruti - VFM, reliable
Honda - Style, aspirtional, loves you back
Skoda - Style, bites you back ;-) (based on many reviews here)

eq24 · 19th December 2012, 11:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by MYB

My tiny bits

VW - Overpriced
Tata - Cheap quality
Toyota - Reliable
Fiat - Engineering
Mahindra - Wannabe

.

Spot on about the above but come on man Mahindra is not wannabe, although some who buy their vehicles are. Either Wannabe Goonda's or Politicians. Mahindra has been innovating on market demand for the last 7 to 8 years and they deserve credit for that.
Tata apart from being cheap will soon become that car company which used to make the Indica. I think the Mistry boy is no Ratan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDP

Maruti - boring
Hindustan Motors - dead
Mitsubishi - lost
Mercedes - solid
VW - Rich-folks

PS : A similar 'one-word' for each car-model would also be a fantastic exercise.

Maruti is boring agreed but not all their models the swift was an excellent product when it came out.
Mercedes we could not quite pick up a one word except that Mercedes is just that it is a Mercedes. Really rich folks for VW?, I will need to come back on this one.

Good idea about the individual car names. Have to think on that now.

We should let the list compile for some time and say by tomorrow we can pick the words most associated with the brands so can finally do like a vote.

Shome · 19th December 2012, 13:04

So basically we are talking about brand recall here. My take

Honda: Pioneers
Toyota: Reliable
Nissan: GTR

HM: The king is dead;long live the king
Mitsubishi: Potential untapped
Ford: Driving-dynamics
VW: Pricey
Maruti Suzuki: Mass-market
Hyundai: Bouncy
Tata: Cheap
Fiat: Unfortunate
Merc: Monotonous
BMW: Butch
Audi: Beautiful
Mahindra: Future
Renault: Potential
Skoda:

MetalBuff · 19th December 2012, 13:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shome

Skoda:

Haha, Skoda doesn't even need words !!

A lovely thread. Here goes my bit -

Maruti - Rattle Cage/ A poor man's workhorse
Skoda - Ghostly
Honda - Stingy/ Beautiful
Tata - Cheap
Mahindra - Rising star/ Ambitious

Ohh!Oxygen · 19th December 2012, 13:31

Purely based on how a typical Indian buyer's perspective

Maruti - No nonsense
Hyundai - Next Maruti
VW - Over hyped German
Tata - Jugaad
Toyota, Honda - Typical Japanese
Fiat - Still hanging on
Ford, Chevvy - Americano
Mahindra - On right track
Renault, Nissan - What are they doing?

arup.misra · 19th December 2012, 13:40

Undertook the exercise. Have noted the first word that came to my mind instantly

Tata - Taxi
Toyota - Reliability
Maruti - People's carrier
Fiat - Monica Bellucci
VW - Engineering
BMW - Aspiration
Honda - Premium
Skoda - Horror

kutts · 19th December 2012, 13:54

Maruti - M800, Just keeps on running
HM -Ambassador, Politician.
Tata - Truck/Bus, you can fix it anywhere
Honda - Quality
Toyota - Built to last
Audi - If I had a crore to spend
VW - Tank - rock solid

slamnos · 29th August 2016, 14:42

Quoting situation in 2016

Audi : Jack of all trades, master of none (exception being Quattro)

BMW : Synonym for best drivers car, lesser snob value than Merc, hence appeals to enthusiasts only

Chevrolet : Typically American, dont bother owning for ages.

Fiat : Products from the land of passion, but unlike Pizzas not quite accepted by Indians yet

Ford : Once a brand that provided great handling cars, now trying to become Hyundai in pursuit of providing a bit of everything

HM : Minister Babus, Creative heads from yester-years

Honda : Innovative, fuel efficient, long termer

Hyundai : Everything you asked for (sometimes more) but at the cost of reliability and poor driving experience

Mahindra: An Indian that goes anywhere.

Maini : No more

Maruti : Cheap and best (perception), few fun to drive cars too.

Mercedes : Badge value, luxurious feel, defines quality, emotional.

Mitsubishi : Known for Lancer, now popular among wanna-be goons for Pajero sport

Nissan : No Innovation, unlike its tagline. Still can recall brand because of GTR

Skoda : Emotional, fun to drive, most unreliable.

Tata : Cheap alternative for 2-3 years and upgrade (cars like Tiago changing perception though)

Toyota : Reliability more than you think, now more appealing too.

VW : Videsi (import) gone wrong struggling to set it right.

