[hybridpetrol]

Did anyone compare Baleno Sigma with Swift LXI(O)?
Sigma version lies just 9K away!! With a few additional features and new looks!

[blue_pulsar]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

"Blame Maruti, always for everything they do or don't do"?

IMO, it is good that Maruti made the safety features optional than standard, (and they have to do the same in the entry level cars like Alto). Reason? Customers should never keep away from buying a car and continue using their 2-wheelers seeing a higher price tag for a car of their choice. A 2-wheeler is always an unsafe mode compared to a car.

Please go to a Maruti dealership in a smaller town and witness how the sales folks convince customers to buy a barebones version. The salesmen think safety features are of no use.

"No need for ABS, because you have alloy wheels"
"No need for ABS, because you drive in the city"
"Don't buy a car with airbags because you need to change the whole dashboard in case of accidents"
"Longer wait period. Please buy the one without safety features"

The list of stupid suggestions is endless. And the un-informed customers fall prey to the sales pitch.


I do not subscribe to the theory of 4 wheeler being safer than a 2 wheeler. A person who can afford 6 lacs will definitely be able to spend 25k more for ABS and Airbags only when it is made mandatory. Else, the trend of people buying VXi instead of LXi(O) will continue. The trend of people buying LXi and spending for alloys and music system will continue. Take my word for it.

[Viju]

Good move from MSIL. It may be a result of all the bad publicity off-late about Marutis being unsafe, or preparation for upcoming safety norms. Either way, the customer can now choose to buy a safer car, without having to pay for alloy wheels or climate control. In my book, that is a good thing!

Forget all the talk about how safe the structure is, etc. That can be answered only after crash tests are made mandatory. But if I get to add ABS to my base variant vehicle at a reasonable cost, I definitely would. And if I am asked if during a crash, I would like to bang my head on the steering wheel or an airbag, I will take the airbag any day. If getting an ABS + 2 airbags for 25K is not value for money, I don't know what else is.

As far as MSIL offering ABS and dual airbags as standard on their hot sellers is considered, I don't think they can do that rightaway, even if they wanted to. The suppliers of these respective parts may need more time to ramp up their production volumes to meet MSIL's requirements (especially the ABS, which is assembled in India).

But I doubt there is going to be a big effect of the introduction of these L(O) and V(O) variants in the actual sales ratio, since very few people will actually shell out 25K for safety features. Forget the educated members in here, I am talking about the common car buyers.

Many years ago, while I was still working for MSIL R&D, I did multiple studies on how to increase the ABS penetration rate in the market. One of the things I realised was that out of all the models which had optional ABS and dual airbags - the Estilo VXi(O) barely managed to sell 10 units per annum, and the WagonR VXi(O) was only slightly better, with a couple of hundreds. And there also, the price differential used to be around 25 - 30K.

Hope ABS, airbags and crash test norms come in to force sooner than later - could save a lot of lives in our country.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

Please go to a Maruti dealership in a smaller town and witness how the sales folks convince customers to buy a barebones version. The salesmen think safety features are of no use.

"No need for ABS, because you have alloy wheels"
"No need for ABS, because you drive in the city"
"Don't buy a car with airbags because you need to change the whole dashboard in case of accidents"
"Longer wait period. Please buy the one without safety features"

The list of stupid suggestions is endless. And the un-informed customers fall prey to the sales pitch.

Yes, but that is not specific to MSIL showrooms. Many other manufacturers are doing the same kind of tricks.

I do not subscribe to the theory of 4 wheeler being safer than a 2 wheeler.

You need to drive a 2-wheeler in the current traffic conditions to "subscribe" to this.

[blue_pulsar]

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

Yes, but that is not specific to MSIL showrooms. Many other manufacturers are doing the same kind of tricks.

Not all manufacturers. For e.g, If you were to buy a Polo, you get airbags as standard. Same is the case with Figo. Leave other manufacturers, if you were to buy a Baleno, you get airbags and ABS as standard. Why leave Swift?

Originally Posted by romeomidhun

You need to drive a 2-wheeler in the current traffic conditions to "subscribe" to this.

Again, I repeat. If someone can pay 6 Lacs for a Swift, they can stretch 25k for safety as well. 25k translates to ~INR 500 increase in EMI for a 5 year loan and ~INR 800 for a 3 year loan. So, why not make it mandatory?

[Yeldo]

Do we need to argue on this matter?

Maruti has finally begun to offer ABS / Airbags on Swift, Dzire, Celerio, Wagon R, and Ertiga. The Alto is soon to follow.

Instead of asking why Maruti is NOT offering this as standard, may I ask why WE the buyers do not make safety features as standard on our shopping list?

Still worse, we are arguing over something Maruti is sure to keep only for the price- lists. I don't think any Maruti dealer is going to accept a booking for any of these 'O' variants. Even if somebody forces them to accept a booking, they are not going to give any committed delivery date other than a generic "3 months minimum, Sir". Colour choice? Any colour as long as it is White. Pre- delivery PDI? You find fault with this piece, then wait another 3 months Sir.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

Not all manufacturers. For e.g, If you were to buy a Polo, you get airbags as standard. Same is the case with Figo.

You are guessing based on the features available on the base model. There are other manufacturers and their models having bare bone base models.

Again, I repeat. If someone can pay 6 Lacs for a Swift, they can stretch 25k for safety as well. 25k translates to ~INR 500 increase in EMI for a 5 year loan and ~INR 800 for a 3 year loan. So, why not make it mandatory?

Not always. I bought a 5L used car, but my initial budget was 3.5L! Stretched to the maximum to get a car of my choice. Bought with whole-cash, as many other EMIs were running after me. Stretching it further even by Rs 1000 was not possible. Think of "poor" people who buy like this.

