[kiku007]

What do the following cars have in common?

1. Fiat Punto
2. Honda Brio
3. Verito Vibe
4. Nissan Micra
5. Renault Pulse
6. Tata Indica / Vista / Bolt
7. Toyota Etios Liva
8. VW Polo
9. Skoda Fabia
10. Chevrolet Aveo – UVA

They were launched with anticipation and were expected to get their respective manufacturers a good share on the growing (once?) B2 small car market in India. But after a decade, they are either dead or the manufacturers haven’t promised an all-new model replacement.

Except for Maruti Suzuki (Swift) and Hyundai (i10 and i20), almost everyone else has faltered. Even Ford couldn’t replicate the first generation Figo’s success. Of course, Tata has the products but just doesn’t want to call them the Indica or the Vista ever again for good reasons!

So what happened? What did Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai do that the others didn’t? Can it be summarised in one word as, "Commitment"?

How can so many global carmakers get it wrong in one of the world’s fastest-growing car market?

[Lambydude]

Yes, it is commitment to the market. Currently, Maruti Suzuki has approx. 2000 dealerships in 1667 cities along with 3200 workshops spread over the country. The carmaker also has an additional 250 premium Nexa outlets. They have communicated that in the next three years they have plans to open 1,000 sales network and 1800 service centres.
I'm sure this is much higher than the combined network of many competitors.
So for a family buying their first car from a small town or rural area, Maruti becomes the first choice due to presence in their town.

[aniyo]

For me the biggest disappointment was Honda Jazz, the near perfect car with lousy engines. They did not have the diesel engine for a long time and when they did, there were better options in the market. Also Honda is poor with features that hurt too.

Skoda Fabia could have got the numbers. High pricing and later boring engines killed it.

No clue why Micra did not do well. It was a nice car. I drove it quite a lot in marutius and it felt nice place to be.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by kiku007

What do the following cars have in common?

1. Fiat Punto
2. Honda Brio
3. Verito Vibe
4. Nissan Micra
5. Renault Pulse
6. Tata Indica / Vista / Bolt
7. Toyota Etios Liva
8. 
VW Polo
9. Skoda Fabia
10. 
Chevrolet Aveo – UVA

So what happened? What did Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai do that the others didn’t? Can it be summarised in one word as, "Commitment"?

All the above cars were imperfect in some or the other way.

Some were too heavy and under-powered.
Some were light, and still under-powered.
Some were too ugly/weird.
Some were outdated at launch time itself.
Some were accompanied by 3rd class service experiences.
Some were taxi-badge branded.

It's not that offerings from MSIL and Hyundai were leagues better, but they kept on improving the recipe, and backed up their products with good quality service standards.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

All the above cars were imperfect in some or the other way.

Some were too heavy and under-powered.
Some were light, and still under-powered.
Some were too ugly/weird.
Some were outdated at launch time itself.
Some were accompanied by 3rd class service experiences.
Some were taxi-badge branded.

It's not that offerings from MSIL and Hyundai were leagues better, but they kept on improving the recipe, and backed up their products with good quality service standards.

I think this answer sums it up & we should lock the thead out .

Just one more point that contributed in the result I think was that these cars were launched in an era where the Indian car buyer was still preferring to play it safe. People were buying with brand perception much more than they do now. Maruti / Hyundai = Great A-S-S and resale value & mileage. This is what contributed to lack of sales for others.

And like your point above - the other brands didn't do enough to change this perception quick enough. Things are different now. And thats good for us - consumers. Proper competition results in better products & improvements.

[wheelguy]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Except for Maruti Suzuki (Swift) and Hyundai (i10 and i20), almost everyone else has faltered. Even Ford couldn’t replicate the first generation Figo’s success. Of course, Tata has the products but just doesn’t want to call them the Indica or the Vista ever again for good reasons!

So what happened? What did Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai do that the others didn’t? Can it be summarised in one word as, "Commitment"?

How can so many global carmakers get it wrong in one of the world’s fastest-growing car market?

First major challenge all these manufacturers have in common is to make the consumer look beyond Maruti and Hyundai, once done with that they have their own set of unique challenges.

Though there can be many more reasons, here are a few reasons contributing to the failure of the respective cars:

1. Fiat Punto- Beautiful design, good handler, failed due to lack of exclusive Fiat dealerships.
2. Honda Brio- Maybe the design didn't appeal to the Indian buyers especially the tailgate design.
3. Verito Vibe- One look at the rear, almost all of the buyers will write it off.
4. Nissan Micra- Good car, used to do decent numbers(not by Maruti/Hyundai standards), Nissan India had to bring the 5th generation to India to boost the sales.
5. Renault Pulse- Only those who want Micra with Renault badge will go for it.
6. Tata Indica/Vista/Bolt- Indica did well for itself for long before declining, Vista failed due to its similarities with Indica design and inclusion of Indica name, Bolt is a pricing disaster at launch and the legacy design of the silhouette worked against it. Moreover, Tata got bad baggage and had a lot of negative perceptions to overcome.
7. Toyota Etios Liva- The design is too basic but Toyota is like, our badge is enough to pull the buyer to our side.
8. VW Polo- Wonderful car, comparatively costlier to buy & maintain, failed due to VW's attitude towards India.
9. Skoda Fabia- Basically a Polo with Skoda touches, Skoda's reach is limited and Skoda's A.S.S makes sure to scare away the prospective buyer.
10. Cheverlot Aveo UVA- No idea about why it failed.

