Agree or not, every body loves SUVs especially Indians. Their appeal is something that Indians desire for. They can comfortably carry at least 7 passengers and can go off-roading with ease. The history of SUVs isn’t very long for India. The first SUV to be launched in india was the Tata Sierra. The three door SUV with those curved rear side windows has a fan following of its own. But, sadly it didn’t really take off unlike its pick up sibling the Tata Telcoline. The segment was revived with the launch of the Ford Endeavour and since then, the segment has come a long way. From Mahindra to Mercedes, almost all the manufacturers have their full size SUVs on sale today .

The introduction of new players doesn’t mean that old players are out of the game, in fact, the old players are still the king. The Ford Endeavour and Toyota Fortuner still remain the top dogs with the Fortuner slightly ahead of the Endeavour in terms of sale numbers. Consumers have a lot to choose from in this segment. Where SUVs like the Fortuner and Endeavour are muscular and rugged, Cars like the Mahindra Alturas G4 and Skoda Kodiaq provide a more elegant and premium feel. The Ford Endeavour surprised the world when it was launched with worlds first 10 speed automatic, I wonder how smooth it is going to be.

Full-Sized SUVs	Number of units sold in June
Toyota Fortuner	1223
Ford Endeavour	716
Skoda Kodiaq	93
Mahindra Alturas G4	109

MY VERDICT

Every SUV offered in the Indian market have a USP of their own. But if we look at the other segments, the competition here is the least and the demand is considerably high. The consumers can really benefit with entry of some new players. Gladly, KIA and MG are expected to launch their full size SUVs soon and the new company, Haval motors is also expected to make its entry into India with the launch of a full sized SUV.

Stay Tuned!

If you would’ve told someone 15 years back that one day electric cars would be equally fun, practical and as fast as fuel cars, they probably would’ve laughed on you. And this was pretty much true before the entry of Tesla. Back then electric cars used to be slow, had very less range compared to fuel cars and were really expensive. But Tesla changed it all. Today, Tesla holds over 60% of the US EV market. It gave electric cars a whole new persona and they changed the perception of the buyers towards electric cars. Teslas earned the respect because of their futuristic design, practicality and yes, their massive torque figures.

Teslas stand out for their technology. All the teslas come with autopilot and self driving capability. Teslas are equally practical too, a model S can go upto 370 miles(595.4 kms) in a single charge, A model X can seat 7 passengers comfortably and a Tesla P100D can do 0-100 km/h in less than 2.4 seconds and that’s some super car figures. Well, Teslas offer it all. EVs have no gears, due to this their power delivery is seamless and thus an EV accelerates much smoother than an IC engine making them much more easy and fun to drive. And the best thing is that you charge a tesla for absolutely free at a Tesla charge station. Their quirkiness is also what makes Teslas so fun. Teslas don’t believe in buttons, they replace the conventional buttons with a big touchscreen at the centre console which controls all the infotainment in the car. Fun fact- those touchscreens come with games that you can play, how quirky is that!

And the quirkiness has only increased with the launch of the Cyber Truck. The cheapest tesla on sale today starts at $36,200. Though they might seem over priced for some, they do offer a lot for the price. All this has earned Tesla everything it deserved. But now, when every manufacturer knows that electric is the future and now, Tesla is facing some serious competition. From Hummer to Porsche, almost every manufacturer has EVs on sale today and the Lucid Air being its biggest fear. With Tesla increasing its product line with pickup trucks and supercars, Tesla is trying hard to stay at the top.

Elon Musk, CEO and the owner of Tesla is indeed interested in getting his cars to India and he also had said the Tesla might enter the Indian car market in 2023 which is not for sure. India is going to be tough market for Tesla. The poor charging infrastructure and the current mindset of the Indian buyers will be some big challenges for Tesla. Many might argue that India is not yet ready for Tesla. But this is for sure, that the entry of Tesla will vivify the Indian automobile market and make it more competitive. The luxury EV market in India has decent amount of traffic as almost all the luxury carmakers has at least one high end EV in their line up for India. So, Tesla can take advantage of their business analysis and case studies.

Stay tuned!

We all are quite familiar with SUV segment and Indians love SUVs. In the early 2000s, SUVs used to be big, boxy, expensive and didn’t offer the punch that the sedans used to offer. So, the manufacturers gifted the Indian consumers a new segment. A segment, which was perfect for the Indian market, the mid size SUVs. These cars are sleek, fitted with the latest tech, spacious, powerful and smaller than the conventional SUVs but still are SUVs and that is exactly what the Indians consumers wanted. And as expected, Indians went gaga over this segment and made it one of the most popular.

