[chevelle]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

I assume that you mean 16L on-road (I dont see prices on Toyota-site) in which case, the comparison to the K is flawed because the Kizashi is 17.5 ex-showroom - so you need to add a few more lakhs for taxes, insurance etc. Corolla does have features, but it is nowhere near the K when it comes to the drive/performance.

Yes Corolla on road is 16.25 lakhs in Vadodara, Kizashi is 18 lakhs on road for a manual version in Vadodara. So a person looking at kizashi will definitely look at Corolla and at this point of time, brand recall is more of Corolla than Kizashi.

Boss, how much will you pay for brand-value ? And for a VW at that. A 1.6l/100bhp car retails at 9lakhs max here. AFAIK the Jetta is 14-15lakhs. 5-6 lakhs for brand-value ? Funny that you dont find the Jetta overpriced.

Well our discussion is about kizashi being overpriced, if you had asked me about jetta in its thread, i would have gladly said yes. You can even say at 16 lakhs, Jetta 1.6 is one overpriced car, but visit A'bad, Vadodara and you will sell jetta(p & d) all over the place. It has tremendous brand value here. I have one in family and I know with what reason it was bought.

BTW, I just searched the initial-ownership threads to see how many have paid that kind of premium for the Jetta-P. I could find just 1 Jetta thread - which was VW2010's thread about his Jetta-Diesel. Ofcourse I did not go through all the pages thrown up by the search, but I doubt there would be many here who would pay that kind of money for a 1.6l petrol car.

I have just considered petrol to petrol comparison, if i include jetta diesel it touches an astonishing 18 lakhs on road.

We bhpians are an informed lot, we know a 1.6L in jetta will be slow and is expensive for what we pay, but too bad the aam-junta doesn't think the same.

Are you sure about this one ? You could confuse the twin-disk rear lamps of the Jetta for the Civic, but the Kizashi!!! Now that surely is a first. From the front, the Jetta is one boring car, which I don't think is what you could say about the K's front.

BTW, you could slap on a Hyundai badge on the Civic and you would still find a few people who would say, "Hey, there is a Hyundai Civic". But that does not make it a Honda, does it ?

For your visual comparison, i have put both the cars pic here. Hope you can see the similarity.




If you still want, i can upload side profile too. Also, a moot point is how they strayed from the concept kizashi to current kizashi, but that's a different issue.
And honestly, looks are always debatable, what you like i may not like so lets leave it there.

Yes, the Kizashi lacks a history. But if the whole point of this discussion was about whether the K will sell or not, we need not have wasted a few pages. IMO, sales will be mostly on the lines of the GV. The point here was about which cars compare with the Kizashi and I find the Civic/Corolla lacking. As far as the Jetta goes, well I would get a Fiesta instead - would be much more fun to drive.

I feel history does play a part in building up a brand, car's brand value and how much of brand recall is there in public. You can look at some good examples like Civic, Corolla, Accord, Camry. Since these cars have higher recall value, they will have buyers who blindly believe in these cars which kizashi as well as Suzuki has still to build in India.

The whole point of this discussion is not only where to compare but also how it will affect the segment it is slotted in. Will it have any effect on Suzuki as a 16 lakh brand? Will it have any effect on Suzuki as per sales number? Will it make other brands like honda, toyota go back to drawing boards? Will it affect civic/corolla numbers more or Accord/Superb numbers more?

These are some of the questions that arise by this launch. I have never cared about any cars sales nor I will ever do. That's why you would never see me quote sales number unless absolutely necessary and to make a point.

As for your picking Fiesta instead of Jetta, thats entirely your choice and i respect that. Even Jetta is fun to drive but your definition of FTD and mine may vary. So no issues.

OT: You can look at other threads too where many members think kizashi is not properly launched by maruti and it not priced properly. So it seems, i am not the only one who thinks its overpriced and not a proper launch by Maurti.

[gshanky]

Originally Posted by chevelle

So it seems, i am not the only one who thinks its overpriced and not a proper launch by Maurti.

I do think a lot of cars are overpriced. However coming to Kizashi - it is being launched as a mid-size sedan. Though you could compare with Camry, Accord, etc. and determine that kizashi is a bit small - it is still nevertheless a midsize sedan and is probably one of the cheapest midsize sedans.

For what it's worth, I think Kizashi is a very good car and have been following it for a while, especially the long term reviews in motortrend. But Kizashi did not set the sales chart on fire anywhere in the world and I don't think it would be any different in India.

