We all know what the best car of 2012 was. It has bagged the maximum
awards, captured the imagination of most and resuscitated the fortunes
of a company. Picking that was rather easy this time. The Renault Duster
raised such a storm that any other car bagging an award ahead of it
reeks of bias now.
What about the worst of the lot? Nobody talks about it, writes about
it, thinks about it. But surely, in the dead heap of four dozen cars–big
and small–launched in 2012, there are a few that are not worth the
effort. And why do we need to look at them? Besides filling up space and
giving you something to read about, to those unfortunate ones who do
land up here, it will perhaps show some humble car manufacturer what
kind of cars ought be made or launched in India.
The last time I wrote about choosing a worst among the ‘most
eligible’ candidates, it cooked up a storm of some magnitude. I would be
glad if there is a repeat this time around. Like last year, let me be
very clear on how I have picked the list of probables. It is easy to
find faults with any car and equally easy to defend any. Every car has
some like able aspects to it and some irritating ones.
There are two ways to decide. One based on where the product is at
fault either in yours truly’s humble standards or when compared to those
in its segment. The other is when despite being a good car, other
factors like price or cost of service and spares have relegated it to
the margins.
Those that figure in this list are not bad cars per se. They are only not as good as the others.
Nissan Evalia
If Renault Duster was an obvious choice for the best, the Evalia is
an obvious one for the worst. And ironically, both carry a somewhat
similar price tag. There is little going for the Evalia. It looks
hideous, even as a van. Is not very powerful. And is a disaster for
ergonomics–an open glovebox and lack of roll down windows take the cake.
It has decent space but that is little consolation. To top it all,
Nissan thought it can counter Innova with it and priced it accordingly.
Not surprisingly then, it is a blockbuster failure. Sales of under a
1,000 units (4 months) so far, is proof of that.
Nissan’s India Innovation
Toyota Camry
The Camry is not really a bad car. It is just a car that India does
not need. The executive premium car segment is a category that has over
the years slithered away from the Japanese to the Europeans. That is
primarily due to a lack of diesel option from the Japs. So the Accord,
once a heavyweight, finds few takers today and so too the old Camry. It
was infact dormant….very dormant for a long time. Toyota attempted to
spice it up a little by deciding to assemble it in India, which brought
its price down, somewhat. But still, it is expensive and a half hearted
attempt at best. What was needed, was a diesel engine instead. Just 270
unit sales (6 months) in a segment of over 3,000 units tells you as
much. Not a bad car, but nothing particularly exciting.
Hyundai Sonata
In some ways, the Sonata is in this list for the same reasons as the
Toyota. Only in this case, there was still some logic. The Fluidic Verna
was doing well, the Eon while not quite a runaway hit, was doing
alright, and there was a general feeling that the new design language
worked. It did and does so the best with the Sonata. The ample
dimensions give a full view of what fluidic is all about and the Sonata
is clearly one of the better looking cars in its segment. It is also
packed to the gills with features and priced aggressively. What it lacks
however, is again the diesel engine. What is more improbable is that
the old Sonata, though a laggard in sales, did offer a diesel
powertrain. Clearly, this was one peculiar case where a diesel offering
was discontinued at a time when the hunger for such vehicles in the
market was at an all time high. Bad timing or stupidity? You take a
guess. How many takers so far?? Eight more than the Toyota over two
extra months. Lucky 8.
Chevrolet Sail U-VA
It falls in the most competitive of all segments in India. It tackles
one of the best selling cars here. It carries a legacy that is a
baggage rather than an asset. So from the word go, Sail U-VA had a
challenging job at hand. Did anybody fancy it will pull it off?? Not me
for sure. It is the first car that came in from across the border from
dragonland in India and like all things Chinese, it had its share of
problems. The interiors lacked zest, looked a little dated and the
exteriors tried too hard to stick to the Chevy convention. Coming from a
company that designed the Beat, it was a dampener. It did get the famed
1.3 litre diesel engine that Opel developed in collaboration with Fiat,
but even after all these years nobody has been able to mate it to a car
as well as Maruti in the Swift. And GM has not given us an exception.
The biggest problem however, was the atrocious pricing. Trying to
compete with Swift a little too hard with the belief that they had a
better product, GM burnt its own fingers. After Maruti and Hyundai, it
has the most number of offerings in the market. And yet it remains on
the margins. Even with the Sail U-VA, it stays where it was. Sales so
far??
3,191 units in 3 months. For perspective, Swift finds 17,000
customers in a single month. There is a chance it may revive. But it
will need either a price correction or heavy discounts. On both counts,
it would be an admission of defeat.
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