[Gilead]

RajaTaurus, looks like Mitsubishi and Ford are not even worthy of participating in the poll. lol

I have bought cars from four different brands till now- Toyota (US), Tata, Maruti and Ford. Out of these, I will never buy a Tata or a Maruti again. My experience with Ford has just begun so I am not too sure if I will definitely buy another one. But things are looking good so far and I might buy the Focus sometime in the future if I like what's offered. I will never buy a Hyundai. I might buy a Toyota again if they launch something exciting.

Other brands for the future:

- Fiat
- Mitsubishi
- Honda
- BMW

[DCEite]

I have been loyal to Maruti-Suzuki, but not *inexplicably* as the OP has put. Reliable, good performing cars with a vast after sales network have been my primariy reasons.

Will never buy - a FIAT. I am sorry and no offence meant to any owners, but i care for my hard earned money too much.

Might consider a Hyundai or even a TATA in my next change though, if the offering is good.

[khoj]

Moderators

In the poll we should have 'None of above' and 'others' as choices too.

[Finject]

How do you edit a poll?
Sorry might seem naive but is there an option to do so?
Wanna add
1>Mitsubishi
2>Ford
and 3> others to the poll.
For the time being, all the Mitsubishi/Ford/other fanboys can click Mahindra and yenjaay!

[SamtheLeo]

I voted for

Mahindra : Have always been a fan since childhood, the sturdy built, reliability & road presence being few reasons.

Fiat : They always have good products & have a potential to be leading car company in India.

Tata : It is a brand which is making Indian presence felt on World Auto market.

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by Gilead

RajaTaurus, looks like Mitsubishi and Ford are not even worthy of participating in the poll. lol

One reality it shows though... These are cars not bought 'mainly' on brand image, but performance and VFM and.. and. etc.

[Finject]

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus

One reality it shows though... These are cars not bought 'mainly' on brand image, but performance and VFM and.. and. etc.

Completely agree man... Infact, Mitsubishi didn't even register when I was thinking about the poll options NOM. Ford was just an oversight as I do like the Endeavour!
Sorry guys, for missing out your brands.

[clevermax]

I voted for Luxury Brands as some of those are the ones I aspire to own I like most of the European brands, but only Fiat was affordable for me.

Brand that I'll not buy from? Maruti. Don't want cars that are too common and having less features for the sake of wonderful a-s-s. And, I want to enjoy my hard earned money by using the product I buy, as I envisaged.

Most probable Indian brand that I'll buy from? TATA - they are really on a learning curve!

[downsouth]

Though I drive a Fiat now I still would vote for Maruti. My first car was a 800 which I bought way back in 96 then it was replaced by an Esteem VXi which is still in the family. As a brand I would definitely vouch for a Maruti any day.

[allana13]

Honda is the other name for relaibility.

I have a friend who has done 190k miles in his civic and is still going strong, (touch wood )

Originally Posted by Max

for me its Honda.

I have been driving honda city since last 6 years and it always feels at home. Before that I had OHC for 1 year and maruti zen for 1 year. Loved all cars but now it seems its time to switch to diesel, my next car surely will be diesel but i don't plan to buy new car till this one breaks down which doesn't seems to be the case for at least next 3-4 years.

[.anshuman]

I voted for the all the Brands, i have explained the reasons on page 1.

[HammerHead]

Which car brand do you trust and/or aspire to own?
I voted for 'Fiat' and 'Luxury brands (Mercedes/BMW/Audi/ etc.)' cause I love European cars for the obvious reasons.

I trust Fiat, for that matter Skoda/VW too as their cars are well build and there is feeling of safety which no Japanese or Korean car (on sale in India) can give.

I won't say "I will never buy car from brand 'X'", but considering my requirements and current offerings from Maruti and Hyundai, I can safely say that they have nothing to offer me!! If they do have something in future, I would definitely look forward to own one.

I'm also looking forward to own a TATA/Mahindra SUV, not the current ones, I'm waiting for a all new SUV from them.

Car brands that you are inexplicably loyal to!
None!

[Minardi]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

I think brand loyalty has some real meaning when it comes to very high end brands such as BMW, Audi, Merc, Porsche etc. These brands are synonymous with some great qualities and have maintained certain 'brand perception' throughout the history. For example, BMW is the ultimate driving machine (and it is certainly not just a marketing tag line), Audis have been showcases of absolutely cutting-edge technology, Porsches are the ultimate sports car and have never made a car that is not sporty enough, etc. It is understandable that someone can be loyal to these particular characteristics that these brand stand for, and nothing else matters when you reach that level of brand image.

However, the kind of segment we are talking about (Fiats, Marutis, Hyundais, Fords etc.), I don't think brand loyalty has any meaning. These are just the cars that we buy based on mundane issues such as sales and service, fuel economy, price, ordinary things we call 'features' (e.g. ACC, ABS) etc. These brands are not synonymous with any great characteristics. And whatever characteristics they have, they keep on changing with time. For example, Maruti can produce a very sporty, good handling and adorable Swift, and then it can also produce a very dull and horrible looking Estillo. Fiat can make a hot hatch with a 100 bhp 1.6L motor in the form of Palio 1.6, and then move on to making another hatch with 150 kg more weight and power it with just 89 bhp 1.4L motor. VW can talk about all the German engineering and then launch cars with 3-cylinder engines.

So what brand loyalty we can talk about in this segment?

In summary, I believe brand loyalty is a misplaced concept in the lower-end segment, where practicality and affordability plays the most critical role and one should admit this instead of blindly following a brand. At the higher end of the segment, the brands really have consistent differentiators and there brand loyalty makes more sense.

Thanks,
-AD

Speak for yourself. Don't generalise with statements like "we buy based on mundane issues such as sales and service, fuel economy, price..." Who is 'we' here?

Despite your very 'logical' reasoning on why mere mortals with budgets only for Fiats, Marutis, Hyundais, Fords etc. shd not have brand loyalty, they have. You think they are all fools? Dont make the mistake that other people should think like you. People are all different.

[vipul_singh]

Voted FIAT, but strictly speaking, the loyalty is not inexplicable. I did not give a damn who FIAT was or did before 2002. It was one single product - the Palio - which made me a FIAT well-wisher and fan, despite the service irritants from time to time.

I marvel at the fact that a single product has the capability to make a person a follower of a brand - an intanglible entity.

[SkyWalker]

I have owned a Maruti, Hyundai, FIAT & a Honda - Dad's as well as my own. I dont feel "inexplicably loyal to" any of these brands.

I have polled in the thread, and marked the Luxury Brands as an aspirational goal - may be a BMW or a Lexus (assuming Toyota launches here).