[longhorn]

Originally Posted by HammerHead

And they stop right there!!
Alto has no competition as such and with more and more Nano's catching fire I don't see any car which can take on an Alto. Having said that and with "All new BS IV" Alto, I don't think why some one will not go in for Eeco instead of Alto. Atleast you get an bigger and spacious 4 wheeler in the form of Eeco.

Generally
1) Maruti = Reliability, VFM (I don't think so), Low ownership cost and Good resale

Similarly
2) Maruti = Basic build quality, Rattles, Cramped interiors and Bumpy ride

Since majority understands 1st point very well and have no or very less knowledge of the second point, Maruti is rocking the sales charts.

Each brand has its pros and cons. It's not just the A segment where Maruti is leading the pack. Its got the B segment (Swift) and C segment (Dzire) covered too. i think there are many many more options in both these segments unlike the Alto segment.

Even I am disappointed with the BS IV Alto.

Maruti has got the basics covered. Extremely reliable, great engines, excellent FE , peace of mind factor, good resale values, cheap to maintain and wide coverage network of A.S.S. This is why 5 out of 10 cars on the road are Maruti. I can't think of any other manufacturer which comes anywhere close to Maruti in at least 3 of these parameters.

Originally Posted by HammerHead

No way I'm saying one should not buy a Maruti, its just that I don't expect No:1 car company to provide same stuff which they provided some 30years back!!!

You should take a look at the HM Ambassador.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by Gansan

@anachronix

He is an Engineer. I am not. I doubt you are one either. I merely repeated what a (IMO) competent neutral party stated! I presumed he knew what he was talking about.

Rattles are a part of most Indian cars and may be Alto is no exception. Touch wood, mine has not started so far! But that does not affect reliability and running costs. I have seen many, many satisfied Alto owners and very few cribbing. It is consistent with my friends assumption of very low failure rates!

Perhaps the particular Alto you are talking about falls in the rare failure category!

The market has been waking up for more than a decade and a half! I guess it will take a little more time!

@ Gansan, I have nothing against your engineer friend or the Alto. I myself an engineering consultant in Process & Quality. I hope I am qualified to share my thoughts on the QC part and also I have spent decent amount of time behind the wheels of the Alto to share my thoughts on the car.

The only feeling I got from your post was that the QC in MSIL plant was being put up in a way where other manufacturers do a lousy job in the QC or don't have anything like what the Alto has in the MSIL plant. It doesn't mean its to be taken serious if it was being told by an engineer who drives a Hyundai. It simply looked over hyped to my eyes. No offense.

The Alto/M800 are very simple cars with decent engineering where reliability doesn't become a major challenge for manufacturers.

How many indian cars rattle? I have hardly heard remarks of a Hyundai/Ford/Chevy rattle. All these manufacturers make cars which are priced between 3-4 Lakhs. How does it justify?

Happy for you that you have a car which is touchwood! But, my experience is not so good and you have called it a rare one because its got trouble!?

The market has been waking up for more than a decade and a half! I guess it will take a little more time!

I am happy as long as it wakes up! I see it happening at a steady rate at least now from the March sales figures.

[sureshkishore]

So the "new alto" shares the integrated head restraint design front seats with the EECO( Along with the shared instrument cluster).

[musicmanaman]

They should price the Alto atleast 30k cheaper now.

[sureshkishore]

Originally Posted by dodge_v1per

fixed headrests (!!) now this is another limit of cheapness, what say?

IIRC Hyudai I10 has similiar seats, Never heard any one say its CHEAP!

[nickatnite]

Oh. This has to be the cheapest and tackiest Alto i have come across and it is the 2010 version!. Imagine what it will look like in 2050?.

[airbender]

Originally Posted by Gansan

LOL, why do you think I bought it last June and not wait for the BS IV version?

+10 for that. Wise desicion.

[Digitonsam]

Zee business just reported that the new alto launch by month and the price could just below 2 lakhs.

[tj123]

Any ways I don't find this as an upgrade, may be just a new variant amongst many. It is obvious that they have done quite a lot of cost cutting, MUL have not even spared the Alto label, any ways a good move to deter logo thefts.

I don't know why manufactures are removing the old temperature gauges, surely miss that in most of the modern cars.

I am sure that Alto will be priced lower than the current version, or may be they can avoid price cuts by adding some goodies to it.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by nickatnite

Oh. This has to be the cheapest and tackiest Alto i have come across and it is the 2010 version!. Imagine what it will look like in 2050?.

The "Flintstones" style, perhaps!

@anachronix
No offences man! I did not know you were a process engineer too! But refer my post again, I merely stated "he said for the price it is offered at, the QC of Alto is very good and has the lowest failure rates". That does not mean MSIL has the best QC, does it?!

As for rattles, well, someone posted earlier "Maruti - everyone comes home with a rattle"! But AFAIK not too many cars in the hatch segment are completely rattle free. And considering the sheer number of Altos on the road, I think we don't see too many complaints about it even here on TBHP. I bought it knowing that it is under powered with the AC running. But the AC is very good for the segment, and one soon learns to coax the car along despite this! I feel much more confident while cornering in the Alto, as compared to the other tall boys. And as you stated, the 15 KMPL mileage under all conditions was the clincher!

[haithereitsme]

Maruti goes to cheap printed stickers , just to introduce a all new alto by the end of the year with the plastic/metal signage, claiming its a luxury feature.

Am surprised they havent moved the number plate to the tail gate. Which is also part of their new design concept.

[blue_pulsar]

I believe this Alto will be cheaper than the BS-III version. There is no point in Maruti selling the Alto and Eeco at the same price point. The BS-III Alto base version sells around 2.3L ex-showroom. This one should cost 1.99L ex-showroom in my opinion.

At this point, it is interesting to see what the non-AC maruti 800 costs in the non-BS-IV cities. It will be cool if Maruti can sell it at 1.5L ex-showroom. The 800 at that price point should be an instant hit with the nanos catching fire.

[srishiva]

Looking at the engine bay, Is there a engine in there?

Does Maruti even have a plan for Alto? How long would they like to retain it? It should be time for them to have A-star as the basic model. But then, in a world that welcomes a Nano, it would be foolish to do so. They should atleast change the appearance a bit.

[samsag12]

Looking at the interior pictures posted by dodge_v1per i think the color of dashboard is also full black and not light grey as in BS3. Compare it to the color of AC vents one can see the similarity. Also noted the Full black hazard warning switch with red marking on it. Seems it also helped MS in cost cutting.

[Anthym]

Aren't we going a bit overboard with the cheap charges ?
Somebody here said the seats with fixed headrests is the limit in cheapness. Why ? Some high end cars too come with seats with fixed headrests. So I don't think the argument holds.
And I don't understand why are we losing sleep over the fact that the BS IV Alto has stickers in place of emblems. Maybe, Maruti has cut costs and saved money there. But a sticker/emblem is not a make or break issue when it comes to buying a car in this segment.
I actually found the interiors posted by dodge_v1per to be at par with whats been offered in and around the segment that the Alto sells in. Whats cheap are the quality of the plastics available in a Swift or the Ritz (purely my opinion).
At the end of the day, the main thing that's cheap about the Alto is its price. It ticks all the right boxes when it comes to ownership experience at that price.