[akshaysehgal]

Alloys - art on wheels! An analysis of factory alloys on Indian Cars

The invention of the wheel by mankind around 3500 B.C. is widely considered the second most important invention that shaped human history (after Fire!) but did you know it was not actually invented for the purpose of transportation? The first role it played, was to build a thing of function and beauty - pottery. It took 300 years for someone to put the wheel on a cart. How poetic it is then, that even today, the wheel exists not only for its function but also to adorn, embellish, and beautify one of the most important machines owned by man - cars.

This article explores only the aesthetic side of the wheel - the alloys. I read somewhere, that if you find your neighbor's car really attractive but can't really put a finger on why, it's most probably their alloys. It can be subtle but makes a big impact on how a car looks. The aftermarket in 2020 was estimated to be 0.5 million alloy wheels sold across India according to Business Today and the demand has been exponentially increasing since. Even though this demand is mostly based on the aesthetic needs of the car enthusiast, alloys do bring some function to the equation with their lighter weight and resistance to corrosion, jacking up the fuel economy and longevity of the car itself.



The goal here is to present a preliminary analysis of Indian car market data to see which brand, segment, and price points correlate with the alloy options manufacturers provide for their car variants on sale in India. Hopefully, this helps inform and entertain the enthusiast community here at Team-BHP.

Disclaimers:

1. Credit where it's due - this amazing idea originated from the inquisitive mind of my brother-in-law Varun who is a passionate Skoda owner, and a car enthusiast looking for his next set of wheels to enjoy.
2. This data was sourced by me using crawlers I set up. It is only for exploration purposes and definitely not for sale/sharing due to the obvious IP issues involved.
3. I am not an expert on anything related to cars and everything I present here comes from the data I used for this. So please take all of this with a grain of salt. In data I trust, but you don't need to do the same
4. There are limitations to what can be answered with any data but that should not restrict the queries we can ask. So I encourage the readers to ask questions in this thread as this would help me preset future analysis on other areas related to car prices, specs, variants, features, etc.
5. The data I will explore corresponds to 36 car brands, 230 cars, and 1300+ car variants with ~300 variables (specs, prices, features) with a snapshot pulled on 7th June 2022. This should be a good representation of the actual Indian car market as of the date of posting this thread.
6. Please forgive my horrible puns. I wheel try to do better in the future.

1.0 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's alloys

Car brands have started focusing on the enthusiast market by adding some of the after-market features as factory defaults, including alloy wheels. But do all brands consider it to be a value addition for their customers equally?

Here I present the percentage of car variants with factory alloys sold by different brands. I divide the brands into 2 categories for the sake of better comparison based on a few heuristics I found relevant - common and uncommon. I want to avoid labeling a brand, "luxury", as it doesn't seem to be the right taxonomy for what I want to present here.

• Common brands include - Maruti, Datsun, Renault, Strom Motors, Hyundai, Tata, Nissan, Mahindra, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, MG, Skoda, Isuzu, Jeep
• Uncommon brands include - BYD, Citroen, Audi, Mini, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Jaguar, Lexus, Land Rover, Porsche, Maserati, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce

What I see very clearly is that most of the "uncommon" brands always come with alloys across all variants in general, but it seems the Indian brands still need to truly embrace the idea behind alloys, as they fall a bit short. The Korean, Japanese (except Datsun) and Chinese brands definitely do consider alloys to be a strong value add for their customers, which is reflected in the data.

If you are in the market for a car and the alloys can be a serious criterion for you, then remember, Datsun and the French brand Renault don't see eye to eye on this with you! Their priorities lie in other features they offer.

Let's explore this further though. From the point of view of a potential buyer, which are the cheapest car variants that come with an alloy? And on the flip side, which car variants are the most expensive yet don't provide factory alloys? Here are the top 15 for each -



Interestingly, the cheaper cars with alloys and the expensive cars without alloys both seem to have some representation by Tata. However, if you are looking for a car in the first category, it seems Hyundai and Maruti will definitely fit your bill.

