![]() | #196 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...er-2015-a.html That was a fast one by Govt! Mango man's math in linked to these- "Kitna Dethi hei : Kitna dena hei." |
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![]() | #197 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() I can't remember when I was so angry as I am now. The Swift manufactured in Europe has more strength than the one manufactured in India. Its a cartel at work, all the Manufacturers get the Government to act according to what they want and the People are palmed off lemons. Non-retractable seat belts in the rear, middle bench seat in the front, your phone doubling up as your music system, that itself was shocking, the first time I saw the Go I wondered how flimsy it was, but brushed away the thought thinking that the Datsun Engineers might have a reason for making it so crumple friendly, guess their Accountants signed off the materials for the car. The cheapest thing that all the mass manufacturers are doing is moving to Tier I and Tier II cities, because people there are not well informed with regards to their automobiles and they can still palm off their stuff to them. The heat is definitely on in the cities where most T-bhp members know more about cars than the salesmen selling them! |
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![]() | #198 | ||
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Quote:
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I was in the exact opposite situation to yours when I was looking for a pre-worshipped Swift in 2009-10. Since petrol cars were depreciating so fast back then, I had decided to get hold of a petrol Swift from someone relocating from my company so that I can properly inquire about the driving styles and history of the previous owner through colleagues and buy a known vehicle. I waited for more than 6 months looking for a ZXi to turn up but it never came. Just a couple of VXi ABS came, but both of them were tortured by the owners to hell and back. Looks like SA had told them ABS is only for high speeds and they decided that having ABS would help them take those high speeds within the city. One of those cars sounded more like a diesel, and I confirmed with the owner that there were no engine/exhaust mods done. A good fraction of the customers who do lateral upgrades above a certain price band actually do it knowing a little more about cars (to be 90% confident that a 2-3 year old car is not going to be a white elephant) than someone who thinks he would rather buy a brand new Alto as his first car since he afraid of maintenance expenses for a used Wagon R and cannot afford a new Wagon R. These new car buyers are the ones who are easily influenced by the sales advisors and end up buying lower variants. Last edited by zenren : 5th November 2014 at 08:42. | ||
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![]() | #199 | |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Hyd/Mumbai
Posts: 235
Thanked: 146 Times
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![]() So yes, we need airbags in city limits too! | |
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![]() | #200 |
BANNED Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Delhi
Posts: 173
Thanked: 163 Times
| ![]() Maruti has had a history of following the market and grudging the customer new developments in the past also. MPFI, disc brakes, sea-belts and now air-bags, the trend is there for all to see. Meanwhile, royalties go on unabated, and the attitude towards Indian consumer is that they can eat crow. This was the way Premier and Hindustan Motors behaved when Maruti entered the market. 30 years later, it is probably time for another leader to emerge, and as of now no idea who it will be. The issue here is simple - I want to buy a lower variant but I want all the safety features, and Maruti is unable to give me that option on date. I have owned 2 Maruti Swift diesel cars, 2008, 2009, and sometimes drive a friend's 2012 Swift diesel. All three are VDi ABS. The quality drop is perceptible, and frankly, the best to drive even now is the 2008. My experience with trying to buy a Ciaz is known - the dealer attitude and the manufacturer attitude were and are - take it or leave it, especially when I wanted to know why I can not get atleast two airbags in the VDi+ version of the Ciaz. Now I read that two manufacturers of competing sedans, Tata Motors and Toyota, are offering 2 airbags as standard in all variants of Zest and Etios respectively. Are Maruti going to follow the HM and PAL route, where real estate with high value in Gurgaon (as was the case for PAL/Mumbai and HM/Kolkata) will be the end-game play? |
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![]() | #201 |
BHPian Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Chennai
Posts: 314
Thanked: 357 Times
Infractions: 0/2 (8) | ![]() Folks, A number of people are saying that if you need airbags/ABS then go for the highest variant i.e. ZXi/ZDi. But it's just not airbags/ABS alone that comes with ZXi/ZDi and the price is north because of the alloys, leather seats, music system etc. So, what if I just need a simple base variant (read LXi/LDi) with ABS/airbag? There is no option for me. I will need to go for the highest variant (ZXi/ZDi) but then pay for the hunky-dory alloys and any other additional accessories that comes in that variant and just pushes the price up. So, let's just give an option to the consumer to have airbags/ABS in any trim and not just in the highest trim alone! P.S And the other issue is that even if I get ABS/Airbags on ZXi/ZDi I am really not sure if that's going to be of any use if the structural integrity of Indian Swift has been compromised :-(. Last edited by searacer932 : 5th November 2014 at 09:22. |
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![]() | #202 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,268
Thanked: 2,547 Times