7th February 2010, 15:46	#106
prateekm BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Mumbai & BLR Posts: 790 Thanked: 553 Times	Audi : Bible for gizmo freaks! Bland looks, not very reliable BMW : Expensive maintenance, best driver's car available. Chevrolet : Trying to come back into form with great launches whch are VFM. Fiat (india) : Performance based vehicles, looks cute! Bad A.S.S Ford : Not a big portfolio in India. Endeavor is built to last, expensive maintenance. HM : People still buy their cars? Talking about HM cars, not with it's tie-ups. Honda : Reliable, not at all VFM. Great resale value guaranteed. No diesel so not the car for me. Hyundai : Nice cars, sell well in the sub 10l range. Prefer their hatchbacks then that of a Maruti. Mahindra: Not reliable. One car can be great and just the next one a lemon. Scorpio is a good offroader though. Maini : Electric cars have not come of age as of yet in India. Maruti : Indian = Maruti. Good VFM, last for many years though there might be niggles in the 1st year itself. Resale value is awesome. Not all cars look great. Mercedes : Snob Value. Would prefer an Audi to a Merc since it's more loaded. Mitsubishi : 1st car was awesome, then everything failed. Fail to understand why they have a 10 yr old car and a new loaded SUV for the same price? Beats me. Skoda : VFM, gizmo loaded car for lesser costs. Superb can be compared to E-class. DSG gearbox is heaven. A.S.S is hell. Tata : Good VFM products, A.S.S sucks though. Toyota : Reliable cars. Would last more than the owner. A bit overpriced. VW : Commands the same price as a Skoda but isn't as much loaded. Passat is known for DSG failures.
	() Thanks

9th March 2011, 11:05	#107
alpha1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: LandOfNoWinters Posts: 2,140 Thanked: 2,764 Times	Re: Perception, Price and Looks : The factors that sell a car Audi : Sporty, expensive, younger appeal BMW : Sporty, expensive, older appeal Chevrolet : reasonably priced good sedans, now trying hands at small cars. wrongly labelled as high priced, unreliable american Fiat : good looking new models Ford : hmm, fine, good. nothing jumps out though HM : ambassador. thats a noun, adjective and adverb Honda : over priced, new designs, faster cars Hyundai : cousin of honda, not able to get out of small car image Mahindra: jeep Maini : don't know Maruti : inexpensive, small, realiable Mercedes : expensive, classy, mature appeal (compared to other germans like audi and bmw) Mitsubishi : doesn't exist in india Nissan : doesn't exist in india Skoda : unreasonable/unfathomable snob appeal Tata : trucks Toyota : reliable, drab VW : newcomer, lets see Last edited by alpha1 : 9th March 2011 at 11:13.
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 11:10	#108
eq24 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Crazy-gaon, NCR Posts: 376 Thanked: 314 Times	One word to define a Car Manufacturer Yesterday a couple of friends and me were discussing this topic and it got me thinking to get the experts opinion on this. So the question was What are the real specialties of Car Manufacturers, the one word you would associate with the brand which highlights among other things the pinnacle of the said companies accomplishment. What we came up last night was the following. Ford - Handling, Ford car's are master handlers except a very few models released which suffered from Handling issues, almost all Fords are class leading in this field. Apparently Mercedes has been behind Ford to give them this technology for a long time now. BMW - Drivers car and this I can say from experience most BMW's out there are just WOW to drive. Toyota - Reliable. Among many things Toyotas are known for this I would guess would be their best feature. We couldn't get more than these three and these took around two hours of debating to reach to unanimous conclusions. But what about the others we couldn't decide on a load of brands namely Mercedes, Audi, Nissan, Renault, VW and even the Indian ones namely Maruti. And what about Tata and Mahindra, what would be the one word for them. So what do you guys think.
	(2) Thanks

