[ampere]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Cost of ownership (spare parts prices) and depreciation are two things which most people don't consider before buying a car - but they do matter a lot. Where can I get the spare price basket (accident parts & wear'n tear parts) for each car?

I have no idea, where to get this. Folks any help?

[SmartCat]

@thalavoy

That's why car buying can never be a purely mathematical exercise. Even if Fiat Punto Emotion Pack MJD ends up last in my list, no amount of arguments will convince me enough to change my opinion that it is the best small car. Heart over mind.

Part IV - INITIAL PURCHASE PRICE (AFFORDABILITY)

The most important parameter for a big percentage of the car buying population. And there will be no surprises in this section, because everybody knows where the cars stand. To make my life a bit easier, I'm considering the official prices of only the top end fully loaded versions of each model (not counting the discounts & special offers). Here is the list of Mumbai on road prices of each car -

Ranking of cars based on Initial purchase price:

Tata Nano 0.6 Petrol --------------- Rs. 2.09 lacs
Maruti 800 0.8 Petrol --------------- Rs. 2.57 lacs
Maruti Alto 0.8 Petrol --------------- Rs. 3.27 lacs
Tata Indica 1.2 Petrol--------------- Rs. 3.6 lacs
Hyundai Santro 1.1 Petrol ----------- Rs. 4.23 lacs
Maruti WagonR 1.1 Petrol ----------- Rs. 4.27 lacs
Tata Indica 1.4 Diesel -------------- Rs. 4.29 lacs
Fiat Palio 1.1 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 4.32 lacs
Maruti Estilo 1.0 Petrol ------------- Rs. 4.38 lacs
Hyundai i10 1.1 Petrol -------------- Rs. 4.46 lacs
Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol ------------- Rs. 4.47 lacs
Chevrolet Spark 1.0 Petrol----------- Rs. 4.5 lacs
Maruti A-Star 1.0 Petrol ------------ Rs. 4.83 lacs
Fiat Palio 1.6 Petrol ----------------- Rs. 5.17 lacs
Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 5.19 lacs
Ford Figo 1.2 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 5.2 lacs
Chevrolet Beat 1.2 Petrol ----------- Rs. 5.25 lacs
Hyundai Getz 1.3 Petrol ------------- Rs. 5.41 lacs
Fiat Palio 1.3 Diesel ----------------- Rs. 5.49 lacs
Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 5.7 lacs
Maruti Ritz 1.2 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 5.7 lacs
Chevrolet U-VA 1.2 Petrol ----------- Rs. 5.86 lacs
Hyundai i10 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 5.95 lacs
Maruti Swift 1.3 Diesel -------------- Rs. 5.97 lacs
Maruti Ritz 1.3 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 6.05 lacs
Maruti Swift 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 6.11 lacs
Ford Figo `1.4 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 6.2 lacs
Tata Vista 1.3 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 6.22 lacs
VW Polo 1.2 Petrol ------------------ Rs. 6.67 lacs
Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 6.95 lacs
Hyundai i20 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 6.97 lacs
Fiat Punto 1.3 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 7.45 lacs
Skoda Fabia 1.2 Petrol -------------- Rs. 7.65 lacs
Hyundai i20 1.4 Diesel --------------- Rs. 8.6 lacs
Honda Jazz 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 8.88 lacs
Skoda Fabia 1.4 Diesel -------------- Rs. 8.92 lacs

OK, there is one surprise here - Skoda Fabia 1.4 diesel is the most expensive small car, not Honda Jazz!