Impressions either positive or negative go a long way in Inda. Once you got a positive image you can ride on those laurels for long before it erodes, likewise, once you got a negative image it sticks to you even if you are not the same now. Maruti and Hyundai most of the times get all things right in the first move and that helps them in making a good first impression. And look at Tata, they make a move and then keep correcting and improving, example look at how Nano improved over time since its introduction.

In India getting it right in the first move is very important.


Most of the global players get it wrong in India because of the disconnect between the decision makers and the ground realities. Moreover, it was like a chicken & egg problem, they want the scale before making commitments and they cannot get the numbers they want unless they commit more.

Note: I may be wrong but these are my thoughts and opinions, one can add, accept, or deny them.

[Mr.Boss]

Brand OaO (overall opinion) is one of the key contributor.
All those above mentioned cars, if launched under 'S' badge could have done 4 digit sales figures easily.

[Thermodynamics]

Another word I think off is "Ownership ease"

Better car isn't a winner necessarily. In our market, only a small fraction of buyers do homework, compare specs, pitch pros vs cons and make a data conscious optimal decision.

Majority of us go by "word of mouth". My Uncle has bought Innova, he has no complaints, in fact he is flaunting it all over. My brother has got a Bolero-pickup and it does everything in his farm. My sister has got Celerio AMT, it is good easy to drive. Words like these drive our buyers. If we go to villages we'll see the popularity of M&M and Tatas, they don't go by numbers, they go by word of mouth.

The "word of mouth" can also do the Ante. This is where "Ownership ease" is important. Any bad experience such as unavailability of service centers, excessive service delays can get amplified and do enough damage to buyer opinion. Maruti and Hyundai by virtue of wider service networks have bettered in "Ownership ease" over other competitors. Same goes to M&M and Tata when it comes to rural needs.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

All the above cars were imperfect in some or the other way.

Some were too heavy and under-powered.
Some were light, and still under-powered.
Some were too ugly/weird.
Some were outdated at launch time itself.
Some were accompanied by 3rd class service experiences.
Some were taxi-badge branded.

Well summed up, and I would like to add something to this
Some manufacturers came in with a load of attitude and portrayed themselves as a premium manufacturer, commanded higher prices than market and expected people to get impressed by this. However, they failed to provide the experience that people expected. Thats when word of mouth publicity hurts, and negative experiences is what is often shared among people.
The other consequence of the above points is customer retention. I can think of many examples where a person owning a WagonR brought another WagonR, a person owning i10 brought the i20 and so. This is something I have rarely come across in other brands. My friend who brought the Micra swears not to buy another Nissan(they are going down anyway). Now he would have told the same thing to many of his other friends, which means they will tell their friends and people will just not buy such a brand
During the initial days of these brands like Skoda, Nissan etc they priced cars at a premium to the competition. In spite of that, they did not offer much of an attractive package except for the better build and quality. Today, the Swift costs more or less the same as its competitor, and yet sells. That is because in the initial days, they worked to establish the brand and then started milking customers. Such gradual changes will slip easily through people's minds but what stays is the word of mouth feedback they get from people.

As someone mentioned, its important to get it right at the beginning. Else its very difficult to change initial impressions.

[VVN]

Honda Brio not performing was a bit expected IMO. The car is amazing and is quite FTD. I have retained my 7 year Brio purely because I need something to charge me up after the City CVTs snoozefest. The design might have been a big factor in the car not selling. The interiors were just pathetic and that could be another reason.The 2nd gen Brio could have been a success since Honda adopted a boring design and that may just have appealed to the masses here.

I concur with Aniyo. Jazz had the potential to be the segment leader but Honda simply botched it with the pricing, the engine and the features. I know atleast 6 people who wanted to buy the Jazz but ended up with either Baleno or i20 Elite simply because it offered more features. Same for Polo. VW's strategy is simply baffling. The car still does a decent 1500 odd units a month. I myself was very close to buying a Polo last year but the A.S.S completely put me off.

[Sk8r]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Except for Maruti Suzuki (Swift) and Hyundai (i10 and i20), almost everyone else has faltered. Even Ford couldn’t replicate the first generation Figo’s success. Of course, Tata has the products but just doesn’t want to call them the Indica or the Vista ever again for good reasons!

So what happened? What did Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai do that the others didn’t? Can it be summarised in one word as, "Commitment"?

How can so many global carmakers get it wrong in one of the world’s fastest-growing car market?

One important and major aspect is the average Indian's Risk Averse mindset. They believe in Hyundais and Marutis and go for it even though Hyundai gives 8 KMPL in cities and Marutis are not that greatly built ( Subjective ).

It's like a vicious circle; The better the car, more people buy it; More people buy the car, the manufacturer provides better service, sales network etc.,

You rightly put it, Hyundai and Maruti were able to break that circle and there are here today!