[Anand3553]

Good move by Maruti. Better late than never.

I know I am being too greedy here. But it would be nice from Maruti's end if they follow up this with a display (like a notice board with pictures) in their showrooms of how Airbag and ABS can save life in case of an accident so that the aam junta can understand and choose it over alloy wheels and music system. And ofcourse instruct the sales executives to avoid suggesting against the safety features with their lame explanations.

Thanks
Anand

[manishkapadia]

Lets give the due credit to Maruti where it is due. With 25K extra as an option it should not hurt most people. Now a Swift VXI(O) with ABS and AIRBAGS at about 6.5L OTR Mumbai makes for a good buy if you do not care about Alloys or Start/Stop buttons.

Its amazing to see how Polo , Liva , Swift , Figo all are now available with Airbags from base, but the company who was initially not selling cars without Airbags ( Honda) has ommitted them from half of their variants across a car range. I hope that this forces Honda and other manufacturers to provide airbags and abs at similar incremental costs. I feel that mass produced these parts are not that expensive. Even the invoice i got for my Honda City ( Airbag product update under recall) mentions the price at just about 3.5K with actual price charged to me as Zero.
In short its doable at 25K price difference. Manufacturers were shying away probably as this would eat into their margins and lesser people would buy top end models if they dont care about fancy things like sunroofs, touchscreens, alloys and other Gizmos.

Since we are discussing Maruti Swift and Dzire here, does anyone know if the LXI,VXI variants still use poor braking as compared to the ZXI or this too has been corrected in current models. If i recollect this used to be the case few years back for sure. This was never on brochure but was generally experienced and read on reviews.

[rselva]

Maruti bringing in safety option is significant because it is the market leader ,and has the sales to ensure that the 3rd parties increase the production of airbags and ABS. As the production increases to cater to the leader's demand, the cost per unit will come down due to higher production and localization , which in turn will ensure that lower variants of all car companies can be equipped with safety features at reasonable price. This in turn will lead to phasing out of non-safe vehicles.

Originally Posted by Anand3553

Good move by Maruti. Better late than never.

I know I am being too greedy here. But it would be nice from Maruti's end if they follow up this with a display (like a notice board with pictures) in their showrooms of how Airbag and ABS can save life in case of an accident so that the aam junta can understand and choose it over alloy wheels and music system. And ofcourse instruct the sales executives to avoid suggesting against the safety features with their lame explanations.

Thanks
Anand

Someone who prefers a Music system and alloy wheels over an airbag is never going to be convinced by ads. After all, his logic will be - there are millions of decade old cars running without any safety feature and their drivers are all hale and healthy! Put together, they ply on dangerous highways for millions of KM and the percentage of accidents wrt KMs traveled is negligible.

[sagarpadaki]

I do not understand what is the point of offering Airbags on vehicles which collapse like a cardboard box upon impact!

I feel this is just a curtain pulled down to make people 'think' Maruti vehicles are safe. End of the day they still make the underweight , ill structured, light, fuel efficiency oriented cars. Adding airbags won't make them safe. They are just changing the perception of the people and change their perception in peoples mind from being an unsafe manufacturer to safe manufacturer. Like they say, perception matters!

Slightly offtopic - Airbags when inflated should be aligned such that the passengers head will bury into the center 70% area of the airbag. If the passengers head impacts the area outside this it will slip and go and hit the window or A pillar. There is a high chance of this happening if the structure collapses .Classic case of operation successful but patient died.

[GTO]

Excellent move. It's only a matter of time before all manufacturers follow.

A 3 year loan is the most popular in India. In EMI terms, the cost of the Airbags + ABS is less than:

- 1 Dominos order for the family
- 1 movie outing
- Half a tank of petrol

If someone still doesn't choose the safety features, he is well & truly a dimwit.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

While it is great news that Maruti has taken a step in the right direction, I would rather have them as standard on all variants.

End of the day, Maruti is here to do business. They won't hand over a 20k price advantage to a competitor car without airbags & ABS. In the hatchback segment, many deals are made & broken on 20k rupees.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Back in 2008, I paid 25K for ABS alone in my Swift VDi (O). Now, that's safety made affordable.

There are also a lot more cars with airbags & ABS today. More volume = economics of scale.

Originally Posted by tazmaan

This is a good move. My only concern is availability of these option variants. I remember swift Vdi with ABS always had longer waiting period.

Spot on!

Although initially there will certainly be a waiting period for an L variant with Airbags & ABS, demand will follow supply. If enough customers ask for it, dealers will start keeping inventory of the same.

Inventory costs are brutal for the dealer. No dealer will stock any variant that doesn't move.

[fuel_addict]

Good move but why give this as an option? Shouldn't they make it standard knowing the fragile structural build quality of these vehicles? By making it an option, they are adding to the sub-variants and making inventory/delivery a big hassle for themselves when customers choose the "option" which is non-standard for MUL. I have been seeing several new Swift V variants with the ABS badge. Just curious to know if they also come with airbags. I doubt that.

I would like to see this move happening even in the Alto, Celerio and Wagon R. "An option" in those cars wouldn't be a bad idea knowing the buyer's price sensitivity mindset in that segment. But then that will add to delivery woes and people will settle for the standard variants without ABS. This was evident when the 1st gen Swift had the ABS options in the V variants.

[anky]

Kudos Maruti .
Now its time they give the car better brakes and wider tyres to compliment the lxi and vxi models , like they do in the zxi variant , so braking inspires more confidence .

[Aniruddha_Ch]

That's some wonderful news, thanks Aditya for sharing. Better late than never, MSIL has taken steps in proper direction. Brakes on non ABS equipped L & V variants are scary, especially on Swift diesel. Our life is more worth than 25k- 30K. I Hope sales advisers will push potential buyers to opt for optional safety kit.