I am assigning 36 points to the cheapest car and 1 pt to the most expensive car in the comparo. And assigning equal weightage to power, driveability, running costs and affordability, the new ranking of small cars will be something like this -

Ranking of cars that offer the best Compromise between Outright Performance, In-Gear Acceleration, Low running costs & Initital Purchase Price:

Maruti Swift 1.3 Diesel ------------- 112 pts
Maruti Ritz 1.3 Diesel -------------- 109 pts
Hyundai Santro 1.1 Petrol ---------- 105 pts
Fiat Palio 1.3 Diesel ---------------- 100 pts
Maruti A-Star 1.0 Petrol------------- 97 pts
Fiat Palio 1.6 Petrol ----------------- 92 pts
Hyundai i20 1.4 Diesel -------------- 92 pts
Ford Figo `1.4 Diesel --------------- 91 pts
Hyundai i10 1.1 Petrol -------------- 90 pts
Tata Vista 1.3 Diesel --------------- 90 pts
Skoda Fabia 1.4 Diesel -------------- 86 pts
Maruti Estilo 1.0 Petrol -------------- 84 pts
Chevrolet Spark 1.0 Petrol------------ 84 pts
Maruti Swift 1.2 Petrol --------------- 83 pts
Honda Jazz 1.2 Petrol --------------- 82 pts
Maruti Ritz 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 82 pts
Fiat Punto 1.3 Diesel ---------------- 77 pts
Maruti Alto 0.8 Petrol ---------------- 76 pts
Maruti WagonR 1.1 Petrol ------------ 75 pts
Hyundai Getz 1.3 Petrol -------------- 72 pts
Chevrolet Beat 1.2 Petrol ------------- 72 pts
Hyundai i10 1.2 Petrol --------------- 71 pts
Maruti 800 0.8 Petrol ----------------- 71 pts
Tata Indica 1.4 Diesel ---------------- 67 pts
Tata Nano 0.6 Petrol ----------------- 65 pts
Tata Indica 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 63 pts
Ford Figo 1.2 Petrol ------------------ 55 pts
Hyundai i20 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 54 pts
Chevrolet U-VA 1.2 Petrol ------------ 52 pts
Skoda Fabia 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 51 pts
Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol ----------------- 51 pts
Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol -------------- 46 pts
Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 45 pts
Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol ----------------- 44 pts
VW Polo 1.2 Petrol ------------------- 43 pts
Fiat Palio 1.1 Petrol ------------------ 42 pts

Analysis:

- Petrols are back in business, but Swift & Ritz diesel have setup camp at the top and looks like they have no intention of making way for others.

- Look where VW Polo 1.2 petrol stands!

- Although I'm assigning equal weightage to price/affordability, most buyers would probably assign a very high weightage to the initial purchase price. The engine parameters/performance is secondary.

[A350XWB]

Good analysis and appreciate the effort. Are you also considering parameters like safety and equipment? Why I asked this question is because there is no measure for safety in India as far as I know (no crash test rating etc).

[deetjohn]

Excellent work there smartcat!

You could have numbered the cars from 0 to 36 in the different lists though. That would have helped to locate the specific ones in the list.

Can we edit the posts to accommodate this now?

[v.anand]

Wow, thats some analysis. I am very eager to see what the final outcome is and my best bet is on Swift DDIS. If only it had come with airbags, then no question of betting either.

[vintagepoint5]

Appreciate your efforts for good analysis, please add one more criteria of safest cars. By observing the increasing number of accidents on Indian Roads highways and cities. Safety will be first proirity, which seems a long way to go.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by A350XWB

Good analysis and appreciate the effort. Are you also considering parameters like safety and equipment? Why I asked this question is because there is no measure for safety in India as far as I know (no crash test rating etc).

Originally Posted by vintagepoint5

Appreciate your efforts for good analysis, please add one more criteria of safest cars. By observing the increasing number of accidents on Indian Roads highways and cities. Safety will be first proirity, which seems a long way to go.

Of course, safety & equipment will be considered. That will quickly get rid of old models like Santro, Palio etc from the top 10 list. Although there are no car safety ratings in India, I'll be assigning points for availability of ABS, airbags & ABS and even side airbags (i20 petrol/diesel has them).

I have a strong feeling that Hyundai i20 diesel is going to win the overall small car contest. It might be priced high, but it has enough equipment, performance, low running costs & safety kit to justify its price.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

You could have numbered the cars from 0 to 36 in the different lists though. That would have helped to locate the specific ones in the list.

Not sure if I got that. What different lists?