It's surprising that the latter list is so densely populated with Mahindra cars. Please wake up Mahindra, your customers need factory alloys if they are paying that much for your cars! The cake is however taken by some variants offered for Innova. At this point for over 18 lakhs ex-showroom price, it seems alloys should come as default?

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2.0 Alloy, mateys!

As you may or may not have guessed, this part of the analysis is to figure out how much "gold" a brand might "plunder" from you if you choose to upgrade to a variant with alloys.

IMPORTANT! - I compare the average price of variants with alloys vs the average price of variants without alloys of the same car (or brand). Please note that this price difference is obviously due to a lot of other specs and feature upgrades and NOT just due to the alloys. So, at best, these numbers simply suggest how much more premium would you have to pay (on average) to upgrade your car/variant of choice to one with factory default alloys.

Let's look at the premium you pay (on average) for purchasing a car with alloys (and other features and upgrades of course) at a brand level. Again I only compare brands that fall into the "common" category I defined above, and cars that have variants with and without alloys on sale.



Interestingly, the premium you would have to pay on average, to get a car with factory alloys (and additional features) is around 4.5 lakhs for Skoda, which is higher than all other German, Korean, Japanese, and Indian brands. This is clearly also because Skoda would be offering more features in these cars and their variants along with the alloy upgrades as well. Hyundai sits dead center which made the miser in me very happy! (I own an i20 N line, check out my ownership review (Hyundai i20 N Line | Ownership Review | 2 months & 1246 km) if interested)

After that shameless self-promotion, let me go one level deeper and analyze this difference at the car level. Again, like before, please interpret these numbers as the premium you would have to pay, on average, if you upgrade from a car variant without alloys to one that has alloys (for the same car).

Here are the 2 lists of the lowest and highest differences in average prices for variants -



It was wonderful to see that Indian brands offer alloys in the upper variants for a lesser premium than others. Of course, this is due to the average price of the cars sold by these brands as well (which can be used to normalize these numbers further), but it's good to see how much absolute premium one has to pay for such an upgrade.

When comparing variants, do make sure to check all other features offered along with the alloys, unless the only thing you care about is the alloy wheels!

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3.0 Beauty comes in all alloys and sizes

The third area that I wanted to explore was the distribution of factory alloys across the types of cars in the market - Hatchbacks, Sedans, SUVs, MUVs, and Hybrids to be specific.



Two surprising things come out of this. I was honestly not expecting the hatchback segment to have over 50% representation of cars with factory alloys. It seems that the A and B segments have started to cater to the enthusiast in India. Hoping to see this percentage grow in the future!

The other surprising fact that I see is that SUVs have a higher representation than Sedans when it comes to alloys. I would think, that being a more functional car type, an SUV manufacturer would aim at prioritizing utility over aesthetics and vice-versa for sedans. It seems that as of today if you buy an SUV, factory alloys are pretty much the default, which is great since they are all the rage right now!

Similar to my above analysis, I wanted to explore the cheapest and most expensive options, with and without alloys respectively, for each car type. I'll add these below as I think these would be very useful for someone in the market for a specific segment.



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4.0 Conclusion

Based on my findings, I can conclude that, while some brands definitely prioritize factory default alloys as an important offering to their customers, it seems they still keep this feature as a method to distinguish and justify the price difference between their base and top-tier car variants, which doesn't feel right when it comes to cars already in higher segments.

It seems that for the cheaper cars, alloys are given to add value. While for expensive cars, alloys are just taken away to justify a price for the top variants.

So I ask the readers this question - if you are paying over 10-15 lakhs for a car in India, would you expect alloys to be a default, irrespective of the variant?

With that, I will leave the readers with this horrible pun -

If the silver surfer and iron man teamed up, they'd be alloys..

P.S. - Please let me know if you have any additional queries that I might have missed here. If the data can answer those, I would be happy to post some analysis on this thread.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[COMMUTER]

No, I expect for a non-alloy variant to be available and will always choose that. The higher resilience and lower cost of replacement along with the perception that the amount of money spent, instead on other parts or simply saved for future mods is making it easy for me to choose the non-alloy variant in any price segment I have bought and will be buying in future.

