Is there a market for premium hatchbacks in India?

Many automobile manufacturers only launch sedan versions of their popular models in India. Examples of this include:

• Honda Civic (in Europe the hatchback is far more popular)
  
• VW Jetta (an ungainly version of the Golf)
  
• Toyota Corolla Altis (saloon version of the Auris)
  
• the recently phased out New Honda City (a butchered version of the last generation Honda Jazz)
  
• Suzuki SX4 (looks far better as a hatchback)
  
• Ford Fiesta
  
• Fiat Linea (still no Grande Punto on sale)
  

Its 2009 now, and although one can now choose from a very large variety of cars in India now, there is an extreme shortage of good quality hatchbacks available in our country. Most of them have small engines (most powerful ones I can think of are the Palio 1.6, Getz CRDi and Fabia 1.4), flawed dynamics (Chevy SRV - looks sporty but a terrible drivers car) limited space and inferior build quality (eg. Indica, Swift - I drive the latter and it rattles more than a skeleton in a washing machine).

So are there any people out there who would be takers for a so called "premium" hatchback? Would you choose a Civic hatchback over a Civic sedan? Or a Golf over a Jetta? SX4 hatch over an SX4 saloon?

Or is there another hatchback that you would love to buy? Audi A3? BMW 1 series hatchback? Anything else?

Or do you think hatchbacks are inferior to sedans and only make sense if you want to buy a cheap (less than 8 lakhs) car?

I Can never say Hatchbacks are inferior to Sedans.

Hatchbacks are the best element of our country & it is really easy to drive & do zip zaps in INDIAN roads.

But spending more than 6Lakhs for an Hatchback is really not worth according to my opinion, & since being an INDIAN i hope most of our mentality will be like this.

If you take Golf, It is around 10.5 Lakhs OTR in INDIA when it will be launched.

Do you really think everyone can afford to it?

Why not take an example of FIAT 500? It costs 16 Lakhs OTR.

And i hope FIAT has just only made lesser than 1000 in INDIA till date.

So Hatchback is really my choice of car when it is lesser than 6Lakhs.

And we have quite lot of sedans for 8Lakhs which gives atmost comfort & good Drivig experience, For ex. Linea.

These are all just my views & it is not intended to Hurt anyone :)

yeah buddy i knew this are your views mate, thats what i thought that are we actually ready for premium hatchbacks in our country.

Guess it is a very limited niche market for select clientele.The Mini One Clubman launch with its 1.4 L engine is being kept in abeyance by BMW for such reasons. Maybe if the Fiat 500 and VW Golf sell well, the decks for the import of the Mini may be cleared.But these are too pricey at Rs 15-20 L or more, for their ordinary images worldwide.By virtue of the price tag these land in the "D" segment whereas these deserve to be in the premium B segment.The 105 % import duty does all the villiany.

may be what we believe is that a small car ie hatchbacks, should be around 5L and anything above that is for sedan, this doesnt mean all agree to this but this is what i have seen and known people to believe, well may be with new hatchbacks on offer like i20, honda's and toyota's new hatches, it might change the scenario.CHEERS!!!

I agree with TV. Something upto 5 or even 6 lacs is acceptable and will be a volume seller. But something more than 7 lacs is not acceptable for a hatch. We have some good sedans on offer at this price.

yes but CC beyond 5 L is majority in diesel engine option choosers who spend it say swift diesel and now indica vista, but if these are petrol engines with this price tag, it would have been different scene, i believe.

Yes Vijay, I agree to ur view! But indian mentality towards Automobiles have to change a lot.

We concentrate only on Mileage & service, But there are more to expect from automobiles, Hope atleast Next Gen & we Guys will surely change the way Automotive is conceived :)

agree zinam, but on the common parameter, its middle class buyers which segment is higher in 4 wheeler sales, as which compresses of 800,santro,wagonr,indica,zen,i10. these are the segment leaders in all where buyers have a fixed budget to spend, and moreover they dont look like whats the engine type,detailed specifications, but what they want is good service and mostly of them are mouth to mouth publicied buyers, but lets hope it changes.

guys now we are having honda jazz,most costly hatchback in our market, i20, fabia and upcoming GP, where is our premium hatchback market heading too?

I wouldn't say i20 as a premium hatch. Fabia has failed. And it is upto Jazz and GP to determine our premium hatch market. We'll wait to see how they perform.

i think the prices of hatchbacks will escalate as they are now. and what will eventually happen is that the acceptance price of hatchbacks in the minds of indians will slowly increase. like earlier even above 5 lacs was not considered good for a hatchback. but today things have changed. people are even ready to pay 6 or 6.5 lacs for a hatch. and slowly this price acceptance level will increase. like the jazz has just started to expand that.

Thread Moved.

