The Indian Automobile Market has witnessed a plethora of launches in the past decade or so but only a few models clicked to become successful offerings. These are the automobiles loved by enthusiasts but have been under appreciated by the audiences in India. We list down the automobiles which had all the makings of a superstar but flopped big on the box office.
TATA NANO:
The Tata Nano attracted more global press, both negative & positive to it than any other car in the history of India. Though most of us automotive journalists love this basic go-anywhere-do-anything automobile, the Nano saw ridiculous sales figures in the early days of its existence, the ‘one lakh car’ or ‘cheap car’ tag soon started to hurt it as much as it had promoted it pre launch. With a rear engine and spacious cabin combined with easy driving and good overall interior design, the Nano, now in its second avatar has never really attracted the audiences that it deserves making it one of the most under rated cars in India. Hopefully, now with a new look and an opening tailgate, the new Nano will do better.
HERO IMPULSE:
The Impulse was the first motorcycle to be launched by the newly formed Hero MotoCorp after splitting from its ex-partner Honda. The Hero Impulse created quite a storm when it was launched as it was the only off-road motorcycle on sale at the time. It had the rugged design and the go anywhere chassis & suspension making it a fantastic motorcycle for our broken and undulated roads. Despite the initial hype, the Hero Impulse failed to pick steam with respect to sales. One of the main reasons for consumers giving the Hero Impulse a rejection was the fact that the 150cc motor felt underpowered for the machine, the other being it’s pricing. Both these factors & negative word of mouth reviews basically killed the Hero Impulse. The Hero Impulse is still on sale but only for the north-east markets. If Hero would launch the Impulse with the more powerful motor sourced from Karizma & pricing it under a lakh, it would have a better comeback.
FIAT PUNTO:
Another all-time favorite of the automotive journalists & the automotive enthusiasts alike, the Fiat Punto was originally and is today the best looking hatchback you can buy in India today. In fact, the beautiful exterior combined with the equally beautiful interior makes it a rather tempting package. Also it handles really well too. So why does it not sell as much as it should? Well, mainly because of the fact that both the petrol and diesel engine are a little lethargic & of course, the biggest problem - the Fiat badge. In fact, even though Fiat’s history in India has been chequered with some of the best products India has seen, issues like sales & service are the main reason why people do not prefer considering them when in the market for a new car. That said, with the new Fiat Punto T-Jet Abarth around the corner, the enthusiast might soon fly back towards this historic Italian brand with some renewed interest.
SUZUKI GS150R:
Suzuki was on a revival path in the Indian two-wheeler market and launched its assault in the 150cc segment with the Suzuki GS150R. With it simple styling, good build quality & a refined engine, the Suzuki GS150R was the Japanese two-wheeler manufacturers weapon of choice against established motorcycles like the Honda Unicorn, Bajaj Pulsar 150, Hero Hunk. It was also the first bike in its segment to be offered with a 6-speed gearbox, the sixth being beneficial to extract good fuel efficiency on the highways. Despite all these advantages, the Suzuki GS150R just failed to click. Many cited the poor dealer network & the fact that Suzuki didn’t market the bike aggressively was also a reason as not many consumers were even aware of the bike. The Suzuki GS150R is still on sale but with the new Gixxer being a success, its days are numbered though.
FORD FIESTA:
The Ford Fiesta has always been a personal favorite with the automobile journalists. In fact, every single enthusiast, will be feeling on how the Fiesta is one of the most under rated cars in India & deserves much more praise & of course sales than it gets today. With handling that is second to none with a well designed exterior & interior, the Fiesta ticks all the right boxes. Strangely though, although cars like the Ecosport do really well for Ford, the Fiesta has always struggled to sell. The Fiesta also has one of the best audio systems for any sub 10-lakh car & of course, one of the best set of seats we have ever uesd so far.
HONDA CBR 150R:
Full-faired body, liquid-cooled motor, fuel injection, 6-speed gearbox, fantastic handling dynamics, but still the Honda CBR 150R enters into this list. Honda felt that in the form of the CBR150R, they had a bike to kill the Yamaha R15. Despite being a faster bike than the Yamaha R15 in terms of outright acceleration, top speed & cornering speed, the Honda CBR150R just failed to capture the Indian consumer’s imagination. Firstly the CBR250R inspired styling didn’t go well down with the buyers & another factor was the switchgear, which was a straight lift from the Dream Yuga & it was just totally unacceptable at this price point. Talking about pricing it’s around Rs 20,000 dearer than the Yamaha R15, which although slower than the Honda offering; it looked more appealing & was cheaper also thereby winning this Japanese battle quite easily.
HYUNDAI ELANTRA:
We recently drove the new facelifted Hyundai Elantra & came out quite impressed with how balanced it felt. But sadly, sales of the Elantra have always been negligible even though cars like the Verna & Elite i20 sell well. This is mainly due to the fact that Indian audiences still find it difficult to pay over 15 lakh for a budget brand like Hyundai, especially when they have more premium brand like Volkswagen & Skoda. That said, with both diesel and petrol engines available along with both manual & automatic gearboxes, the Elantra is a very genuine contender for the best car in its class. And of course, it gets a cooled seats – a feature for which alone we would consider buying the car.
TVS PHOENIX 125:
TVS achieved great success in the 110cc segment with the Victor & they planned to ape it with the Phoenix which was marketed as a premium 125cc commuter. The TVS Phoenix had a lot going for it, pleasing styling, good switch gear, build quality, an aptly powerful motor. Despite ticking all the right boxes, the Phoenix just couldn’t capture the Indian buyer’s imagination. This can be pointed out to the fact that it didn’t have any USP as such while the Honda CB Shine ruled the segment as a great overall package; the Discover 125 had features and technology working for it while the Hero Glamour wasn’t a great success according to Hero standards but it was clocking decent sales owing to the Hero brand name. Also it seemed that the TVS Phoenix entered the market a tad late to make an impact & it has to be among those capable breed of motorcycles that was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
SKODA YETI:
The Skoda Yeti is the type of car you need to live with to fall in love with. Most auto journalists would tell you how they would have a Skoda Yeti in an instance if they had the chance (or the money) to buy one. Powered by both a petrol and diesel engine and a choice of gearboxes mated to a well made interior and a very classy exterior, the Yeti is a car for all occasions and all circumstances indeed. With its SUV like profile, combined with sedan levels of comfort & no real competition, the Yeti has always struggled to sell in India due to Skoda’s reputation for bad after sales service.
BAJAJ PULSAR 135LS:
With the Pulsar 135LS, Bajaj planned to make the “Pulsar” brand more accessible to youngsters but instead of introducing it with a 125cc which was mostly used by commuters they plonked a new 135cc motor to make it stand apart. The Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS (Light Sport) had very attractive styling with sharp and edgy lines, clip-on bars, split-seat and LED tail lamps. Bajaj marketed it as a bike with the fuel efficiency of a 125cc motorcycle and power of a 150cc bike which it had with 13.5PS and 11.4Nm of peak torque. The Bajaj Pulsar 135LS was also the first Bajaj motorcycle to feature 4-valves and DTS-i technology together & it tipped the scales at just 121kg. It even had the performance & handling dynamics to make it a competent bike. But what it lacked was bulk & mass like the Pulsar of yesteryears & consumers seemed to be turned off by its styling and the common perception was that if you want a Pulsar then buy the real Pulsar of 150cc or above.
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