[shancz]

Interesting thread

Agree with your conclusion, they're a feature important enough hence the manufacturers are placing their best looking ones at the top.
They're way more influential than the rear wash/wipe feature

- The alloys have ranks among themselves too.
The silver 17 inchers on the XUV300 W8 but if you want the gorgeous "diamond cut/dual tone" ones those come in the W8(O) which also has the sunroof and 4 more airbags along with some minor additions and costing a lakh more ex showroom.

- Hyundai came up with an alloy in mid variants of the i20 Elite IIRC which in books was a waste of alloy. It looked worse than the steel wheels. Hyundai knew it because the top end came with good looking alloys.

- Also worth a mention is TML with their steel wheels + wheelcaps combo on the Tiago which looks like an alloy. My friend's thought it was an alloy until I asked them to take a peek.

[Turbohead]

I'd prefer alloys anyday-not exactly for aesthetics.

They're lighter and thus aides in fuel efficiency and performance. Plus, since alloys are more rigid than regular steel wheels, they tend to flex less during hard cornering which gives additional confidence when driven enthusiastically.

All this depends on the alloy composition and design. For example, I find many of the cheaper aftermarket alloys to be significantly heavier than factory provided wheels (with the limited lifting I've done for a few cars ) and it's quite close to steel wheels.

Agree with OP regarding aesthetics- the previous gen Octavia L&K looks so much more premium compared to the boring alloys on the Style variant. But nothing can put you to sleep better than the pre-facelift alloys of the SCross. I think someone in Maruti wanted that car to fail and hence chose those alloys

[redohabitat]

I guess TKMPL Toyota listened to its customers finally as the Innova Crysta has alloy wheels as standard on all its variants, even on the most base variant which is the 2.4 G manual, so perhaps we can give Toyota the credit where its due now, as its no longer the most expensive car without alloy wheels. Tata Harrier/Safari XMA and XUV 7OO AX3 should get this position now

[Lobogris]

Even though the general idea is good, things might not always work out in the manner envisioned due to simple human nature. Let's say a person is thinking of buying a Swift but decides to buy a vehicle like the Honda City instead. Now the City becomes the baseline or what is normal. After a year or two, the person would start lusting after higher end vehicles like a 3 series or A4. If the person had directly jumped to the 3 series from a Swift by following the logic of this thread then now he or she would be wanting a 5 series as a natural desire to upgrade. So this would work if the person has a very tight budget or a habit of never changing the vehicle for a decade. Otherwise the normal human tendency to want something better will take over.

[sunikkat]

Depends on the market and positioning too. How often in India will you find a BMW or Merc without alloys? I am yet to find one in India. But while in Frankfurt few years back, I could spot many big 3 Germans with steel wheels. And those were not very old models.

Personally I feel alloys is a must, that would be the first mod I will do if I get a non alloys model. But equally these days the alloy designs are getting boring and I might still upgrade stock alloys with after market ones.

[akshaysehgal]

Originally Posted by shancz

- The alloys have ranks among themselves too

Originally Posted by Turbohead

All this depends on the alloy composition and design.

Completely agree. really wish there was a good data source for alloys and their appeal. That would help complete the story I would have loved to cover in more detail!

Originally Posted by redohabitat

I guess TMIL Toyota listened to its customers finally as the Innova Crysta has alloy wheels as standard on all its variants...

AH! thanks for this info. That is why I mentioned the statement "In data I trust, but you don't have to do the same"! I guess no data source can always be accurate and updated.

Originally Posted by Lobogris

So this would work if the person has a very tight budget or a habit of never changing the vehicle for a decade.

Thank you for your comments! Could you elaborate on what you are referring to? My post simply asks the question (based on analysis) if automakers should make alloys (of any type, style, or design) a default on all variants (base to top-tier) if a car is already falling into a higher segment.

Originally Posted by sunikkat

But while in Frankfurt few years back, I could spot many big 3 Germans with steel wheels. And those were not very old models. Personally I feel alloys is a must, that would be the first mod I will do if I get a non alloys model.

