DriveBlog

From the B(r)andwagon

Autobytes from the Ninth Annual Business Standard Brand Derby:

"Interestingly, the best and worst relaunches in this round of the Brand Derby are from the automobile industry. While the Derby applauded the return of Hyundai’s Santro as the Xing and Honda’s City, the Petra (neé Fiat Siena) was dismissed summarily as old wine in new bottles.

While 74 per cent felt the City was very successful and 73 per cent felt the Santro Xing was very successful, only 1 per cent believed the same about the Petra. Incidentally, these are the highest and lowest ratings among all the 15 brands that were considered in the relaunches segment."

C'est la Viva

Like the review itself says, a diesel car that delivers some kickbutt performance and comes with a reasonable sticker tag attached, is somewhat of a rarity - and all this without a compromise on what diesel cars are bought for in the first place - more miles for your money. With the possible exception of the Palio D, the Indian car buyer didn't have much to choose from.

That is, until Hyundai served up the Accent Viva CRDi, the hatchback (sic) version of its more popular sedan sibling at a price that was a cool Rs. 40000 less.

Unused Potential?

When Fiat launched the Petra 1.6 EL petrol variant earlier this year, the news was met by sharp intakes of breath from many a quarter. Till that point, the Indian market had yet to come across a sedan that truly served up some deadly-serious value for money. At Rs. 4.75 Lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi, words like 'highway robbery' and 'corporate charity' didn't seem out of place. Fiat India too, seemed to be banking hugely on the rebadged sedan to pull them out of their downward spiral.

Well, the carmag reviews still find the Petra a hard deal to beat but whether Fiat has been able to rustle up the numbers to back that up, is yet to be seen. For the time being, the Petra remains an excellent car that is yet to get its due.

Damn, it must hurt to be at Fiat India right now.

The Fiat Petra Petrol Ownership Report | Test Drive Report | Purchase Experience.

Ninety day wonders

JD Power Asia Pacific's Initial Quality Study (IQS) seeks to provide in-depth diagnostic information on new-vehicle quality after 90 days of ownership. Owners are surveyed regarding problems with their new vehicles. Well, the results of the 2004 India study are out and it's the Maruti Alto and the Maruti Esteem that come out on top of the Premium Compact Car and Entry Midsize Car segments respectively.

Rising fuel prices coupled with unkept fuel efficiency related promises have been the main thorns in the sides of consumers of late.

Continuing it's run of recent surprises, the Fiat Palio with an improvement score of a whopping 52% is the most improved model in the industry in terms of initial vehicle quality. Looks like some of the initiatives that Fiat India is taking are working.

Baby got (hatch)back!

Finally, a shootout to warm the cockles of the hearts of the hardest-core hatch lovers! In a comparo that a lot of people will have been waiting for, Overdrive pits the Opel Corsa Sail against the Fiat Palio nv against the Hyundai Getz against the Ford Fusion.

The final verdict? Surprise, surprise - while the Getz scores on styling and driveability and the Fusion is the more technically superior car, the Palio continues to emerge as the best overall package when it comes to picking a hatchback.

In a shift from tradition, fuel efficiency is something that has more or less been ignored in the final analysis, the difference between the four being too close to call.

Fiat has another bright idea

Now that Fiat's much-touted 'new' plan of action for India - which included a restructuring and a number of new launches - has been put on the backburner, the company is looking at trucks being the most likely solution to their problems.

Well, atleast you can't blame them for not having a never-say-die attitude...

Palio Envy

Check out what was at the time, a first-look at the new version (nv) of the Palio that promised most, among other things, better fuel economy than its predecessor. How well it's been able to deliver on that promise however, is still the topic of many a heated debate. Concerns about the Palio nv's thirst continue to be the ones that crop up most frequently in the popular 'what car?' columns.

Hatchback Flashback

Here's one comparison that I'm sure has been asked for in every Indian 'agony-aunt' car column worth its salt: the Hyundai Santro (sans 'Xing') vs. the Fiat Palio (sans 'nv'). And since all of BS Motoring's links from the year 2001 have a rather unusual kink, here is the zipped .txt version of the face-off.

Frighteningly Fiat

I can't begin to imagine the unadulterated angst that this guy would have gone through after his Palio D ELX caught fire one early August morning. To make things worse, his Fiat service centre dragged him through close to 3 months of excuses, red tape and fine print and then slapped one whopper of a bill on him. Needless to say, he's come out of the whole thing completely 'shattered' and looking for help. Tch, tch, Fiat...

Well, if this Indica story is anything to go by, there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel for him.

Triple header hatch match

Remember this post that had the Palio 1.2 nv squaring off against the WagonR VXi? Well, throw the Santro Xing into the heap, and things are bound to get interesting.

Plus, the Palio finds itself in another free-for-all, this time in a fight to be the 'premium' hatch of choice. (Registration required)