[Aditya]

Volkswagen Ameo

What you'll like:

• A well-built, solid European sedan
• Aggressive pricing strategy; on par with the Polo
• Impressive feature list - cruise control, auto wipers, reversing camera, touchscreen ICE etc.
• Interior quality is among the segment best
• 1.2L petrol offers good city driveability. Sweet gearshift too
• Sorted ride & handling package. High speed stability is better than competition
• Dual airbags & ABS are standard across the range

What you won't:

• 3-cylinder petrol engine is weak & noisy. Vibrates as well
• Limited rear legroom & large floor hump. Competitors such as the Amaze are more spacious
• No 1.5L diesel, no 1.2L TSI, no DSG automatic. Period. Polo gets all of these
• 330L boot is the second-smallest from this segment
• Familiar face & interiors are starting to feel old
• The Polo & Vento's long-term reliability hasn't been as strong as the Japanese / Korean cars
• VW's sub-par dealership & service experiences

Link to Official Review

Maruti Dzire

What you’ll like:
• Competent engine range. Very refined motors
• Absorbent ride quality, even over rough roads. Neutral road manners too
• Terrific fuel efficiency, especially from the diesel
• Effortless to drive in the city; light steering, clutch and gearshift. Automatic transmission available
• Maruti’s excellent after-sales service & wide dealer network

What you won’t:
• Oddball boot design. Side profile looks particularly awkward
• Small 316L boot & no folding rear seat either. Limited practicality
• Mediocre brakes (LXi / LDi & VXi / VDi), just like the mechanically-identical Swift
• Limited rear seat space is incomparable to the Manza, Etios, Verito et al
• Hefty premium for the Automatic transmission variant

Link to Official Review

Hyundai Xcent

What you'll like:
• All-rounded package in a contemporary design
• Interiors have best-in-class fit, finish & quality. Accommodating 407 liter boot too
• Fuel-efficient, practical diesel & peppy petrol. Smooth gearbox
• Loaded with features (keyless start & go, reversing camera, rear air-con, cooled glovebox etc.)
• Comfortable ride quality and predictable handling
• Hyundai's fuss free ownership experience & excellent after-sales service

What you won't:
• 1.1L 3-cylinder diesel lacks the top-end punch of competition. Ordinary highway performance
• Steering & dynamics aren't to an enthusiast's tastes
• Narrow width makes it more suited as a 4 seater, rather than 5
• Boot aside, the premium i20 is closely priced with more power, space, equipment & refinement
• Adjustable front neck restraints, seat-belt height adjustment, full MID, auto-locking doors & dead pedal missing

Link to Official Review

Honda Amaze

What you'll like:
• An all-rounded compact sedan that does most things well
• Packaging brilliance. Roomier backseat than the Dzire, and a larger 400 Liter boot
• 1.5L i-DTEC engine offers good power & performance. Excellent driveability too
• Diesel's 25.8 kpl ARAI fuel economy rating
• Light controls, slick gearshift and easy maneuverability for in-city commuting. AT gearbox available
• Honda's reliability & fuss-free ownership experience

What you won't:
• Diesel's NVH is a full level poorer than the refined Maruti Dzire
• Not as dynamically accomplished as the Toyota Etios and others
• Diesel isn't as high-rpm friendly as the 1.3L MJD
• Some practical features missing

Link to Official Review

Link to Official Review - 2016 Honda Amaze Facelift & CVT

Ford Figo Aspire

What you'll like:
• Aston Martin-esque face looks very stylish!
• Value for money price & positioning
• Powerful & efficient 1.5L diesel engine. Good driveability too
• Compliant ride quality. Suspension is tuned for comfort
• Dual airbags as standard (a segment first). Titanium+ variant gets 6 airbags!
• Well-packaged cabin offers adequate space, lots of features, comfy leather seats and a chilling air-con
• Dual-clutch Automatic with a bigger 1.5L petrol, ESP, traction control & hill start assist

What you won't:
• Commuter 1.2L petrol is unimpressive. A mediocre engine
• Drives like any other mass market sedan...but not like a Ford. Ordinary handling
• Lighter build quality isn't as solid as Fords usually are
• Cabin width makes the Aspire suited to 4 adults, not 5
• 14" rims & 175 mm tyres are too puny, especially for the fast diesel
• 359 liter boot is smaller than that of the Amaze & Xcent (~400 liters)
• AT unavailable in the fully-loaded trim. Period

Link to Official Review

Tata Zest

What you'll like:
• India's first diesel-automatic in the C1 segment. Affordable, convenient & low running costs
• Build quality, fit and finish are on par with competitors. Tata has made significant improvements
• Spacious well-designed interiors & comfortable seats. A rare compact sedan that can seat 5 adults
• 1.2L turbo-petrol has class-leading torque and impressive low-end driveability
• Balanced suspension offers compliant ride quality mated to neutral handling. Nice EPS too
• Light controls, agreeable ergonomics and good refinement. Drives like no mass market Tata car has before
• Features: 3-driving modes (petrol), LED DRLs, projector headlamps, 5" touchscreen, parking sensors, voice commands & more

What you won't:
• When driven hard, the AMT can't match the smoothness & shift-times of a conventional automatic
• Turbo-petrol lacks mid-range punch and fails to excite at higher rpms. Not to an enthusiast's tastes
• Poor in-cabin storage & missing niceties (rear seat armrest, dead pedal, seatbelt height adjustment)
• Thick A-Pillars create severe blind spots while driving
• Concerns over long-term reliability & durability. Previous Tata cars haven't fared well in this area
• Tata's sub-par after-sales service quality is far from that of Maruti, Hyundai and Honda

Link to Official Review

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Sedan Section.

