[CrAzY dRiVeR]

"One car two worlds" - thats what I used to describe my Ford Ecosport experience recently. The front seat is so nice, while the back seat is just plain horrible - one of the worst I have experienced. Same goes for the new Elite i20 that I tried recently which had decent space but felt rather claustrophobic at the rear thanks to the compromises made in terms of design. Old generation Swift, Beat etc are other examples.

Things used to be bad alright but cars like the Ecosport are stretching it a bit too far!

Coming to the good news - the problem, as rightly identified by GTO is because of us getting products that are essentially designed for other mature markets where the backseat is not of that much relevance. However, with the growth of the Indian and Chinese markets (Even the Chinese are paranoid about rear seat comfort), its becoming increasingly hard for the manufacturers to ignore the back seat and a fresh trend is emerging. Cars like the new City, Ciaz, Vento, Corolla etc stress on the backseat comfort more than anything. Width might still be limited, yes, but hopefully even that will also be taken care of at some point - with ever increasing competition.

[Ne0N]

Guys here comes the advantage of a home bred brand (read TATA).
Last weekend i had to take the entire family consisting of 5 healthy adults( okay they were more than healthy) in the INDIGO. Guess what with the entire family , i still had space for my grandmas cat.

[JediKnight]

The reason is most cars that are sold in India are compact cars designed for Western world . In the Western world the compact car is more of a personal transport for 1-2 people. More like a two wheeler in India. In India however these compact cars will be used for the entire family.

India is not significant enough market for the auto majors to make major design changes. Changes to the monocoque are non trivial as they would require change in the sheet metal presses. It will also affect parameters like rigidity crash worthiness load bearing ability etc. It is not as simple as adding a few inches of metal.

But as we grow together with other Asian countries who seem to have similar preferences ( China/Indonesia ) auto majors will have to give better seats.

I personally will not buy a car with poor rear seats. We travel often as a family and it is plain selfish that members in the rear seat have to suffer.

[Autolock123]

i would also like to draw your attention to the asthetics part here, making a hatchback bigger than what it is today would also look a bit odd and consumers are not used to it.

[Maverick1977]

I am so happy that some one has at last mustered the time to mention about the pathetic rear seat space. This was exactly my dilemma also whilst buying a car almost 6 years back & surprisingly things have only got worst with the passage of time.
My family has been a Maruti loyal having owned number of models over a almost 15 year period. However when I was last hunting a new car, post marriage and a kid in tow, the rear seat space suddenly got the top priority.
When we test drove the Swift it was the obvious choice, but the rear seat space was a real let down. Step in the new Vista with the same diesel engine and the 1st test drive although not to my very much liking became a choice with the family due to the rear seat being equivalent to a sofa!

Fast forward to today and things have become worst. I zeroed on the Ertiga and the Mobilio but both the cars seem to have the same issue - Rear seat space as usual comes at a premium. Surprisingly the old Scorpio also has a space crunch although the vehicle looks like it would have oodles of space.

Honestly lets see if we can narrow down to a sub 10L car which focuses on the rear seat space (lets leave the usual suspects - All Tata cars, i20 et al out from this list.

[srishiva]

I think the rear seats in hatches are just a tad better than the 3rd row seats in most SUVs. They are meant to be that but not for our country.

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by Maverick1977

Honestly lets see if we can narrow down to a sub 10L car which focuses on the rear seat space (lets leave the usual suspects - All Tata cars, i20 et al out from this list.

The only car in this range- which I respect for not letting down rear seat passengers is the Ambassador. But sadly it's out of fashion.

[MadAbtCars]

Originally Posted by GTO

Within the same segment - be it hatchbacks, sedans or luxury - you got to go up the price ladder for a wide rear seat. There's a wide range of 5+ lakh cars that can seat 3 comfortably at the back: Liva, i20, Vista, Sail and more.