The craze for the mid size SUVs sky rocketed with Hyundai Creta. It was exactly what the Indian consumers wanted and they made it a huge success. It was cheap and worth every rupee without any significant compromises. Its legacy was carried by the 2nd generation Creta with more than 24000 booking on hand since its launch. This segment has caught the eyes of almost every brand, the Tata Harrier, KIA Seltos, Jeep Compass, MG Hector, Renault Duster and the list just keeps going. This is one of the most competitive segment of the Indian automobile market. Manufacturers have tried everything to offer the best products to the consumers.

In the end, it is the survival of the fittest. While many brands proved their worth with the help of this segment, many failed. Cars like Renault Captur, Nissan kicks and VW T-Rock couldn’t leave a mark and failed. The new upcoming models come with host lot of features, from panoramic sunroofs to Air purifiers, they have got it all. With such a big lineup, Indians have a lot to choose from.

MY VERDICT

The manufacturers have not disappointed the Indian buyers here. The competition is just increasing and that’s exactly what we want as consumers. For what this segment can offer, sky is the only limit.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word pony? For most of you it must be a cute little horse, but for any automobile enthusiast, it is the American muscle. Muscle cars have a long and interesting history. They are big, powerful, gorgeous and insane. Hundreds of horses packed in big and powerful V8s which go bonkers on a drag strip. Muscle cars have many haters but double the lovers, why wouldn’t they! I mean even John Wick drove a classic muscle car i.e a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429.

The history of muscle cars dates back to 1949 and started with Oldsmobile Rocket 88 and it just keeps getting insaner every year. Cars like the Ford Mustang, Shelby Cobra, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger rule the muscle car market today. The main reason why muscle cars are so popular is because they are very affordable compared to the other sports cars. They are big, they can be easily driven on regular roads and they are practical too. Muscle cars might not be the best pick for a track race but definitely are for a drag race. On a drag strip, the Dodge Demon does 0-100 km/h in just 2.3 seconds! That’s faster than a tesla P100d and even a Bugatti Chiron which does 0-100 km/h in 2.4 seconds and the Demon starts at just $79000, while the Chiron starts at $3 million. Due to their heavy and un-proportioned weight, some people might even call the muscle cars some of the worst cars to handle. But that’s what the ‘muscle’ in a muscle car mean, that’s what makes them so insane. These qualities have made the muscle cars so popular in the whole world, especially in the USA.

Sadly, the Indian market could never get a good taste of muscle cars. Currently the Indian market has only one muscle car on sale and that’s the Ford Mustang, but, it comes at a very hefty price. The Ford Mustang that come with a 5.0 litre V8 which produces 460 bhp and 570 Nm torque and has a twin-disc clutch starts at 74.62 lakhs ex-showroom. While in USA, the Ford Mustang starts at just 20.3 lakhs($26,670). This price jump really makes the Indian buyers lose interest in the Mustang. This price jump is due to the high import taxes levied on the car. The total custom duty is at 119.65%, added to it are the road and state taxes.

MY VERDICT

The Muscle cars have a huge demand in India. They are fit for the Indian roads unlike many sports cars and are practical too. Speed in India doesn’t come cheap. You’ll have to shed at least 1 crore to get reasonable fast car starting with BMW M3. But, the cheap muscle cars could really change the game if they are exempted from the heavy taxes or start getting manufactured in India. Indian is a big market for the Muscle cars. Muscle cars offer almost the same thrill as of a sports car and Indians are desperately waiting for inexpensive fast cars but sadly, manufacturers don’t seem to have any plans in regard of uplifting the market for these Muscles.

India has always had a taste for the mid size sedan segments. Manufacturers have always tried hard on giving the consumers the best product they can offer. But with the growing love for the compact SUV segment, consumers have had a tough time figuring out what to buy.

The compact SUVs offer space, latest tech and powerful engines at a very affordable price due to the low taxation, they satisfy the consumer’s mindset of taking low space for parking. With the growing demand for SUVs, manufacturers are still not giving up on the sedans. The new Verna, the rapid facelift, the new Honda City, consumers are flooded with options. The facelift Skoda rapid not only comes cheap with a starting price of just 7.5 lakhs, but also packs a host lot of features in it making it one of the most affordable compact sedan that you can buy. Though the consumers are still waiting for some kind of update on the Ciaz which they gave so much love. The consumers really face one hell of a dilemma when they have to choose between these two segments. Where the compact sedans take the game is the driving dynamics, they are sleek, they go around the corners more smoothly than the SUVs and offer great suspensions but due to the taxes on them being more than 4 metres, they become slightly more expensive than the compact SUVs.

For now, the compact SUVs really seem to be winning the game of sales. Products like brezza, venue, the eco sport, nexon etc won’t let the compacts sedans take over so easily. The consumer remains the king here, the companies can only try to take the sales with offering better products. Skoda really surprised the market with its spot on pricing for the Rapid. Let’s hope for a greater rivalry in the future!

My verdict

If I were to buy a car based on these two segments, I would definitely go for the sedans. I love the way they look and they make me feel like I am buying a more premium product.

Stay tuned for more such blogs.

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