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Old 5th November 2009, 15:10   #61
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Maruti came into India in 1983 I think. Till then Amby and Premier Padmini were ruling the road. Imagine many a failed businesses like Dolphin, Standard etc.They could not give what they had promised. Amby and Padmini were noisy, smelly, difficult to drive. When Maruti 800 was introduced, it was the car for easy drivability and maintenance. So it clicked immediately. I think that the price was around 1,07,000/- OTR in Bangalore during 89-90 for M800. This was much less than Premier Padmini( around 1,60,000) and Amby(2,40,000). So Maruti has always placed its cars in the affordable category. Common man then did not aspire / could not buy the expensive imported cars. Things started to change in the 90's with an end to License raj. Indian market opened up. This is now changing the market demography. So it will take some time till the newer manufacturers are able to beat the oldtimer.

Last edited by MCR : 5th November 2009 at 15:12.
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Old 5th November 2009, 15:17   #62
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Originally Posted by Ajay_J View Post
When you'll buy new car of a different make and stay with it for few years, you will come know that previous two cars of yours were not average.
Best of luck!
Well one of my friends has a GTX from 2002 Nov batch with 2.3 Lakhs on the odo .He spends less on maintaining that car per km compared to me spending on M800 .Remember both car are driven alike .His car visits garage less but for a longer duration , the M800 visits the garage more number of times for shorter duration.I end up changing parts more often than him.Also i have overhauled the engine twice and he has not done it once.
So you can judge who has a average car.
But i agree meet an accident and he will be in pain to repair the Palio.

Last edited by Trust_In_Thrust : 5th November 2009 at 15:18.
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Old 5th November 2009, 15:17   #63
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Originally Posted by AnonymousCoward View Post
. Light build does not automatically translate to shrunken safety.
Check crash test @ 40KMph of Swift in You Tube.
You will never buy one , Life saved is important, If one survives, one can buy spares for the damage caused.
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Old 5th November 2009, 15:49   #64
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It was about time for someone to bring a certain "F" brand, which could have probabily been the intention of the thread-starter too.

Now on this thread would be about how bad "Indian" customers are, since they

1) Do not know anything about cars
2) They don't use their "heart"
3) They don't buy cars using "Emotion"
4) They think tanks are used to store water

Did I miss any?
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Old 5th November 2009, 15:50   #65
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Go shopping for a car today. Ask any third person and he is sure to recommend something from the Maruti stable. He might not even have sit in the car, yet he will recommend it.

Last edited by beejay : 5th November 2009 at 15:51. Reason: typo error
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Old 5th November 2009, 15:57   #66
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Hardly! They can't be where they are if they also did not provide acceptable level of quality and VFM to the target segment. The free market has been here for about a decade and a half. I expected Maruti's advantage to evaporate in the first five years, but it does not seem to happen any time soon. But their market share will eventually come down below 50% to about one third, and they also know it. The other VFM companies, Hyundai and TATA will see to that.

They are actually VFM small car makers and that is why don't succeed in the higher segment. As Kannan666 mentioned, it is not that the average car buyers (me included) don't care about other features, they simply are unable to afford them!

BTW, the doors of many auto biggies were knocked and they refused to touch India, before Suzuki was finalized for the joint venture by GOI.
(1) We are still not exactly in a free market. The automobile sector is heavily regularized. Reduce the redundant, undemocratic and authoritarian duties on every screw that is imported, and we'll see where MSUL stands.
(2) Not only does Maruti take the customer for a ride, they even pay their employees poorly. The MSUL job is one of the lowest paying jobs in campuses.
(3) Let us look at their models:
Alto: Around 10 years old
WagonR: 6-7 years old
ZenEstillo: WagonR in an ugly frame
A-Star/Ritz: The first one is a joke, and the second looks like a dented amalgamation of the first gen. Santro and an Autorickshaw
etc etc etc
Dzire: Swift with a boot that looks like an aftermarket job

Their only decent cars in the market are Swift and SX4, but neither are anything to write home about. The first one has a petrol engine that is again, more than 10 years old.
Indians compromise when they buy a Maruti. They buy a car with older technology, questionable build quality, ugly and uninspiring design, average to okay-ish safety features and other amenities, average performance, below average ergonomics, et al.
I mean, why buy a maruti, when in every segment, Hyundai, Honda,Fiat,GM et al have better cars on offer. Just to save money? If all that someone wants in a car are FE and Cost of Ownership, why not simply get a two wheeler or an auto-rickshaw?