At least for me, Micra, Etios/ Liva, Punto, Aveo deserve something better.

[Nav-i-gator]

Forget about B2 segment, problem is that none of the manufacturers is committing fully to Indian market (today there are genuine reasons like incoherent policy etc, but before a couple of years...). Toyota, Ford and VW are 3 players who CAN and should shed inhibitions and invest heavily in India. All these 3 brands have good brand recall and people are willing to take the plunge with their products. But these 3 are either not willing to invest heavily (VW), or are not fully committed, or are happy to earn healthy bottom line (Toyota). VW is still selling the cars it entered India with a decade ago (and still selling decent volumes!), Ford always succeeded with the products that reflect their USP (great handling, powerful cars with a solid build). Freestyle sells, while Figo doesn't (take a cue). All these 3 have awesome product lineup already in their portfolio, what deters them from bringing a few to India? Honda is trying to be the Chevrolet milking the City and Ivtec too far, increasing the prices while decreasing the build quality. Fiat is already gone.

I'm happy to see homegrown Tata and Mahindra - MNC car companies should learn from them. Commit totally or leave.

I'm appalled to see the same boxy concoctions from MS flooding the Indian roads. Nothing wrong with MS, but the choices are pretty less for customers today.

[bf1983]

When i was looking to buy a hatchback this year I looked at quite a few options. I went with Suzuki mainly for availability of service stations, lower cost of maintenance but mostly for the K12 engine. The best engine IMO in this price bracket along with the Hyundai 1.2l.

My dad has the Ford freestyle and the engine is not as good. I tried the Tiago (not a B2 segment car I know) and the Polo and both disappointed in terms of engine performance.

I believe the Jazz has a decent engine but its price is a bit too high for the features on offer.

[petrol_power]

I remember the experience I had, 4 years before when I wanted to buy a B2 hatch. Jotting down what I felt.

Fiat Punto - No sales rep in the showroom, finally some one handed over the keys and was even reluctant to come with me for test-drive. It was more like a self-service restaurant.

Honda Brio - Outdated 4 years before itself.

Verito Vibe - Taxi feel, didnt even check out.

Nissan Micra - Again felt outdated.

Renault Pulse - Outdated.

Tata Indica / Vista / Bolt - I despise the egg shell design and there is no other car which makes me irritated by having a look at it. I may still buy an Ambassador, but not the indica brothers/cousins.

Toyota Etios Liva - Unconventional speedo meter plus taxi market has eaten it.

VW Polo- Very old design, but it was classic and the TSI+DSG combo made me book it.

Skoda Fabia - Company didn't have revival plan for this at that time itself.

Chevrolet Aveo – UVA - Company was not even having a TD vehicle of their Cruze at that time. It was destined to sink.

Now speaking about swift - It had a very fresh look when it was launched in 2005, with that mini cooper-ish slanting/floating roof, etc. It had everything an Indian wanted. Looks/power/mileage/mod friendly/etc etc. Family car as well as the energetic kid in the block.
Hyundai - I20, if I am right it also started with a bang, with all bells and whistles at affordable rates including sun roofs/6 air bags for hatch backs. Still it has a decent design with features.
Add these with the awesome services, they reached top.

Currently I have lag in DSG while giving accelerator (random occurrences, only when starting the car and giving accelerator for the first time of the day), paint chirping off automatically from my new bumper replaced by VW few months before, huge noise in AC fan, suspension is almost shot - I have given my car to VW service centre twice, fought with them, screamed my lungs out, after understanding that they kept my car in their place for 2 days and didnt touch any of the repair works. Given the car again, informed customer service manager, informed VW company, but the dealer is just CHILL and is least bothered.

1 year before, I changed my brake disc and pad from VW service, and due to some loose fitment I almost rammed into a truck as it didnt have brakes while pressing.

At many times, I used to think that I am done with VW, as I have lot of other things in life to worry about.

And I dream about the days in which I had Maruti and hyundai. Life was all peaceful at those times.

[rajvardhanraje]

There are multiple reasons why Maruti and Hyundai dominate the B2 segment.

Most buyers in this segment intend to play it safe. Maruti and Hyundai have really good brand perception in India. A potential buyer knows they have multiple showrooms, service centers and a Pan India presence. These two are the 'safe' options.

Word of mouth also plays a big role. We all have colleagues/friends/relatives who have bought these cars and would recommend us to buy the same. People do get influenced by this and buy cars based on experiences shared by others. We all have peers who would disapprove buying other brands. While buying a Tata car when I would discuss it with friends and colleagues, most would reject my decision in an outright manner.

For those staying in Tier 2 and 3 cities, many would avoid going for other brands due to lack of service centers. Ease of service and ownership is also a factor. Plus brands like Tata or Skoda are also perceived to be difficult to maintain.

Resale is also a factor that has to be considered. A Swift would fetch far better resale value as compared to a Punto or a Micra. This does matter to most of the buyers.

As mentioned by most in this post, commitment also matters. The fact is that Maruti and Hyundai have such massive presence in India that it inspires more confidence in the buyer to opt for these brands.