| ![]() I'm not sure if the 3-Star rated Swift (with Airbags), is the same as the Indian version. Although its exported from here, regulations in Latin America are quite surely advanced, if not the top management would've said something like, "Products sold here meet various Indian & international standards..." Anyway, to keep discussions constructive, I guess a slightly better thing to do, instead of having wishlists, would be to learn from these studies and understand the parameters that are considered, WHY the cars scored so less and WHAT's needed (apart from Airbags) to make it better. It is also important to note that this purportedly 'Independent' organisation, apparently took 'donations' to fund these tests. So, while what they exposed was an eye-opener, it'd be prudent to hold some reservations before we fully trust their intent. Pressure groups these days would go to any extent to extract personal gain, I wonder why it took 7 months for NDTV to publish scores of India's largest selling B Segment hatch (and its not like our Indian media is known for their neutral, honest & brilliant journalism). Hence, while I consider such irresponsible decisions of auto-makers as sacrilege, I can't help but hold reservations about :
IIRC, from info obtained when I visited TATA's Pune plant (which has a crash test facility), additional the cost of such a well equipped facility and the professionals, each dummy by itself costs about 1 crore. The unit/car with various sensors too would cost quite a significant amount! Although, the guy also mentioned that, for basic rough drafts for new designs, it could also be simulated. |
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![]() | #203 | |
Senior - BHPian ![]() | ![]() Quote:
Since when did Zest have airbags in all variants? AFAIK, it is only available in XMS and XT variants. The much acclaimed diesel AMT variant is without ABS and airbags! | |
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![]() | #204 | |||
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I am quite surprised that people had to wait for report from our illiterate TV-media to make them understand such a simple logic. Is Maruti/Hyundai etc. not labelled as Tin-Cans on Team-bhp?? For many people on Indian roads, they do not understand the meaning of safety. Meeting with an accident and staying alive with paralysis is fine with them. Hardly .00000001% of junta blames accident borne death to cars. And 99% of the .000000001% who blame the unsafe cars are the educated lot mostly members of forums such as Team-BHP. I use to have hard time convincing my friends at office about the importance of safety since resale Value is THE mantra for them. They say they cannot afford a safe car, Come on man! . 20 years back many of us could afford to buy a car, did our work stop? And I am the clown among the majority for putting my money into a safer car which is fuel deficient(heavy body) and no resale value. In any case, Mango Junta is highly selectively forgiving and this will pass for Maruti and various other Tin-can manufacturers. Last edited by Speed Pujari : 5th November 2014 at 09:22. | |||
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![]() | #205 |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Pune
Posts: 1,560
Thanked: 1,267 Times
Infractions: 0/1 (5) | ![]() I will blame Indian Tax structure and Government for this. Because of tax structure car manufacturers in India are struggling to keep on road price down to attract customers. However, I am expecting some amendments in coming years. But no body is stopping car manufacturer from making safe cars at reasonable price. I would prefer Airbags & ABS over fancy alloy wheels, or other so called advanced features like ACC, Voice recognition system, & what not. It will be great if manufacturer start giving safety features over all other fancy features. I sincerely hope in coming few years we will get those. I will again say, Maruti should take initiative in this. If they do, others have to do it & follow them as Maruti is the leader in India. Lets hope somebody from Maruti is reading all this & will take some action ![]() Last edited by Aditya : 6th November 2014 at 12:37. Reason: Let's keep politicians and political parties out of the discussion |
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![]() | #206 | |
Senior - BHPian ![]() Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Chennai
Posts: 1,254
Thanked: 2,372 Times
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![]() | #207 | |
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![]() | #208 | |
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Surprisingly I have seen quite a number of fatalities in Honda City and Innova. Certainly it was driven at break neck speed. I am yet to read reports of fatalities in a Fiat, Google does not help to convey this information. Though I have read many life saving incidences in News Paper and on Team-Bhp. I am not a Fiat-fan, but yes I am a safety-fan and the brand happen to convince me at such a price point was only the one which I own. EDIT: The kind research a safety oriented person should be doing http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post3571503 Certainly while buying a car being proactive is better than being reactive. So many threads about this report is proving how many of us were not-so proactive while purchasing our car. My father almost lost his hands in a 30-40 kmph Wagon-R based accident. My family is thankful to Maruti since he is alive and I am a rebel in society for such a hatred towards tin-cans which 'saved' life of my father. This is end of Fiat Discussion. Period and Peace. Last edited by Speed Pujari : 5th November 2014 at 10:06. | |
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![]() | #209 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Somewhere in MH
Posts: 425
Thanked: 1,406 Times
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![]() | #210 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Chennai
Posts: 171
Thanked: 129 Times
| ![]() I am sorry to say this. I have seen a number of photographs of accident sites where the most popular Indian car is crushed like papad and I really pitied the passengers. When the car construction does not have crush zones and inherently safe design, the number of air bags really do not matter. I recollect a BBC test which was trying to impress this point. A huge Merc looking Chinese luxury sedan car was frontal crash tested and was shown in slow motion. The car was crushed badly and was a total wreck. Despite the deployment of all air bags, the dolls suffered severe head injuries and could not be extricated. The pax could have died in an actual scene. Only intact items were alloy wheels, which got disconnected and rolled off. Last edited by alavandar : 5th November 2014 at 10:06. Reason: Some content added. |
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