Gentlemen, I believe that we are comfortably ignoring a few key points while drawing a comparison between the
Alcazar and the Safari.
Most important aspect is,
why anyone would choose the Alcazar over the Creta:- More flexibility: You have 6 seats, or 7 seats, or 4 seats + boot, or 5 seats + boot.
- More Comfort: Added weight on rear axle always results in a better ride quality for middle row or rear passengers. We have seen the same in Safari, TUV 300 Plus, Xylo and other options.
- Minor FE difference: In the city you can feel the difference, but if it's not 7 people on board, only 4-5, then the highway FE is more or less same, especially for the diesel versions
That Central Armrest and the Road to Third Row!
See gentlemen, if it's an easy and perfect tumble for the middle row, like in Innova Crysta, why would anyone, especially the adults, want to move to the third row via the narrow space available between the captain seats?
Safari has this design flaw, if this was a common issue, Innova would never have had it. Innova Crysta, with bigger and wider seats, has a perfect tumble option, but Safari, even Hexa, had the same issue. So, it's
good to have a nice fixed, and wide armrest in the middle with storage options, instead of having 2 sticks of 2 inch diameter each, on the name of armrests. I don't understand what Tata designers have been doing regarding the captain seats, neither they could make the best in class seats with best in class support, nor they could make them tumble, it has been years since Hexa was made, and the flaw remains as it is. So,
folding the seat and then moving to third row is the norm, moving through the gap between the seats is an exception. What we are doing is, we are trying to do the vice versa.
What if It gets the middle row seat ventilation? Hyundai has more than 4 lac of a gap between Creta and Harrier. They can add smashing set of features in this car. In the pics, there seem to be some buttons ahead of the armrest too, there are infinite possibilities.
The customer is full time chauffeur driven? These CUVs offer a few distinct advantages like:
- Better NVH due to smaller engines
- Panoramic sunroof above your head, and ventilated seats under you (If offered). With the water or juice bottle in your right hand side (remember, mostly people sit in the left), ahead of a proper big armrest
- A car in which you walk in, and not climb up to - I know people who chose compact UV over sedan because the sedan was too low, and over an SUV because the SUV was too high. Chauffeur driven are mostly the people in late forties or above aged, such things matter to them
This Car Is Going to Be a Success Because:- Look at the price of diesel and petrol: It will cost way lower than the already higher than this car priced Safari, Hector, Harrier etc to run.
- Multiple engine and transmission options: Petrol, diesel and automatics. Come to Delhi-NCR and see, people want petrol cars now. Additionally, with the lighter weight, even the petrol of this car will cost lesser than a diesel Safari to run in real world (Not ARAI)
- It is a Hyundai and it is a Creta + 2 seats: And Indian customers love that!
Low power and higher weight: How many white plate cars always carry seven people?
Secondly, the 1.5 diesel can still pull the additional 100-150 kg weight, it will feel a bit of pain in the hills, but if you opt for the TC AT or the petrol gets CVT from Creta, then who is bothered about it? Everyone knows, a TC can make even the 1000 cc petrol engine pull the load. Additionally, Hyundai knows a thing or two when it comes to engine tuning, look at the performance of the new Creta too, the figures of 115 bhp on paper and the performance it offers, makes us question the 170 bhp of Compass, Hector, and Harrier, isn't it? And the older 1.6, with those 124 horses, was a proper exception.
IMO, the comparison with Safari itself is wrong, there is too big a price difference. But this car, and the Creta, are simply placed in a
sweet spot. There is nearly zero competition at the price point this Creta plays at, and even if this costs up to 1.5 lac more. I am 100% sure that Hyundai will play in their own 4-5 lac price gap that is very well evident between 14-22 lac range. It doesn't matter how much competent this seven seat UV segment is getting,
Hyundai is playing in that position, where you can buy anything, as far as it has a Hyundai or Kia badge. Quote:
Originally Posted by yd_gli I doubt if this will even compete with the Safari/XUV500. At best against the Marazzo/Ertiga. |
Indeed the key point, we are actually discussing something, that's not going to happen!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarav100 On the other hand, Creta base starts at 10.30(diesel E variant as that is of relevance with this body size), so, I believe it would be safe to assume an Alcazar base model price of below 12 lac, perhaps could be even 11.49 lac if Hyundai doesn't get greedy. |
That's exactly where I am going, Hyundai has such a huge ground to play in, with price and features, and has such a well established product, that if they move right, people will queue up outside the dealerships to get one. And 4 ventilated seats, if offered, will make a big kill I would say.
They can load it with features to the grille, and still significantly undercut the likes of Harrier, Hector, Safari etc. Only Mahindra can deliver a shock to Alcazar, else this is going to steal a lot from many junior as well as senior players.