If you looked at Hyundai Sonata - they went through quite a few iterations before being successful. Historically they priced their cars cheaper to the segment leaders but they did not position it a segment below.

So Kizashi at its current iteration may not sell well but it is probably the best Suzuki. I don't think it is a good idea to compare price and sales. At least I haven't seen any manufacturer do it that way because it makes more damage to the brand value.

[romeomidhun]

Now that India-Japan free trade agreement is signed which will remove the customs duty of many of the items imported / exported, will the cost of Kizashi come down?

Because, about 45% out of the 110% import duty is customs duty itself. So, the price should come down drastically!

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Now that India-Japan free trade agreement is signed which will remove the customs duty of many of the items imported / exported, will the cost of Kizashi come down?
Because, about 45% out of the 110% import duty is customs duty itself. So, the price should come down drastically!

OT: If that happens, the Prado too will become cheaper and closer to the Fortuner and the Fortuner will slide lower down the market as well.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Now that India-Japan free trade agreement is signed which will remove the customs duty of many of the items imported / exported, will the cost of Kizashi come down?

Because, about 45% out of the 110% import duty is customs duty itself. So, the price should come down drastically!

Moreover, the price of many cars from Maruti, Toyota and Honda should come down, depending upon their import content from Japan.

My personal interest: the spare parts' price of Baleno also must come down!

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

OT: If that happens, the Prado too will become cheaper and closer to the Fortuner and the Fortuner will slide lower down the market as well.

Hope your words come true soon my friend, I have been eying the fortuner ever since it was launched, but as of now a bit out of range

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

Hope your words come true soon my friend, I have been eying the fortuner ever since it was launched, but as of now a bit out of range

I believe from my source that the current Prados and LC come from Australia and not from Japan.

I might be wrong though.

[joslicx]

Saw a black Kizashi day before yesterday on the outer Ring Road (near JP Morgan) that was followed by a Laura. Both looked about the same size but Kizashi definitely had road presence! It looks much better in real life than in pictures. Looked way better than the Laura really.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Saw a black Kizashi day before yesterday on the outer Ring Road (near JP Morgan) that was followed by a Laura. Both looked about the same size but Kizashi definitely had road presence! Looked way better than the Laura really.

I think it is the aggressive front-profile - sort of beast-like, which would be enhanced in black color. This is clear from the Jetta/K pics posted by chevelle earlier, where inspite of a slight similarity in lines, the image projected by the front of both cars is so different. While the Jetta looks docile, the K looks like a beast waiting to be unleashed.

Originally Posted by joslicx

It looks much better in real life than in pictures.

On OMR at Thoraipakkam, the billboard on the overhead pedestrian crossing now has the Kizashi ads. But I would think they need not have bothered, given the crappy pics they have used for the ad. They have used a side-rear profile of the car and due to the way the pic is taken, it looks as inviting as a Dzire. So much for India's first sports sedan. Our guys at tbhp would have done a better job of taking lip-smacking pics of the Kizashi.

P.S.: Yesterday evening while waiting to catch the train, I was browsing the tiny bookstore at Mavelikara station, and saw that all the automags on display had the Kizashi on the cover. One of them had the line "Bigger than the Laura, more features than the Accord".

[planet_rocker]

Spotted this one at Bhandari Automobiles, Kolkata

Looks nice.

[sidindica]

Spotted this one at Delhi.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by sidindica

Spotted this one at Delhi.

Thats a left hand drive.it seems to me...
izzatso?

[Klub Class]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Thats a left hand drive.it seems to me...
izzatso?

Certainly 'no'. It's a right hand drive Maruti Suzuki Kizashi.

PS: I won't be surprised if you say that you're half-asleep. Kindly take no offense.

EDIT:The person wearing that blue T-shirt is sitting in the passenger seat.

[thedreamcatcher]

Have seen the Kizashi over this week on three occasions. They were the same car by the way.

It is basically the TD vehicle at Kalyani Motors on Banerghatta road. A black colour HR 26 registered Kizashi.

Upclose, the headlight assembly looked nice and it looked good from the rear as well. But thats about it

[nik_kapur]

The way i look at it is as follows. This car will flop for obvious reasons (PRICE PRICE PRICE), but MSIL will not give up. Since its an import and they can import any model, they will give it another shot with the Sunroof, Rockford Fosgate and Bluetooth model and attempt to sell it again. Thats when i feel this car may be worth a shot at 16.5 and 17.5 L. Maybe is wishful thinking but hey.. isnt it always the case when cars begin to flop and we get more features.