India’s love for the mid sedans has proved to be ever growing and never ending. They offer practicality, space, punchy engines and features as a package that Indians admire. Before now their wasn’t a lot of buzz in the segment as the competitors were getting old. Thankfully, the segment has received the much awaited make over with the launch of the all new Honda City and Hyundai Verna and also the new engine options for the Skoda Rapid. We can say the the segment is now much more up to date. This was much needed since the compact SUV segment was grabbing more and more attention of the Indian buyers. While the Hyundai Verna and Honda City have got a complete make over, the Skoda Rapid has only got a new engine and a new price tag. There is no news about the upgradation of the MS Ciaz, VW Vento and the Toyota Yaris. Let’s take a look at the offerings
- The Honda City
The City needs no introduction. It is the car that established Honda in India. The City is known for its powerful I-VTEC engine which redlines all the way upto 6500 RPM. And it only gets better with the All-New 5th Generation Honda City. It has grown bigger in size and offers more space. The new City comes with a whole lot of first in class features as well, like the lane watch camera and Alexa connectivity. Many buyers will be relieved as the new City doesn’t offer a turbo engine but a 1.5 litre internal combustion engine. The new city is also bigger than ever. Now the city is the biggest in the segment both in terms of length and width, taking the crown from the Ciaz. The City never lacked in back seat space but now it is simply undefeatable. Honda has always played it safe with the City, just like it has now. There is no particular area where the city lacks, it still remains a very safe pick like it always has been. Though the Honda City doesn’t come cheap, starting at 11 lakhs ex-showroom and going all the way upto 14.84 lakhs.
2. Hyundai Verna
The ravishing Hyundai Verna now looks better than ever. Not is it only impressive from the outside but it is equally impressive under the hood too. The Verna packs the most first in the segment features like a wireless charger, ventilated seats, automatic trunk opening and a fully digital instrument cluster. The Verna continues to stand upon its sporty drive lineage. It definitely looks the most sporty in its segment. What sadly is a bit disappointing is that Hyundai has downsized the engine from a 1.6 litre to a 1.5 litre unit. Now let’s talk about the Verna’s weakest link, its backseat space. Yes, its backseat isn’t something that you won’t be able to survive with but when you look at what the competition is offering it becomes something you wish your car had more of. But still the Verna has a lot to offer to cover for it. You can either have the Verna with a 1.5 litre, petrol/diesel engine with a 1 litre turbo charged petrol engine. It starts at 9.3 lakhs ex-showroom and goes all the way upto 16.22 lakhs.
3. Skoda Rapid
If there existed an award for the car with the least haters, Skoda Rapid will be the most deserving candidate on this list. It is true that this car has not really changed in almost 10 years, but you still can’t really call it old. Skoda has tried their best to keep the up to date. The biggest change we saw with this car was when Skoda gave it the 1.0 litre turbo charged engine. The engine is what makes the Skoda Rapid the most enthusiastic car in this segment, and also the fastest. Like every Skoda, Rapid offers a very robust build quality which can’t be questioned. Another highlight of the Skoda Rapid is the Rider variant which is priced at just 7.79 lakhs, making it the most affordable car in the segment. The Rider variant is probably the most value for money variant in the whole automobile market. The Skoda Rapid ranges from 7.79 lakhs to 13.29 lakhs. Features do get plenty as you go up the variant line but even the top variants don’t get any mention worthy features. In fact, the Rapid misses out on the common modern day features like smart entry, push button start, sunroof and a wireless charger. Apart from its best in the class engine, the Skoda Rapid remains a decision made more from the heart than the mind.
4. Maruti Suzuki Ciaz
How can we not talk about the Maruti Suzuki ciaz when we’re talking about the mid size sedans. One of the most loved car in this segment is the Maruti Ciaz, which its sale figures clearly shows. The Ciaz is offered with a 1.5 litre, 4 cylinder mild hybrid petrol engine which produces a little over 103 horses. The performance are clearly not the best when compared to its competition. In fact the figures are underperforming but still you can not say that the Ciaz in underpowered, it gives you sufficient power for almost situation but its just not exciting. Another downside of the Ciaz is its very questionable build quality which is not a surprise since it is a Maruti Suzuki in the end. Gladly, the Ciaz scores fairly good in almost every category. The highlight is its back seat. There is more than enough leg room and knee room for even the tallest with decent under thigh support. The top variant even gets leather upholstery. Although the Ciaz is fairly equipped and does not misses out on any important feature, but it doesn’t offer any first in class feature or in fact it misses out on some of the fancy features like a sunroof, wireless charging and automatic boot. But, when you look at the price of the Ciaz you start to understand its popularity. Starting at 8.41 lakhs and going all the way upto 11.3 lakhs, the Ciaz is the most overall value for money sedan in the list. Yes, you don’t get a lot to boast infront of your friends and families but what you get is a car that does almost everything.
The CarGuy 