Hyundai i20

Vidhu , its all depends on the market in which one is operate. I am not sure whether Hyundai has launched i 10 or Santro in USA. All markets have different yardsticks . In USA big is beautiful where as in India it is small !!.

Ours is a very price sensitive market & major chunk is coming from sub 5 lacs catagory. Also perception plays very important role here. In India you can clearly see this .

1 Maruti , Hyundai , Tata - perceived as manufacturer for masses . Very low brand image.

2 Honda , Toyota , Skoda- perceived as quality manufacturers. Very high brand image.

3 Merc , BMW , Audi         - Perceived as status . Nothing come close to them.

So i don't think person who is spending 10 lacs will even consider SX4 diesel ( 1.6/1.9) as Skoda is there . ( SX4 with 1.9 diesel will surely reach 10 lacs ).

It is all about positioning .

You can see this in VW also. Their own Skoda is giving tough time to them now as VW has two models in India, Jetta & Passat which are fighting  with Laura & Superb. Beacuse of Skoda they have to price their products much higher to differentiate . And it is affecting its sales The same thing happen when Polo will be launched against Fabia . All these cars share same platform .

It shows how market perceive . 

Currently sx4 top variant in petrol costs around 7,46,000 ex-showroom new delhi,even if they come out with a 1.6 diesel engine,the price should not be more than 8,20,000-8,30,000 and for 1.9 it should be around 9 lakhs so that it can take on competitors like chev-optra,honda accord.

I never doubted the capabilities of SX4.It is a very capable car,but lacks a good diesel variant.I beleive that because maruti is in a very safe and sound position,hence it is not pushing the matter as hard as it is required to be.

As far as the market consciousness is concerned,back in the late 1990's,when honda had lauched its city model-no one knew the car or the brand name that well.But still people went on to buy that car because it was fullfilling the purpose of the market at that time-Differentiating and making the upper richer class of our country feel special from the lower one.

This led to the sucess of honda city(apart from a brillant car and good A.S.S).They were able to introduce a whole new segment were they weere going to rule for the next decade so.

In bussiness sense it is called "FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE".Remember,honda city was also expensive as per the levels of those days but they showed the grit and courage to do so.For me,maruti who already had a very strong market  presence at that time could have launched a good compitive car in that segment(may be a car on the lines of feista)which would have done wonders for them.

I would like to say it this way-"SOME ENTREPRENEURS LIKE TO SET THE MARKET TREND AND THEIR ARE OTHERS WHO LIKE TO FOLLOW THEM".

Though,now they have started to show some purpose by introducing a new car in the big sedan segment with their "Maruti Kizashi" to take on toyota altis,skoda laura and vw jetta but i still have problems with their PACE.

Hi

Here is some info

"Maruti had promised that 2009 was going to be the year of increasing its presence in the diesel end of the market and had plans to push its premium sedan SX4 into the diesel category. But the company is running into delays in procuring the diesel engine from Fiat.
Fiat is already a supplier for Suzuki's SX4 range in Europe with a 1.9 litre engine.
In India, Maruti is keen on a 1.6 litre engine to help keep the price tag relatively lower but currently Fiat has licensed Suzuki to make only the 1.3 litre unit in India, not the 1.6 or 1.9 for that matter.

Maruti was keen on launching the diesel SX4 since Honda's new City came in to the market in October last year.

But Fiat did not want a clash with its new Linea that came into India this January. Fiat is expected to first launch a more powerful diesel Linea and that’s why the SX4 gets pushed to 2010.
This may not be great for Maruti as the SX4 has been steadily losing share with the Honda City now outselling the SX4. In the last six months, Honda sold 15,000 Cities while Maruti sold just 8000 SX4s.
Maruti is hoping the diesel SX4 revives the model's fortunes as it currently also gets cannibalised by the Swift Dzire.

Maruti is sticking to its volumes strategy and the new SX4 will only add to that but by ensuring that the engines are made in India, Maruti is also keeping one eye firmly on the margins."

So, no SX4 Diesel this year?

Source http://profit.ndtv.com/2009/08/04114300/Launch-of-Maruti-SX4-diesel-fa.html

My Punto http://ndtvauto.carwale.com/forums/ViewThread-9707.html

May be true as one salesman from Maruti Dealer had clearly said no about 1.6/ 1.9 diesel in near future.

Why is everyone discussing Maruti Suzuki SX4 and other cars on the Hyundai I20 forum thread? 

Moderators: Can you move the non i20 threads to the categorised forum.

It's natural to compare the subject cars with others but the subject matter should not be diverted.   I appreciate your concern.

1st National Meet (CW Forums) at Mumbai on 19-20th Dec.'09. Check invitation & details at http://www.carwale.com/forums/viewthread-10791.html, and confirm your participation by 15/11/'09.

I was just trying to express my view point regarding maruti's stance.

As far as i20 crdi is concerned,the sales figures of this car will be more than enough to impress and shock everyone.It really doesn't require any appreciation from us as it will be an unavoidable force on road.

I wanted to ask one question,why hasn't anyone of the moderators posted or written a test drive experience of i20.It would be great for the prospective buyers if any of the moderators could give a detailed and unbiased review of this car.

I would plead to the moderators as their is no detailed test drive review of this car on carwale,please provide us with pros and cons of this car(considering it has so many fans)for the betterment of the fellow members.

Test-drive report on i20 is due from CarWale.  I think it will come soon.

1st National Meet (CW Forums) at Mumbai on 19-20th Dec.'09. Check invitation & details at http://www.carwale.com/forums/viewthread-10791.html, and confirm your participation by 15/11/'09.

Thats great as i am eagerly awaiting for it to happen as many more are,i am sure.

Thanks Pankaj.

Please do visit team-bhp . You can get very comprehensive report on this subject. i20 crdi Vs GP 1.3 MJD Vs Ritz. What i feel that we ( Carwale ) are lacking in that respect. We must have detailed test drive reports of rival cars of same segment like hatchbacks , sedans , SUV etc. This will help all . And only moderators can do it without any bias.