That is very interesting! I didn't know that some brands consider alloys a stronger selling point in India than in European markets!

Without a doubt, I agree. I hear most people talk about alloys as their first mod, irrespective of whether they purchase a car with or without factory default alloys. And of course it's a matter of taste and how good the designs are, but I feel it's definitely a good gesture on the part of a manufacturer to provide their "best shot" at an alloy as default, especially if a guy is paying like 15+ on a car. Wouldn't you agree?

Just removing/downgrading to lower quality alloys to justify a price difference of like 1-2 lakhs, especially when decent aftermarket alloys start at 18k INR, just seems to be a slap in the face for many customers with strict budgets. This is not how you build a loyal following

[shancz]

Originally Posted by akshaysehgal

That is very interesting! I didn't know that some brands consider alloys a stronger selling point in India than in European markets!

Not just European, here's one of my favourite car, the Jetta 2016/17, in my favorite colour, in the UAE.
Notice the gorgeous wheel caps and the black steel behind it

[sukhbirST]

Thanks for bringing this important aspect with clear explanation and data. Sometimes one misses out during purchase, this simple understanding of value for money. One tends to focus more on audio and other internal gadgets (even sunroof, ventilated seats etc).
Could you please give some figures for choosing alloys on your own and savings ? (any model or make)
Lastly any good brands to choose ?

[akshaysehgal]

Originally Posted by shancz

Not just European, here's one of my favourite car, the Jetta 2016/17, in my favorite colour, in the UAE.
Notice the gorgeous wheel caps and the black steel behind it

Attachment 2318923

This is a gorgeous pic! Love the wheels on this one!

Originally Posted by sukhbirST

Thanks for bringing this important aspect with clear explanation and data. Sometimes one misses out during purchase, this simple understanding of value for money. One tends to focus more on audio and other internal gadgets (even sunroof, ventilated seats etc).
Could you please give some figures for choosing alloys on your own and savings ? (any model or make)
Lastly any good brands to choose ?

Thanks! The motivation for all this effort I put in crawling a good dataset was exactly this. When I was trying to find a car for myself, there was no data that would allow me to compare a large number of cars together (maybe 2-3 cars at once, without a lot of ability to filter specific features that I was interested in).

I am super happy with the diamond cut alloys i20 N line has and don't think I would change those for quite some time. I am not that big a fan of the i20 Asta O alloys, but they are definitely some of the better ones in the market. I am sure other BHPians who are reading this thread have a lot of experience in aftermarket alloys and would love to hear more from them.



Also, regarding other features, look out for some future analysis on features and specs on cars (sunroofs, audio systems, speakers, etc) soon! I am working on the next set of tables and graphs which might help any future buyers. Cheers!

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by akshaysehgal

Thank you for your comments! Could you elaborate on what you are referring to? My post simply asks the question (based on analysis) if automakers should make alloys (of any type, style, or design) a default on all variants (base to top-tier) if a car is already falling into a higher segment.

Sincere apologies. I am not sure how my comments ended up in this thread. I had made that post on a completely different thread. I don't really have an opinion on your question.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by redohabitat

I guess TKMPL Toyota listened to its customers finally as the Innova Crysta has alloy wheels as standard on all its variants, even on the most base variant which is the 2.4 G manual, so perhaps we can give Toyota the credit where its due now, as its no longer the most expensive car without alloy wheels. Tata Harrier/Safari XMA and XUV 7OO AX3 should get this position now

The Innova at launch had alloy wheels as standard. But now, there are lower variants aimed at the fleet market. Dunno about the G+ variant, but the G variant (not the GX) has steel wheels now. Also smoked style headlights and no rear wipers too.

[akshaysehgal]

Originally Posted by DicKy

The Innova at launch had alloy wheels as standard. But now, there are lower variants aimed at the fleet market. Dunno about the G+ variant, but the G variant (not the GX) has steel wheels now. Also smoked style headlights and no rear wipers too.

Thanks for this info! There are a few topics I have been recommended now for my next analysis and I will add the headlights and wipers as part of those too. Cheers.