[SmartCat]

The poll title should be - If somebody puts a gun to your head and asks you to choose a compact sedan, which one would you pick?

I would pick the Hyundai Xcent because it has the nicest side profile/back side (although Ford Aspire is a close second).

However, I would still try to reason with the guy holding the gun that large premium hatchbacks like Jazz, Baleno, Polo and Elite i20 are more practical since one can stack more luggage (after removing the rear parcel tray) in them than in 4m sedans

[Latheesh]

My choice is Tata Zest in grey color, if I have to choose one from the list.

But If I am in the market for a car with <10L budget, my pick would be Honda Jazz Automatic V Variant (Petrol) or Elite i20 (Diesel). Baleno is out due to it's feather light built quality.

[bigben]

I have voted for the Aspire. I think it is a great looking car and the best thing about it is the butter smooth Diesel Engine. The features and the overall design also are also really good.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Petrol - Hyundai Xcent SX(o)
Petrol Automatic - Figo 1.5 DCT

Diesel - Figo 1.5 TDCi
Diesel Automatic - TATA Zest AMT. (Till Ameo diesel DSG gets launched)

No one car excels in all departments. Hence the various choices, and no single winner from me. And no vote.

[Rajeevraj]

Not voting. No clear choice for me. If forced to buy:

• Petrol: May be the Zest or the xcent manual. AT would be the Aspire.
  
• Diesel manual : Maybe the Ameo ( when it comes) or if I need more space, maybe the Aspire. Diesel AT is a no brainer- Has to be the Ameo( when it comes)

At this time, the only reason I would buy in this segment is if I had a hard budget of 10-11L and I needed a proper diesel automatic new car. For all other use cases, a premium hatch would work.

If I needed a sedan under 10L, would go the preowned way.

[AutoInt]

While there is no clear winner, out of the available I went for Figo Aspire as it is closest to have covered most aspect.

I would choose Ameo when 1.5 TDI engine is launched with DSG.

[Eddy]

Petrol Manual, Petrol Auto = Honda Amaze
Diesel Manual = Aspire
Diesel Automatic = Dzire

[drmohitg]

It would be the Zest for me in this segment. I recently TD them since a close relative had to buy one and Zest stood out from the rest of the pack. The only questionable aspect of it was the Tata badge and the problems associated. But since the expected running was low and the person buying was upgrading from a Tata indica, I didn't foresee any problems there. Great practical car, well loaded with features and excellently priced.

[Aaron:)]

As many have said, there's no clear winner, all of them are pretty closely matched. Here are my picks -

Petrol manual - Hyundai Xcent
Petrol auto - Honda Amaze
Diesel manual - Ford Figo Aspire
Diesel auto - Maruti Dzire

The Ameo feels every bit a premium car, but for the kind of space and performance it offers, I'd rather go for the Polo. The Zest shows how far Tata has come, yet I'm still not entirely comfortable spending 8-9 lakhs on a Tata.

[AYP]

The Ameo is the only car in the segment which is based on a 'premium' hatchback, and it does reflect in the quality of the interiors and the exteriors. It is loaded with features too(in the top-end trim). However, the 1.2 Petrol engine is a downer. The diesel Ameo is the one to go for. Personally, I don't have much requirement for rear space, so the lack of rear legroom is not much of an issue for me.

If I have to take only a single name, then it will be the Ameo.

However, neutrally speaking, I feel that the Amaze is the all-rounder in the segment. It has good space, decent interiors, powerful engines and Honda badge. The facelift has done away with the worst thing about the Amaze, i.e. the cheap looking interiors, thus making it a great package.

The Aspire is another great package especially in the top end trim with six airbags. It is a well rounded product along with the Amaze.

Don't like the looks of the Xcent. Though the interior quality is great. But if I am keen on quality, I'd rather go with the Ameo.

I would have gone for the Tiago in its segment, but I don't feel the same about the Zest.

The Dzire is old and quite common.

My choice

A single name- VW Ameo
Petrol Manual- Honda Amaze
Petrol Automatic- Ford Aspire
Diesel Manual- VW Ameo
Diesel Automatic- VW Ameo

However, all this applies only for the top-end variant of the cars. If I have to decide between the mid level trims, I may not choose the Ameo at all. As in typical VW fashion, the lower variants are poorly equipped.

[GTO]

I'm not a compact sedan guy and would buy a same-price hatchback instead. However, as smartcat smartly stated, if someone put a gun to my head:

Petrol: Xcent. Smooth engine, superb quality, narrow width (all the better for a city car), neutral suspension, strong feature list and effortless to drive. The perfect city car.

Diesel: Ford Aspire: It's well priced, the front end design is stunning, has a comfy ride, 6 airbags...but the primary reason is that fantastic 1.5L diesel. That alone seals the deal for me.

If & when the Ameo comes with the 1.5L diesel, I'd pick that over the Aspire. Love the solid build, interior quality and suspension tune (best among compact sedans). The Ameo is based on an old car, yet it's timeless face & interiors greatly appeal to me. I'll just make sure never to look at it from the side .

[silverado]

Petrol : Xcent, just wish it was a bit wide.
Diesel : I would go for ZEST , eyes closed.

ZEST feels more like a proper sedan from inside compared to all other cars here and that's the prime reason why it will be my choice.

[Karthik Chandra]

I' rather wait for the Kite 5 , though I had voted for the Aspire considering TDCi