VT

I agree with you on this Hummer. When Swift was launched, people in Delhi( no offence ) were advising my parents against it because it had no boot. They were more in sync with the Esteem and wanted us to buy the same. But we went ahead and got the Swift, when 5 lakh was considered too much. Now in Delhi, they say, every second car is a Swift. This itself reflects the growing Indian mentality and I think that, at a later stage, hatchbacks will rule the roost, because of their plush rich feel, ease of driving and ownership. At the begging, Fabia flunked, but now I see a lot of them on the road. Same is the case with the i20.
When I went to see the Jazz, I already saw four cars ready for delivery, may be within the first week itself. This shows that we are growing and hatchbacks can be as good as sedans at times.

dcargod wrote:I agree with you on this Hummer. When Swift was launched, people in Delhi( no offence ) were advising my parents against it because it had no boot. They were more in sync with the Esteem and wanted us to buy the same. But we went ahead and got the Swift, when 5 lakh was considered too much. Now in Delhi, they say, every second car is a Swift. This itself reflects the growing Indian mentality and I think that, at a later stage, hatchbacks will rule the roost, because of their plush rich feel, ease of driving and ownership. At the begging, Fabia flunked, but now I see a lot of them on the road. Same is the case with the i20.
When I went to see the Jazz, I already saw four cars ready for delivery, may be within the first week itself. This shows that we are growing and hatchbacks can be as good as sedans at times.

yes DC, few things are very true by your side, when swift came even it had faced that heat in market cause of its price bracket and cramped space and very less boot space, which eventually surpassed and now sells hotcakes in country, same is with i20 too which is slowly but getting seen on road now quite often, and now jazz launched with over 8.5L price bracket, needs to see how does buyers look at this prospective.

I feel India has a huge market for the premium hatchbacks. The status symbol of the sedan is being diminishing and a small car with practicality will be definately accepted here. Skoda Fabia has been priced high but it has attracted a good amount of people, thanks to the brand image and built quality.

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vinak, welcome to TAI.Yes agree on the change of buyers prospective of a better small practical vehicle which is slowly taking on sedans, but not on that large numbers as of today too large numbers of people still believe that a hatchback cannot take that status style as a sedan does, so way to long go for premium hatchbacks.

Yeah vjay, many still buy premium hatches as a second car, as they can't drive their 10 lac+ cars in city. And people aren't ready to consider premium hatches as their only car, instead they buy saloon.

Correct, The main reason to buy hatches is that they are easily manouvre in cities but the long saloons are better for parties etc and for the people who consider their cars to be not only cars but the status symbol.

RodRocket

I would agree with all of you on the fact that hatches are more wanted because of their easy drivability than sedans, but dont they offer a good status symbol? I would say that I will proud to own a Swift than a DZire. Status varies with different cars, irrespective of their types. I would say that a hatchback can do everything that a sedan does, only without the boot.

My family is against a hatchback. But my dream hatch is like
>2.0, 120ps Diesel,
>Lenght: appx 4 metres
>Ground Clearence of 180mm+
>Decent Approach angle and departure angle
>Good handling
>4wd option
>ABS, Alloys, Foglamps as standard
>Additional optional features like Panaromic Sunroof
Ford or Maruti can bring over updated Fusion / SX4 hatch at price of about 10 lacs and I'll go for it. This one I feel will be better and more practical yet sporty alternative to the likes of Mini Cooper/ BMW 1 series/ Merc A-Class, etc.

Abhi.
Its rather a Crossover you are asking for which would be reduced in length :D

abhi_qpotsiavs wrote:My family is against a hatchback. But my dream hatch is like
>2.0, 120ps Diesel,
>Lenght: appx 4 metres
>Ground Clearence of 180mm+
>Decent Approach angle and departure angle
>Good handling
>4wd option
>ABS, Alloys, Foglamps as standard
>Additional optional features like Panaromic Sunroof
Ford or Maruti can bring over updated Fusion / SX4 hatch at price of about 10 lacs and I'll go for it. This one I feel will be better and more practical yet sporty alternative to the likes of Mini Cooper/ BMW 1 series/ Merc A-Class, etc.

That's a big list. But i guess, we won't be getting a hatch with such impressive specs.

Abhi, Theres only a one car which comes in my mind which can tick few of the features you have listed, Its the Chevrolet SR-V, Its a very nice sporty hatch, I like it(I'm sure its fav. of other aswell) but its high pricing has kept enthusiasts away.

VT

Crazy cat wrote:

abhi_qpotsiavs wrote:My family is against a hatchback. But my dream hatch is like
>2.0, 120ps Diesel,
>Lenght: appx 4 metres
>Ground Clearence of 180mm+
>Decent Approach angle and departure angle
>Good handling
>4wd option
>ABS, Alloys, Foglamps as standard
>Additional optional features like Panaromic Sunroof
Ford or Maruti can bring over updated Fusion / SX4 hatch at price of about 10 lacs and I'll go for it. This one I feel will be better and more practical yet sporty alternative to the likes of Mini Cooper/ BMW 1 series/ Merc A-Class, etc.

That's a big list. But i guess, we won't be getting a hatch with such impressive specs.

If you see closely, This list can become a reality with Fusion or SX4 Hatch which already satisfies many criterias.
Fusion is 4 metres, 180mm Ground Clearence, Good Approach angle and departure angle, Good Handling & Standard ABS/ Airbags/ Foglamps/ Alloys. Leaving aside Panaromic sunroof, What is missing is a powerful Diesel and 4wd.