I own a Liva Diesel which has clocked 17K+ in 9 months. I truly agree that it is wide enough to accommodate 3 adults. However on long trips my sister keeps complaining that the seats are little curved at the ends which gives her an uneasy feeling. My wife when seated behind actually uses the seat belts, she says it helps in keep her seated firmly. Very rarely do I get enjoy the backseat of my own vehicle, but whenever I do, I prefer seating in the middle in case there are three on board at the backseat. its actually more comforting. Having said all these, the overall leg space, ingress, egress is actually great in this car as compared to the competition

My Friend's Polo is a nightmare at the back. In addition to the huge transmission hump, the seats are also curved at the ends. Though its a great car drive, it's meant for only two people.

Originally Posted by nim_peter

My dad's Getz can comfortably accommodate 3 adults without touching each other, I think it was advertised as the first wide body hatch
.

Indeed it was advertised as the first wide body car. The ad was something like : people walking with their shoulders stretched out (like a sumo wrestler) because they were accustomed to the comfort and space of Getz. Before my Liva I had Getz GLS with ABS , the 1st Gen Model with 1.3L engine. I had brought it from a friend of mine, he did 50K in 5 Years and I did 50K in 2 Years. I still miss the Getz. I had to trade it off due to huge Maintenance bills. When I was in the lookout for a new car, whenever I used to suggest any car to the family, the only question my Dad asked was "Is it as big and comfortable as the Getz?" Personally I feel the Getz was an overall better package than the I20 (No offence meant to any I20 Owner)

[IshaanIan]

Like many have pointed out, there are cars out there that can seat 3 with no fuss in the rear bench; Liva, i20, Vibe, Indigo etc. However, I am glad that not all cars are the same for two reasons:

1. If you design the rear seat for just 2 people, sure it seats fewer but, it is a lot more comfy for just those 2 people because of better bolstering and ergonomics.

2. Apart from frontal impact safety, we also have to look toward side impact safety (getting T-Boned). If the question pertains to why manufacturers cannot simply add 3cm more in terms of width in their smaller cars, it is because 3cm may no seem like much on a scale but it can mean huge sacrifices to side impact beams etc.

[aashishnb]

I think this is also a function of the bucket seats that you see in cars now-a-days compared to the flat, bench style seats earlier.

If I remember correctly, Indica's seats are relatively flatter than the ones in other, so called premium cars and hence the added comfort.

[hserus]

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[gmhossain]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

2. Apart from frontal impact safety, we also have to look toward side impact safety (getting T-Boned). If the question pertains to why manufacturers cannot simply add 3cm more in terms of width in their smaller cars, it is because 3cm may no seem like much on a scale but it can mean huge sacrifices to side impact beams etc.

Yes. This is a very crucial point. A simple analogy could be the bending of beam experiment often done in 1st year under-graduate course. The amount of bend produced by a given force is proportional to the square of the total length of the beam. For example, if a given impact causes a 10 cm long beam to bend by 1.00 mm (~10x10) then the same impact will cause a similar 11 cm long beam to bend by 1.21mm (~11x11)!

[hserus]

Agreed. When you make those pillars thicker, or widen your car frame, you will also sacrifice visibility in some cases, car maneuvrability in others.

Stretching or shortening a frame proportionally to turn a hatchback into a sedan, or a sedan into a baby SUV, are steps that can't be taken arbitrarily and require testing and validation of a variety of parameters.

[Srikji]

Agree with Khoj. But more than bureaucracy its the Indian penchant for making the most of what is available. In the west they place more value for comfort: if there are 5 or more people (including kids) then go for a bigger car (3 rows).

[subscrive]

1) Isn't narrower car easier to park? If one has only 2 to 3 people maximum time in city centre, then why would one choose a daily parking headache?
And for a rare occasion when one needs to go with 5 people, he can very well send 2 in a rick or a taxi and 3 in the car. A smaller car with better mileage is a better choice in many cases.

2) So many friends on this forum have said how tight the parking is etc. Narrow cars are naturally better in this case.

3) Affluent families now a days have 1 car per head. In case of such travel, they can very well take 2 cars. Everyone would be comfortable.