19th December 2012, 11:26	#109
MYB BHPian Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Namma Bengaluru Posts: 47 Thanked: 34 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer My tiny bits Maruti - Resale VW - Overpriced Tata - Cheap quality Toyota - Reliable Fiat - Engineering Mahindra - Wannabe That's all I can think as of now. There are many other words which come to mind when you talk about a brand. Some can be mentioned others are better off in your mind.
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 11:29	#110
SDP Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Mumbai Posts: 4,739 Thanked: 11,291 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer Very good thread. I had thought about somthing similar some time back, but somehow was pretty sure that a related thread must be existing. (Never got time to search for that thread OR start a new one though ). Finished the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell a week back and the book is all about how our sub-conscious is faster in terms of summarizing thousands of parameters and making that 'first impression' which is quite accurate. So here are my 'one-words' for some of the brands: Maruti - boring Hyndai - bouncy Tata - old Ford - classic BMW - mean Audi - beautiful Mahindra - jeeps Honda - overpriced Hindustan Motors - dead Mitsubishi - lost Fiat - handling Mercedes - solid VW - Rich-folks Mini - cute PS : A similar 'one-word' for each car-model would also be a fantastic exercise. Last edited by SDP : 19th December 2012 at 11:32.
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 11:30	#111
sourabhzen Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: GURGAON Posts: 1,591 Thanked: 1,404 Times View My Garage	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer Good thread, a few that I can think of: Maruti: People's car Hyundai: Good looking Mahindra: Adventurers VW : Solid Renault: Innovations Nissan: Ugly (my opinion only, no offence) Mercedes:...well Mercedes
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 11:41	#112
vinair BHPian Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 704 Thanked: 1,960 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer Having owned just products from two manufacturers (Hyundai and a Honda (two wheeler)), here's my views: Hyundai - Reliability that is affordable! Honda - Refinement!
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 11:48	#113
sa_kiran BHPian Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Thane Posts: 517 Thanked: 169 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer Maruti - VFM, reliable Honda - Style, aspirtional, loves you back Skoda - Style, bites you back ;-) (based on many reviews here)
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 13:04	#115
Shome BHPian Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Mumbai/Gurgaon Posts: 383 Thanked: 480 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer So basically we are talking about brand recall here. My take Honda: Pioneers Toyota: Reliable Nissan: GTR HM: The king is dead;long live the king Mitsubishi: Potential untapped Ford: Driving-dynamics VW: Pricey Maruti Suzuki: Mass-market Hyundai: Bouncy Tata: Cheap Fiat: Unfortunate Merc: Monotonous BMW: Butch Audi: Beautiful Mahindra: Future Renault: Potential Skoda:
	(1) Thanks

19th December 2012, 13:31	#117
Ohh!Oxygen BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bangyfellas Posts: 101 Thanked: 87 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer Purely based on how a typical Indian buyer's perspective Maruti - No nonsense Hyundai - Next Maruti VW - Over hyped German Tata - Jugaad Toyota, Honda - Typical Japanese Fiat - Still hanging on Ford, Chevvy - Americano Mahindra - On right track Renault, Nissan - What are they doing?
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 13:40	#118
arup.misra BHPian Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Mumbai Posts: 651 Thanked: 303 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer Undertook the exercise. Have noted the first word that came to my mind instantly Tata - Taxi Toyota - Reliability Maruti - People's carrier Fiat - Monica Bellucci VW - Engineering BMW - Aspiration Honda - Premium Skoda - Horror
	() Thanks

19th December 2012, 13:54	#119
kutts BHPian Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 251 Thanked: 406 Times	Re: One word to define a Car Manufacturer Maruti - M800, Just keeps on running HM -Ambassador, Politician. Tata - Truck/Bus, you can fix it anywhere Honda - Quality Toyota - Built to last Audi - If I had a crore to spend VW - Tank - rock solid
	() Thanks

29th August 2016, 14:42	#120
slamnos BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 207 Thanked: 546 Times View My Garage	Re: Perception, Price and Looks : The factors that sell a car Quoting situation in 2016 Audi : Jack of all trades, master of none (exception being Quattro) BMW : Synonym for best drivers car, lesser snob value than Merc, hence appeals to enthusiasts only Chevrolet : Typically American, dont bother owning for ages. Fiat : Products from the land of passion, but unlike Pizzas not quite accepted by Indians yet Ford : Once a brand that provided great handling cars, now trying to become Hyundai in pursuit of providing a bit of everything HM : Minister Babus, Creative heads from yester-years Honda : Innovative, fuel efficient, long termer Hyundai : Everything you asked for (sometimes more) but at the cost of reliability and poor driving experience Mahindra: An Indian that goes anywhere. Maini : No more Maruti : Cheap and best (perception), few fun to drive cars too. Mercedes : Badge value, luxurious feel, defines quality, emotional. Mitsubishi : Known for Lancer, now popular among wanna-be goons for Pajero sport Nissan : No Innovation, unlike its tagline. Still can recall brand because of GTR Skoda : Emotional, fun to drive, most unreliable. Tata : Cheap alternative for 2-3 years and upgrade (cars like Tiago changing perception though) Toyota : Reliability more than you think, now more appealing too. VW : Videsi (import) gone wrong struggling to set it right.
	() Thanks