Team-BHP Car of the Year 2011. EDIT : Mahindra XUV500 it is!!

This is a discussion on Team-BHP Car of the Year 2011. EDIT : Mahindra XUV500 it is!! within The Indian Car Scene, part of the BHP India category; I voted for the XUV 5oo too! And seems like the majority of bhp-ians are with me As of now, ...

I voted for the XUV 5oo too! And seems like the majority of bhp-ians are with me As of now, the new Mahindra seems to be the unanimous winner this year. Hardly surprising considering its VFM factor, Safety features, Features list, performance and road presence.

SWIFT - Now we are talking. Specially the diesel deserves the car of the year award. It has got everything right except the price which is a tad high. Then there is an uncanny similarity with the old model. Not the car of the year but never the less a great car.

SUNNY - Nothing exciting.

RAPID - Another car that deserves the car of the year award. Honestly speaking I cant find any flaws with this car. It is just a Vento. Only better. But the reason it is not car of the year is that it is actually a Vento which was launched a year ago.

VERNA - It can be car of the year anywhere but not on Team-BHP. Here there is no compromise on power & Handling.

In my opinion for any car to be voted Car of the Year it should truly display that it is a game-changer and perform like one as well. And this is the reason why I have voted for the Hyundai Verna

Let me explain how I arrived at this. Let's have a look at the contenders.

1. Eon : Yeah, ok. This is a new car. But what's so special about this? For a few thousand rupees more we can move into the refined 4-cylinder options from others. So why should I choose a 3-cylinder? Does it have the game-plan to upset the Alto? Simply put, NO.

2. Brio : This most certainly could have been a contender had nature put a spanner into its works by creating floods in Thailand. Could have given (and still can give the Fabias, the Puntos and the Polos) a run for their money. It's after all a Honda badge.

3. Liva : Too boring and in my opinion not a VFM offering like it had been positioned. Rejected by the market as well.

4. Swift : Don't really understand why this car is here. Nothing new except for a few cosmetic changes.

5. Sunny : Could have been a contender but for the limited service network and honestly, the car is not fun to drive.

6. Rapid : Could also have been a contender, but when I am paying upwards of Rs. 10 lakhs the least I expect is a good amount of kit when compared to it's competitors. And also a dodgy service network.

7. Verna : Voted for this. Why? It dethroned the Honda City as the higher selling car in it's segment. And the City did not look like giving up it's position so easily. It is this vehicle that made Honda cut prices of the City substantially. As far as I remember this has never happened with the City. If this is not a game changer then I don't know what is.

8. Fiesta : Could have really given the Verna a run for its money, but they got the pricing completely wrong.

9. Force One : Force who? Need I say more.

10. XUV 500 : Yeah, its a good offering. But is it enough to dethrone the segment leaders Innova and the Scorpio? Will people really choose a Mahindra XUV 500 over a Toyota Fortuner? The answer to both questions are, NO.

11. Fluence : Come on, Renault. You really cannot be offering a diesel variant that does not have even half the kit the petrol variant has.

12. Jetta / Passat : Not too sure whether there is any substantial change over their previous offering.

13. Kizashi : Maruti got the pricing absolutely wrong. And it resembles the SX4 too much to demand any kind of premium.

14. Koleos : Let down by a limited network. Competitors have a better offering. Not a game changer.

15. Volvo S60 : You cannot get a car to India and have it scraping it's belly half the time and expect to become COTY.

16. Audi A6 : Majority of the luxury car buyers (in India) have a strong inclination towards either the Mercedes or the BMW. Then why look at the Audi when it is neither stunning to look nor stunning to drive?

For 2011, I truly believe the Hyundai Verna deserves to be the COTY because:
- Although priced higher than the earlier version, it brings in more engine/transmission options
- Good to drive, which is most basic of things I would expect from a car
- Decent kit for a car priced close to Rs. 13 lakhs (top-end)
- It dethroned the previous segment leader by a large margin and continues to do so.

As many others, I too have voted for the XUV500. However, its success will really depend on how Mahindra handles its XUV customers. Metros would do well, but what about smaller towns and cities? Are the M&M A$$ es in these towns equipped to service the XUV?

