[hema4saran]

I started thinking why the Indian MPVs are not coming with a sliding door. I would prefer the people carriers like Innova/Ertiga should have these kind of doors. With ever shrinking parking space in the city, don't you think the sliding doors will help.

The only downside I would see is people would directly compare it with a Maruti Omni. I for one thought the same when I saw the Honda Odyssey/Toyota Sienna here in USA for the first time. But after having multiple rides in the Odyssey, the sliding door was much helpful feature and I feel the Indian manufacturers should start implementing the same in our MPVs.

Here is the pic of a Honda Odyssey. O.T. Honda should make one more genuine attempt to get in a competitor for Innova in India. Not half baked products like Mobilio.

[SmartCat]

Meet Nissan Evalia:



I don't think manufacturing a car with sliding door is expensive - otherwise Omni and Evalia wouldn't have it. I feel the main reason for ignoring sliding doors is that most MPVs in India started life as something else.

- Ertiga from Swift
- Mobilio from Brio
- Xylo from Scorpio
- Lodgy from Logan

I guess designers were busy figuring out how to add 3rd row of seats, and hence forgot about finer aspects of a MPV.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by hema4saran

I started thinking why the Indian MPVs are not coming with a sliding door... The only downside I would see is people would directly compare it with a Maruti Omni.

You yourself gave the best possible answer to your question. In India, majority of customers give preference to form over function. Nissan made an attempt with Evalia but it failed miserably. Though there were other contributing factors as well, but sliding doors and lack of windows at rear were among key reasons.

Honda should make one more genuine attempt to get in a competitor for Innova in India. Not half baked products like Mobilio.

In my opinion, Honda management team feels that they know the Indian market better than anyone else and can keep enjoying the brand value that was created over the years with competent products. But, sadly, that's just a wishful thought.

[Skyline_GT]

It has more to do with form over function as mentioned above.
In a country like ours the sale of a particular model depends on the car's image in the market. Sliding doors give these MPVs an image of a utilitarian people mover(read Taxis) whereas normal doors make the MPVs look and feel more car like.

If we take a look at all the cars sold in India with sliding doors almost all of them are used as Utility vehicles or as Taxis.
Maruti Eeco
Maruti Omni
Nissan Evalia

[self_driven]

Hi hema4saran,

That's a very valid point that you've raised. While many consider it to be form over function approach, I am of the opinion that normal hinged doors provide better functionality unless one is planning to utilise MPVs to their full potential (7 people or 2 up front and remaining filled with cargo) which again is a rare happening in the case of private users.

Originally Posted by hema4saran

With ever shrinking parking space in the city, don't you think the sliding doors will help.

Will it actually help? Unless the driver/co-driver plans to stay inside the car after parking, I don't see a real advantage with sliding rear doors as the front ones will anyway need that space to open.

The only downside I would see is people would directly compare it with a Maruti Omni.

And commercial feel or not, that's a major letdown for those spending big bucks on premium MPVs. Imagine walking out of a 25-lac-rupee Innova Crysta and having to slide the door back into place! And compare that to walking out and shutting the door normally. The latter looks more "normal" and requires less physical effort as well.

The only advantages of sliding doors are quick loading/unloading of cargo and a little bit easier entry into the third row. However, most MPVs have a tailgate that opens upwards to let you access the cargo space. So the first point isn't a very big advantage.

If the sliding door mechanism helps carmakers to cut costs (which I think is highly unlikely), then it makes sense to offer that instead of normal hinged doors. And that too, in lower segment MPVs (likes of Go+ or Ertiga) only where sticker price plays an important role.

Another point I can think of is that sliding doors require a straight roofline which our country's hatchback-turned-MPVs don't seem to have.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by self_driven

And commercial feel or not, that's a major letdown for those spending big bucks on premium MPVs. Imagine walking out of a 25-lac-rupee Innova Crysta and having to slide the door back into place! And compare that to walking out and shutting the door normally. The latter looks more "normal" and requires less physical effort as well.

The Alphard which is few notches up on the luxury ladder comes with a sliding door and a power one at that. So no OMNI type closing action is required.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0SQAQ4_VG4

Even the Estima minivan came with a sliding door and some even had the electric option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n28dOSNACFw

[condor]

The Tata Winger & Venture have it. One could attribute the Winger's door to the French design, but the Venture was designed in-house.

[GTO]

Thanks to the Omni & Eeco, sliding doors are now associated with 'cheap' & 'cargo'. Equally, thanks to the Innova which has set benchmarks, every proper MPV must have regular doors.

Sliding doors are great for loading stuff in and if your parking space is slim. But for everything else, I prefer regular doors. Regular doors are easier to open & close. Plus, the more 'carlike' vans are, the better for their long-term market health.

[hserus]

I read something about the police discouraging manufacturers from producing more sliding door fitted vehicles because they were commonly used by kidnappers. Much easier to open the door, pull a victim inside and slam it shut.

Can’t find an authoritative link but sliding door kidnap produces a huge number of links from around the world, so it looks like a favourite tactic.

[vikram31]

If this car makes it to Indian roads..

https://www.indiacarnews.com/news/to...-hybrid-14699/

It could throw some serious competition. I have travelled in this in HK, it is am amazing ride..

[grkonweb]

IIRC, in the late 1990s J&K police banned Maruti Omni van due to usage by terrorists to shoot after quickly sliding the door and scoot away. Also, it was used for kidnapping and the sliding door made it quick. Suddenly, the Delhi used car market was flooded with Maruti Omnis and one could buy a good vehicle for about 75k.

[ajmat]

Let me try and answer

1: Sliding doors need to be aligned and in proper shape. If a door gets bent, the whole alignment and movement gets distorted

2: It is more expensive to make

3: Rear side windows - fitting these to a sliding door make the door thicker and heavier hence we end up with sliding windows - not optimum or the "post box" slot

4: The sliding door hinges need to be greased. The hinge slots are exposed and attract mud like flies to a dung heap!

5: Sliding doors make sense when frequent access is required to the third row. You get good access to the middle row to move, fold and a enough space for the rear most passengers to climb though. Ashok Leyland Stile excepted.

[PrideRed]

Sliding doors are simply out of trend, and clearly is a thing of the past. While it has advantages as well as disadvantages, buyers don't want(or like) it. A similar analogy is "Why we don't see people wearing bell bottom pants?"

[kiranknair]

Considering the tight parking places (especially in malls/hospitals etc) these days, the sliding doors are an advantage as to minimise the risk of hitting the neighbouring car while opening of doors.

[vipul_singh]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

A similar analogy is "Why we don't see people wearing bell bottom pants?"

A key difference is in third row access. I may end up buying an Innova, but wish something like a Pacifica or an Odyssey was an option.

On the practicality side, even buying an Endeavour or Fortuner here seems to a decidedly inferior / cramped solution compared to these minivans