[Irish]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

I answered No and initially was surprised to see so many Yes, now i know why .

Hi Mayank,

I didn't understand why there are so many YES. Please help me out!

If there are so many Yes in this thread then why hatchbacks like Jazz, Punto (90 HP), Fabia etc. couldn't do well? Why their sales increase only after the discounts are offered?


Cheers!
Irish

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by Irish

I didn't understand why there are so many YES. Please help me out!

If you go through the individual responses most who have responded they would be willing to buy a Hot hatch at 10L have following criterion

• They do not have space as their primary requirement as they have other cars/suv's that fulfill this need.
• Most want a powerful Hatch with little or no consideration towards fuel efficiency.
• I would describe most as passionate drivers hence the tilt towards hot looks, power and speed.
• Some mentioned they would buy as its small and this makes it easy to drive in the city and park.

In total hatchback sales (In India) only a minority buy them for such use. Most buy for economic reasons, they want space, they want fuel efficiency and not necessarily engine power and speed, hence hatchbacks like Jazz aren't doing so well.

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

In total hatchback sales (In India) only a minority buy them for such use. Most buy for economic reasons, they want space, they want fuel efficiency and not necessarily engine power and speed, hence hatchbacks like Jazz aren't doing so well.

with whatever you said except the last line about the Honda Jazz. Agreed the car is spacious, decent quality interior and a rev happy engine but in no way can it command a premium over its competitors and was definitely not worthy of a price of 7.5L+. The i-vtec has pathetic low end torque for the city and is not a corner carver either. It handles well but not extra-ordinarily well to shell out a premium for it. That coupled with the sparse equipment levels does not make it a hot hatch from any angle IMO and is bound to not do well at a high price.

[devsoftech]

@10 L onroad for the following spec:
1. 6 speed auto and paddle shifters
2. 1.6 diesel with a flatter torque curve and 0-100 within 9 secs
3. 300L of boot space (without any folding)
4. Magic seats arrangement like Jazz
5. 6 airbags
6. AWD
7. ABS/EBD with TCS

Optionally,
8. Sunroof
9. A better OEM audio system (and integrated)
10. HID+projector
11. TPMS

[SankalpDesai]

I would, in NO WAY possible on earth, buy a hatch back worth 10 lac rupees.

Reason? I would be boycotted from my family. I'm already facing unprecedented protest for my present buy - a fully loaded diesel Punto with 90hp. My father, now firmly believes that I don't deserve to be called a Gujju and should have been born in some extreme corner of this country where such flamboyance can be justified. 10 lacs on a hatch back and he will disown me for sure.

Not that I'm unhappy with my decision in any way. Rather I'm more than happy and enjoying my Punto every second I'm behind the wheel. But it is next to impossible to explain a simple fact to scores of silly Indians as to why somebody would spend close to 8 lac rupees on a car that has no boot!

Mini? Beetle? 500? Nothing is gonna change the Indian mentality of proportionating size with price.

[abhijeetsng]

voted ''NO''
I would prefer a sedan for >10lac.

[kingofkings]

Well, I have voted NO. However if I did have to buy one for 10L it would really have to be powerful (thinking 1.6 lit engine), super comfortable (say 9" LCD, fully loaded ICE) with all the trims of say a car two classes above.

[vsathyap]

No way, unless the car came with 22k gold components!

[ankur_fox]

Voted yes, but has to be a hot hatch. The mini cooper, while a dream car, is twice the said budget.

[Sn1p3r]

Originally Posted by ankur_fox

Voted yes, but has to be a hot hatch. The mini cooper, while a dream car, is twice the said budget.

3 times my friend. It's 28+lacs ex-showroom. :(

If the Indian rule of meters and liters is to be considered then I assume it's possible foor VW group to have TSI units capture the market for sure. Remember 1.2/1.4 TSI has potential to generate more bhp than old school 1.5/1.6/1.8 without tricks. Thus government is happy as are the enthusiasts.

[Turbokick]

Voted : Yes !
If the car justifies the price with the kind of equipment,power,luxury and overal performance then why not ?
Yes, the car SHOULD look the part to have its presence felt.

Fiat Bravo with 1.9 MJD + all the features on top end Linea

[wilful]

For me - the Jazz is the best hatch and even if they launched an AT version and stuffed it to gills with gizmos, 10 lacs is too much. So I would tend to say no.
Unless of course it is a Merc or an Audi.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Why 10 ? Give me a genuinely good product and i would not mind shelling out double that amount for a hatch. YES i am that kind of a lunatic.
Infact for more than 2 years now my endless wait for a genuinely hot hatch continues.
By hot hatch i do not mean a polo 1.6 or an i20 1.4 crdi. Relatively speaking, for our market they might be the performers out of the lot but definitely nothing worth speaking about.
The principal criterion for me would be the fuel - Diesel , diesel and diesel !!
Each and every car in the family is run well over the 100k mark and within not such a long span so the choice of fuel is but obvious. Secondly, with the progression in CRDI technology and the sheer amount of earth-moving torque in the oil-burners i would even go to the extent of saying i might even choose a diesel over a petrol for performance ! (speaking of hatches) Sure i would loose out on some high-revving action but i can live with it.
If VW / Audi / BMW launch the Golf/ A1 / 1 series for around the 20 mark with delicious 140-180 bhp diesel engines with torque convertors or even better , a dual-clutch (over-optimistic thinking) I would jump at the opportunity and go for one almost immediately.
Unfortunately the expensive high-end hatch segment might not garner much response from our market hence each of the Teutons seem to be waiting for the other 1 to take the first step to gauge market response.
The losers are us, prospective customers. Sure i might be a part of the minority ready to 'splurge' so much on a hatch but what the heck, look at the product. Attach a dikki to the same cars and 40% more people would be all ready to write a cheque !
I dont understand how some litres of bootspace defines value for so many people. Anyway just my personal thoughts no offense.
The wait continues..

[amitayu]

the market for hatchbacks have matured over the years.
Initially hatchbacks were for the budget conscious buyers, with maruti 800 ruling the roost. cars like wagon r or even santro eventually came down to that level.
The first offering Alto, which was supposed to be a performance car failed to take off for these reasons.
But today, we have 2 distinct categories of hatchbacks. the sub 4.5-5 lakhs section which still sees lot of action, and the over 5-6 lakhs segment with equally good sales.
Today, while on the one hand releases like Eon or K-10 are bringing in success for the makers, at the same time, releases like the new Swift, I20 or even the Polo are proving to be major bread earners.
With such a maturing market for hatchbacks, the 10 lakh milestone may soon be broken if a good product is offered in that range.
What really matter is the Value For money criterion. With current economic conditions, people will turn less extravagant and go for more utility form their cars. 10 lakh hatchbacks can carve out a niche if they provide the right value for money.

[IRS]

Yes for me.

However, it has to justify the cost.
It should have sufficient safety features and ample 'oomph'.
We already own a Jazz that had cost us 8+ Lakhs on road. Though we believe it was definitely overpriced at that time. But we went for it as we felt it was better than the competition.

If Minis, Beetles, Fiat 500s can sell so can a 10L hatchback.