[aseem]

Originally Posted by smartcat

@thalavoy

That's why car buying can never be a purely mathematical exercise. Even if Fiat Punto Emotion Pack MJD ends up last in my list, no amount of arguments will convince me enough to change my opinion that it is the best small car. Heart over mind.

Part IV - INITIAL PURCHASE PRICE (AFFORDABILITY)

The most important parameter for a big percentage of the car buying population. And there will be no surprises in this section, because everybody knows where the cars stand. To make my life a bit easier, I'm considering the official prices of only the top end fully loaded versions of each model (not counting the discounts & special offers). Here is the list of Mumbai on road prices of each car -

Ranking of cars based on Initial purchase price:

Tata Nano 0.6 Petrol --------------- Rs. 2.09 lacs
Maruti 800 0.8 Petrol --------------- Rs. 2.57 lacs
Maruti Alto 0.8 Petrol --------------- Rs. 3.27 lacs
Tata Indica 1.2 Petrol--------------- Rs. 3.6 lacs
Hyundai Santro 1.1 Petrol ----------- Rs. 4.23 lacs
Maruti WagonR 1.1 Petrol ----------- Rs. 4.27 lacs
Tata Indica 1.4 Diesel -------------- Rs. 4.29 lacs
Fiat Palio 1.1 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 4.32 lacs
Maruti Estilo 1.0 Petrol ------------- Rs. 4.38 lacs
Hyundai i10 1.1 Petrol -------------- Rs. 4.46 lacs
Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol ------------- Rs. 4.47 lacs
Chevrolet Spark 1.0 Petrol----------- Rs. 4.5 lacs
Maruti A-Star 1.0 Petrol ------------ Rs. 4.83 lacs
Fiat Palio 1.6 Petrol ----------------- Rs. 5.17 lacs
Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 5.19 lacs
Ford Figo 1.2 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 5.2 lacs
Chevrolet Beat 1.2 Petrol ----------- Rs. 5.25 lacs
Hyundai Getz 1.3 Petrol ------------- Rs. 5.41 lacs
Fiat Palio 1.3 Diesel ----------------- Rs. 5.49 lacs
Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 5.7 lacs
Maruti Ritz 1.2 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 5.7 lacs
Chevrolet U-VA 1.2 Petrol ----------- Rs. 5.86 lacs
Hyundai i10 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 5.95 lacs
Maruti Swift 1.3 Diesel -------------- Rs. 5.97 lacs
Maruti Ritz 1.3 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 6.05 lacs
Maruti Swift 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 6.11 lacs
Ford Figo `1.4 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 6.2 lacs
Tata Vista 1.3 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 6.22 lacs
VW Polo 1.2 Petrol ------------------ Rs. 6.67 lacs
Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol ---------------- Rs. 6.95 lacs
Hyundai i20 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 6.97 lacs
Fiat Punto 1.3 Diesel ---------------- Rs. 7.45 lacs
Skoda Fabia 1.2 Petrol -------------- Rs. 7.65 lacs
Hyundai i20 1.4 Diesel --------------- Rs. 8.6 lacs
Honda Jazz 1.2 Petrol --------------- Rs. 8.88 lacs
Skoda Fabia 1.4 Diesel -------------- Rs. 8.92 lacs

OK, there is one surprise here - Skoda Fabia 1.4 diesel is the most expensive small car, not Honda Jazz!

I am assigning 36 points to the cheapest car and 1 pt to the most expensive car in the comparo. And assigning equal weightage to power, driveability, running costs and affordability, the new ranking of small cars will be something like this -

Ranking of cars that offer the best Compromise between Outright Performance, In-Gear Acceleration, Low running costs & Initital Purchase Price:

Maruti Swift 1.3 Diesel ------------- 112 pts
Maruti Ritz 1.3 Diesel -------------- 109 pts
Hyundai Santro 1.1 Petrol ---------- 105 pts
Fiat Palio 1.3 Diesel ---------------- 100 pts
Maruti A-Star 1.0 Petrol------------- 97 pts
Fiat Palio 1.6 Petrol ----------------- 92 pts
Hyundai i20 1.4 Diesel -------------- 92 pts
Ford Figo `1.4 Diesel --------------- 91 pts
Hyundai i10 1.1 Petrol -------------- 90 pts
Tata Vista 1.3 Diesel --------------- 90 pts
Skoda Fabia 1.4 Diesel -------------- 86 pts
Maruti Estilo 1.0 Petrol -------------- 84 pts
Chevrolet Spark 1.0 Petrol------------ 84 pts
Maruti Swift 1.2 Petrol --------------- 83 pts
Honda Jazz 1.2 Petrol --------------- 82 pts
Maruti Ritz 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 82 pts
Fiat Punto 1.3 Diesel ---------------- 77 pts
Maruti Alto 0.8 Petrol ---------------- 76 pts
Maruti WagonR 1.1 Petrol ------------ 75 pts
Hyundai Getz 1.3 Petrol -------------- 72 pts
Chevrolet Beat 1.2 Petrol ------------- 72 pts
Hyundai i10 1.2 Petrol --------------- 71 pts
Maruti 800 0.8 Petrol ----------------- 71 pts
Tata Indica 1.4 Diesel ---------------- 67 pts
Tata Nano 0.6 Petrol ----------------- 65 pts
Tata Indica 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 63 pts
Ford Figo 1.2 Petrol ------------------ 55 pts
Hyundai i20 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 54 pts
Chevrolet U-VA 1.2 Petrol ------------ 52 pts
Skoda Fabia 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 51 pts
Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol ----------------- 51 pts
Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol -------------- 46 pts
Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 45 pts
Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol ----------------- 44 pts
VW Polo 1.2 Petrol ------------------- 43 pts
Fiat Palio 1.1 Petrol ------------------ 42 pts

Analysis:

- Petrols are back in business, but Swift & Ritz diesel have setup camp at the top and looks like they have no intention of making way for others.

- Look where VW Polo 1.2 petrol stands!

- Although I'm assigning equal weightage to price/affordability, most buyers would probably assign a very high weightage to the initial purchase price. The engine parameters/performance is secondary.

Great initaitive and good research and data.

Just that the analysis is slightly skewed in favor of Swift/Ritz Deisel as you have compared the price of Vdi with Swift Zxi, i10 top model for petrol giving Diesel an unneccesary edge as like for like they dont have features like ABS, Airbags, Climate Control, Sun roof etc.

The like for like comparison of Swift Vdi with Swift Vxi would bump the petrols ranking, same is true for i10 and other petrols.

I think you should compare mid variants of all cars as not all cars come with air bags, abs etc. to get the right picture.

[ACM]

Smart Cat if you are compiling data as you are putting it up then you are actually doing it quite fast.

The analysis seems quite neutral (fair) and your observations are bang on.

Await the final sheet. Yep every one will give importance to different parameters but the best of all worlds is ideal.

[CARDEEP]

In my opinion, when a buyer has made up his mind for a particular car, he will go for the car irrespective of what expects have to say. Take the example of Jazz or i20 buyers. They are the ones looking for snob value rather than what a swift buyer might be looking for (performance, FE, A.S.S., Resale & all).
The last line in earlier para also explains the reason why Swift scores highly & is the Numero Uno till now (it ticks all the parameters & that too with high scores).

But, all accolades to smartcat (surely smart)... he has brought up the topic like a good masala movie (tight script & entertainment). Very professional & to the point. Much in league with the Distinguished BHP-ians.
Congrats.

[ottocycle]

Great comparison.

There should also be comparison based on the exterior looks and road presence. This plays a good part when deciding a car.

[abhinav.s]

Very good & informative post smartcat!

Helps new buyers compare and pick up the best suited car for their preference.

