Detailed report:
We all have seen these cars on the road or atleast seen their pics and have made an opinion about them. But, its a different story when you see them in flesh, feel them, sit in them.
I will start in the same order I checked them in the show.
Toyota camp: The toyota camp had their complete line up but most of the people were trying out the liva/etios and fortuner. So I thought of kicking things off with the Corolla. The first thing I tried on the corolla was its back sit, and it is excellent with great support and luxury. The plastics are great, but the dash feels simple but yet functional. Simply loved this car. The etios and Liva are great on comfort but the quality IMHO is horrible. The door shut with a very harsh metal sound which makes you feel vulnerable in an accident. The big TFort has great presence but ingress and outgress is pathetic.
Skoda Camp: The Skoda camp had great buzz with the presence of the new kid Rapid and laura VRs. I immediately got in the VRs drivers seat and the thud of the door made me feel sitting in a tank (A plush tank). The leather seats absolutely hug you and quality of materials is fabulous. The back seat too is very comfortable. The yellow shade looks great. The rapid is pure vento from side and feels ventoish from the inside aswell. But this car grows on you with its comfort and class.
Hyundai Camp: The hyundai camp also got a huge attention as it had its new kids the fluidic Verna and Eon. The Eon looks great in flesh but sit in it and you will disappointed with its space. Even the santro makes much more sense than Eon even if its 12 year old. The verna looks good on the outside and feels rich inside. The Verna feels comfortable and well put together.
Renault Camp: The renault camp had its new pulse on display but was not allowed to be opened. So i will start with fluence. Fluence will impress you with its awesome back seat and space. The quality was fantastic and so were the features. The Koleos looks good in flesh and feels really high quality. But my friends were much more impressed with fluence's comfort than koleos's quality.
Mahindra: This was the place to be in for most of the crowd, people were going crazy over the XUV 500. I take my words back, the XUV is handsome vehicle. The interiors are good and comfortable. The demonstrator revved the engine hard but still the engine sounds great. The refinement is excellent with respect to diesel standards. I am very impressed with the XUV 500.
Honda Camp: The honda camp was dry, no one was checking out the Accord or civic but brio was the car people were interested in. The brio is really high quality car from the inside and outside. The space too is good. And yes, the glass boot looks uniqe.
Chevrolet Camp: The chevrolet beat diesel had lots of interest from the crowd. The beat looked youthful from outside and funky from inside. But it has decent space inside but the black dash is a bit of eyesore.
NOTE: These are just initial observations and have tried my best to test them in terms of quality, comfort, finishing and built quality.
Tata Indica Dle '04:Sold,
Hyundai Santro Xing XS '04