Last edited by e1t1bet : 5th November 2009 at 16:11.
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Old 5th November 2009, 15:59   #67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YVES View Post
Check crash test @ 40KMph of Swift in You Tube.
You will never buy one , Life saved is important, If one survives, one can buy spares for the damage caused.
It will be good if you can share the official crash test links for Swift along with that of another manufacturer for cars belonging to the same segment and similar price band.
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:04   #68
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Rightly said that maruti cars are ugly and compromise security.

Even a person who does not even drive any car he will also suggest why not buy a maruti make car they are good.

People just go to the maruti showroom and will buy the car without giving a second thought for other brands cars which might be far far better in all respect.
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:08   #69
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e1t1bet View Post
(1) We are still not exactly in a free market. The automobile sector is heavily regularized. Reduce the redundant, undemocratic and authoritarian duties on every screw that is imported, and we'll see where MSUL stands.
(2) Not only does Maruti take the customer for a ride, they even pay their employees poorly. The MSUL job is one of the lowest paying jobs in campuses.
(3) Let us look at their models:
Alto: Around 10 years old
WagonR: 6-7 years old
ZenEstillo: WagonR in an ugly frame
A-Star/Ritz: The first one is a joke, and the second looks like a dented amalgamation of the first gen. Santro and an Autorickshaw
etc etc etc
Dzire: Swift with a boot that looks like an aftermarket job

Their only decent cars in the market are Swift and SX4, but neither are anything to write home about. The first one has a petrol engine that is again, more than 10 years old.
Indians compromise when they buy a Maruti. They buy a car with questionabl build quality, ugly and unispiring design, average to okayish safety features and other amenities, average performance, below average ergonomics, et al.
I mean, why buy a maruti, when in every segment, Hyundai, Honda,Fiat,GM et al have better cars on offer. Just to save money? If all that someone wants in a car are FE and Cost of Ownership, why not simply get a two wheeler or an auto-rickshaw?
Oh, wow - since when are we allowed to dictate what others should buy? Point is, 50% of the consumers prefer Maruti and it is their money, which they do know should be well spent.

BTW, what about Hyundai, Fiat, HM who all sell equally old cars side by side?
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:19   #70
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^ Well why are you benchmarking Maruti against competitors who are not market leaders .
Hyundai is forced to do it since its main competitor does it.
Maruti being a market leader i wish it does better than Toyota, Honda.
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:24   #71
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I think its time we should end this discussion.
To conclude, we should now all agree that Indian customer is "bad" and likes to make compromises.

Reasons are already given:

Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteKnight View Post
they

1) Do not know anything about cars
2) They don't use their "heart"
3) They don't buy cars using "Emotion"
4) They think tanks are used to store water
Peace.
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:28   #72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonymousCoward View Post
Oh, wow - since when are we allowed to dictate what others should buy? Point is, 50% of the consumers prefer Maruti and it is their money, which they do know should be well spent.
You are drawing a straw man here. Please point out where I said "mr X should by Y car by Z brand and not a Maruti". I hope that you can logically distinguish between my stand, and your warped interpretation of the same.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonymousCoward View Post
BTW, what about Hyundai, Fiat, HM who all sell equally old cars side by side?
Don't even compare Hyundai/Kia to Suzuki. Hyundai is outselling Maruti in every place else in the world.
As far as models are concerned, the santro has been replaced with a new one, and that shall be replaced with a newer one soon. No other Hyundai car is as old as the alto.
Fiat: The palio was launched in 2001, received a facelift, got revamped a couple of years back, and there are speculations that a new one is on the horizon. You may argue that these were for entirely different reasons. Check out the Linea and Grande Punto. They have cut costs, but they have packed the cars with up to date technology (Blue and me).
HM? It is a horrible company. So we have to compare the segment leader to what is arguably the worst company in the market?
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:31   #73
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e1t1bet View Post
(1) We are still not exactly in a free market. The automobile sector is heavily regularized. Reduce the redundant, undemocratic and authoritarian duties on every screw that is imported, and we'll see where MSUL stands.