After a lot of thought, i voted for the Swift though the decision to pick it over the XUV was tough, but since i'll have one in my garage in the next few months made it slightly easier

To make a already good car, into a great car surely deserves praise and a pat on the back to Maruti. Almost all issues with the old swift were addressed, albeit the price and the overall looks. The Swift continues to remain as competitive as before with the new generation car.

XUV 500 for me. Just one word when I think about this car. V-F-M !! And I guess the sales put every other car to shame. And the icing on the cake was the dramatically improved CE from the company - Super solid response to issues and resolution came in no time and make me feel the plunge is completely worth & the brand can be trusted!

3. Hyundai Eon - A very good car, although with a bit of a premium price tag! Brings never before seen quality into the A+ segment. However, the package could have been much better with a better price tag + better looks + better NVH + driveability.

A well deserved second place for such a fresh product in the segment previously considered to be the 'cheap' end of the market.

2. Suzuki Swift - In the segment - I'm voting for this one with my money. I find the ZDi to be the best package available in the segment. Compared to the segment - its powerful, frugal, decently packaged, safe and the interior feels good as well with the new version. An all round package like no other, and one of the best driver's car in the market as well. They took the segment king and transformed it into an emperor IMO.

Will i vote for it to be the car of the year? No, its more of an evolution rather than a revolution the first generation brought into the Indian market, and the brakes issue in L&V variants - its down to second place from me.

1. Mahindra XUV 500 - I wish i had the money to buy this one! What a car, and what a pricetag!

Proud to say - an Indian product is my choice for the 'car of the year - 2011'.

I think we all know which car is going to the THE CAR for this year. I voted for the Swift though. What amazes me is the fact that I come across a lot of people who will find all kinds of faults with the swift but then go on to buy it! Say what you want the Swift is the champion in its segment. Everyone has their own definition for THE CAR. For me it was consistency. Swift has maintained its leadership inspite of strong competition. I know people might say it is a bit expensive but the sales figures show the true demand for the car. I like XUV 5oo a lot - In fact I love its design. It is just that I am not a fan of big MUV/SUV's. The runner up for me would be EON - I sincerely respect Hyundai for giving a quality product to those with little budgets. EON is not flawless but then it is indeed a great product.

The Honda Brio, IMO, is a great car and truly a hot contender for the ICOTY 2011 trophy. It's an exceptional package. Lots of room on the inside, a frugal and punchy engine and is backed by Honda's reliability and fantastic after-sales-service.

Having said that, the XUV-500 has got to be the ICOTY 2011, without a doubt. Why?

Well, to begin with, M&M have done a wonderful job in designing and engineering a product that's suited to Indian conditions. A SUV that can hold it's own in the presence of larger and more expensive metal. The XUV-500 delivers something that most SUVs have failed to over the years. It's bang-for-buck like nothing else. The sort of equipment you get would make a D-Segment sedan proud, and it's available on a car that's 10-15 lakhs ex-showroom, which is brilliant! Add to that, it looks sharp and muscular. It's not dynamically gifted, but it isn't bad for an SUV at all. It does have its fair share of niggles and teething issues, but I believe it wouldn't take Mahindra to iron them out in time.

It's a wonderful product and a great achievement by an Indian company. It may not be ready for the export market just yet. But give it a few years, and we might see it do considerably well in other markets too!

Cheers Mahindra!

I have this uncanny feeling, that the XUV will sweep all the awards this year. Individual auto-magazines will give it the COTY crown, and collectively, it should be the winner as well.

It’s indeed the XUV show! Probably more because it exceeded the expectations from M&M.

My vote goes for the little Honda. A good little number – exactly what is expected from the Japanese giant and quite well-priced too. I feel the Brio will bounce back once Honda sort out the production issues, Thailand flood situation etc.

Honda Brio it is for me.
The oddball rear styling and the tiny boot aside, it's a small car that's the most fun to drive. It's a well made, well priced car, with the core values of Honda intact.

A small note: I liked the rear seats on the Brio; a flatter middle portion along with a low floor hump, pays rich dividends for rear seating.

Thought long and hard about the XUV. In the end, it boiled down to the XUV being too over-the-top with a very long feature list, but little attention to detail. To draw an analogy, it's like a 17inch gaming laptop, with a 1TB hard-drive, a powerful graphics card etc., against an iPad. When the glow from the specifications on paper fade, which one can I enjoy more in daily use?

In terms of smiles per mile, I don't think I can do better than the Brio.