[Torqueman]

Impressive analysis 'Smartest' cat.
Brand value(in terms of customer trust) could be another parameter which can be included for analysis. For eg: many customers purchase Alto to Chevy spark just for "Maruti" brand name, though spark is far superior in terms of build quality, styling, performance..etc etc

[kadri007]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Part III - FUEL EFFICIENCY & RUNNING COSTS

Most of these cars will be doing duty in the city limits, but it also doubles up a highway car. As expected, the diesels engines murder the petrols in this contest. Here is the mileage ranking of the 36 cars in our study -

City Mileage:

Maruti Ritz 1.3 Diesel ------------- 14.6 km/l
Tata Nano 0.6 Petrol ------------- 14.5 km/l
Maruti Swift 1.3 Diesel ------------ 14.4 km/l
................
Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol ------------------ 10.3 km/l
Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol ------------------ 10.2 km/l
Fiat Palio 1.1 Petrol ------------------- 10.2 km/l
Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol ------------------- 9.7 km/l
Skoda Fabia 1.2 Petrol ----------------- 9.7 km/l
Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol ---------------- 9.3 km/l
Fiat Palio 1.6 Petrol -------------------- 9.1 km/l

I seriously doubt about these mileages.

Skoda Fabia Petrol owners are getting mileage of 12 Km/Ltr, Fiat Punto Petrol 14Km/Ltr, Swift Diesel gives 18Km/Ltr and Indica Vista Petrol 14Km/Ltr in Bangalore city traffic. These are minimum mileages and it goes another 1/3Km more depending upon driving conditions.

Do check the below link also given by SIAM, the on road mileage would be 2 KMS less than this.

SIAM

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by aseem

Just that the analysis is slightly skewed in favor of Swift/Ritz Deisel as you have compared the price of Vdi with Swift Zxi, i10 top model for petrol giving Diesel an unneccesary edge as like for like they dont have features like ABS, Airbags, Climate Control, Sun roof etc.
The like for like comparison of Swift Vdi with Swift Vxi would bump the petrols ranking, same is true for i10 and other petrols. I think you should compare mid variants of all cars as not all cars come with air bags, abs etc. to get the right picture.

The analysis stops being skewed in favour of Swift/Ritz diesel from now on. Because, now we start assigning points for equipment/features and safety. For eg: Swift ZXi might have lost out a bit now, but since it has steering mounted audio controls, alloy wheels, airbags & ABS, it should march up the ladder and get closer to Swift VDi.

Cannot compare Swift Vxi with Swift VDi - because Swift VDi with ABS is the top end diesel model while Swift Zxi is the top end petrol model.

Originally Posted by ACM

Smart Cat if you are compiling data as you are putting it up then you are actually doing it quite fast.

Yes, I'm uploading the data as I'm compiling it - so even I do not know the final ranking.

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

In my opinion, when a buyer has made up his mind for a particular car, he will go for the car irrespective of what expects have to say. Take the example of Jazz or i20 buyers. They are the ones looking for snob value rather than what a swift buyer might be looking for (performance, FE, A.S.S., Resale & all).
The last line in earlier para also explains the reason why Swift scores highly & is the Numero Uno till now (it ticks all the parameters & that too with high scores).

Maruti guys know what car buying public wants - a fantastic price and brilliant engine characteristics like power & mileage. Everything else is secondary.

I would'nt call i20 and Jazz buyers snobbish though - these two cars make lot of sense too. Again, I'll let the numbers speak for themselves

Originally Posted by ottocycle

There should also be comparison based on the exterior looks and road presence. This plays a good part when deciding a car.

The ranking of small cars based on - Exterior looks, interior looks, ride, handling & steering feel/feedback - this is for an expert team-bhp panel to decide!

Originally Posted by kadri007

I seriously doubt about these mileages.
Skoda Fabia Petrol owners are getting mileage of 12 Km/Ltr, Fiat Punto Petrol 14Km/Ltr, Swift Diesel gives 18Km/Ltr and Indica Vista Petrol 14Km/Ltr in Bangalore city traffic. These are minimum mileages and it goes another 1/3Km more depending upon driving conditions.

As mentioned before, the exact mileage figure doesn't matter - it is the ranking that matters. Basically, most of the mileages you have mentioned is 2 or 3 km/litre more than what's mentioned in Autocar India. So eventually, the ranking (and hence the points assigned) remains the same.

But, of course, if you do not have faith in the source of data (Autocar India), then there is no point in looking at any of the parameters - the whole exercise becomes immaterial.