It is a free market in the sense that all auto companies have a level playing field. Removal of duties etc is beyond the purview of this thread. Even if they are removed, it will help Suzuki as much as the others.

(2) Not only does Maruti take the customer for a ride, they even pay their employees poorly. The MSUL job is one of the lowest paying jobs in campuses.

Again outside the purview of this thread, and applies equally to Hyundai too. When I myself am not exactly wallowing in money, I will only look at the price,cost of ownership and resale value first, everything (altruism included) else takes a back seat!

(3) Let us look at their models:
Alto: Around 10 years old
WagonR: 6-7 years old
ZenEstillo: WagonR in an ugly frame
A-Star/Ritz: The first one is a joke, and the second looks like a dented amalgamation of the first gen. Santro and an Autorickshaw
etc etc etc
Dzire: Swift with a boot that looks like an aftermarket job

Indians compromise when they buy a Maruti.

I mean, why buy a maruti, when in every segment, Hyundai, Honda,Fiat,GM et al have better cars on offer. Just to save money? If all that someone wants in a car are FE and Cost of Ownership, why not simply get a two wheeler or an auto-rickshaw?

So what? Life itself is a compromise. Let us take me for an example. If buying a 10 year old model (Alto) does not bother me, why should it bother anyone else? After all it is my money and I am the best judge, don't you think so? I did consider Santro and Spark (and had my reasons for selecting Alto), but not the others, even though I knew they were better built. They were all beyond my budget.
Moreover, many buyers of Maruti cars are upgrading from two wheelers and will expect the same practicality and ease of maintenance from the car too. And for them, resale value also is very very important. Maruti scores heavily here.
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:31   #74
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trust_In_Thrust View Post
^ Well why are you benchmarking Maruti against competitors who are not market leaders .
Hyundai is forced to do it since its main competitor does it.
Maruti being a market leader i wish it does better than Toyota, Honda.
Well said...
Toyota and Honda cannot be compared to Suzuki . Its like comparing orange to Lemons.
Fact is simple , Suzuki has understood the price sensetive indian consumer and Hondas & Toyotas sell cars with European and US standards , thats why they are costly and Suzuki cars are VFM for the agressive pricing sacrificing security and safety.
Somewhere we need to compromise .
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Old 5th November 2009, 16:34   #75
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e1t1bet View Post
(2) Not only does Maruti take the customer for a ride, they even pay their employees poorly. The MSUL job is one of the lowest paying jobs in campuses.
Please speak with figures, and sources. AFAIK, Maruti Suzuki is one of the most desirable career option. Unless ofcourse, you are talking about the dealers! (I completed my Automobile engineering last year. Dont think things changed drastically after that)
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1t1bet View Post
They buy a car with older technology, questionable build quality, ugly and uninspiring design, average to okay-ish safety features and other amenities, average performance, below average ergonomics, et al.
And if i may ask- How would you rate your purchase decision? On all these factors? You didnt compromise on anything by buying a non-Maruti car?
1. New technology?
2. Build quality?
3. Safety features?
4. Performance?
5. After sales?
6. FE?
7. Resale value?
Leaving out design and ergonomics as they are highly subjective. Please let us know how perfect your purchase decision was, so that we can regret making this compromise!
Quote:
Originally Posted by e1t1bet View Post
I mean, why buy a maruti, when in every segment, Hyundai, Honda,Fiat,GM et al have better cars on offer. Just to save money? If all that someone wants in a car are FE and Cost of Ownership, why not simply get a two wheeler or an auto-rickshaw?
Pathetic!
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