[kiku007]

I looked back at the past three decades of Indian automotive history and felt that I liked the 2000s the most. That's just from my point of view and not from the market's pov. I love fast petrol cars and have never owned a diesel or a SUV/Crossover.

So what has been your most favourite decade in the post-liberalisation era?

The 90s:
The economy opened up! Cars like the Ford Escort, Opel Astra and Daewoo Cielo made an entry and they looked like cars from a different planet at that point in time. I realized their true average nature in the next decade. The bar was so low in India that these cars passed off as luxury cars.

I didn't drive any of the above cars so I don't have a great fond memory of this decade.

The 2000s:
This decade was defined by the wide range of FTD cars that had the following,

1. Naturally aspirated petrol engines with an output and power figure that was around 1500cc and 100bhp respectively.
2. Priced around the 10L mark.

Cars like the Honda City VTEC, Ford Ikon, Fiesta (aka Classic) 1.6, Suzuki Baleno 1.6 and the FIAT Palio 1.6 GTX are the best ones I can remember and there will be more.

From an enthusiasts pov, these cars ticked the right boxes and pulled the right strings of the heart. The drivetrain, ride and handling were the focus.

This was a time when the awareness and regulations around safety and emissions wasn't as high like it became in the next decade. These cars weren't trying hard to have the best fuel economy, lowest emissions or a big equipment list.

I owned the bought the Ford Ikon and the Fiesta (Classic) during this decade and absolutely enjoyed the driving experience. They weren't perfect in all aspects but fulfilled my requirements of being fun to drive.

The 2010s:
The decade of the turbo and the emergence of the SUV/Crossover craze.

Cars like the Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI, Jetta 2.0 TDI, Polo GT TSI, Abarth Punto offered never seen before driving experience in their respective segments.

Cars in general got more equipment and also offered better safety features. The road network improved the most in this decade.

But in my opinion this is the decade when things started to get difficult for the car enthusiast. Cars started getting more and more expensive. The C segment cars were priced ridiculously that they were almost treated like luxury cars. I just couldn't justify myself paying 25L for a Jetta as an upgrade from my Fiesta. It became out of reach. Mid-way through this decade I realised that I won't be able to get a 6 second car in this current trend and moved elsewhere to make that dream a reality.

The shift in customer preference to SUVs/Crossovers lead to more focus in the SUV segment at the cost of the hatchbacks/sedans segment. Of course, it depends on which side of the fence one is.

The overall Indian auto industry made progress for sure but as a lover of cars/sedans I felt let down by this decade. Sure the 2015 Ford Aspire 1.5L DCT I bought made so much more power than the 2004 Ford Ikon 1.3 but it's not one bit as fun to drive.

Cars like the Honda City VTEC, Ikon, Fiesta, Baleno, Palio and Punto were left with no spiritual successors.

While the rest of the world saw the emergence and increasing acceptance of alternate fuel technology vehicles, I felt India didn’t ride that wave.

How will the 2020s be?
If you are an SUV/Crossover fan, then it looks great I guess.

[DicKy]

Voted for 2000s, though if I look at the global cars of the decade, its my least favourite decade (POV may change with time)

90s - The first half of the 90s still had hangovers of the license raj. Global automakers entering the market in the late 90s would have been a sea change for the consumers then. But for me it showed our deprived state, when the cheapest subcompact sedans were being marketed as luxury cars in the Indian market.
Positives - Excitement of global products, hope
Negatives - still Maruti country, outdated global products

2000s - Global companies started bringing their higher end products with varying results. The highway revolution started. Road trips were no longer frowned upon and were choosen over railways. (Just an observation. Personally the first time I entered a train was in 2011.)
In the second half of the 2000s, more luxury car options. Merc dominance threatened. Global companies trying to take a shot at the volumes segment, and products tailor made for India started appearing. Every year, Autocarindia would bring some scoop or rumours about a new company trying to enter the Indian market.
Though emissions took away FTD cars, they did give us superior tech and most importantly diesel was democratized. With huge fuel price difference, diesel became the go to variant unless it was an Alto/Omni or a Honda.
Positives - Even more companies. Variety of products. Signs of segment consolidation. Highway network growth
Negatives - Huge fuel price rise in the last years of the decade. The sub 4m regulation started showing its effects on the market.

First half of 2010s
Diesel years
sub 4m micro sedans
weak petrol engines
Emergence of the crossovers
Global companies trying their luck at the budget volumes segment.

Second half of 2010s
Red ink splashed all over the industry.
Except for Kia and the forever coming PSA, all we hear are the Chinese trying their luck on the easiest to enter big market.
Crossovers/SUVs having a firm hold on the market like most of the world.
Positives - At last no procrastinating emission standards. Strong government norms on emission and safety. Market moving upwards. Vehicle dynamics have improved across the board. More tech trickling down. Small petrol engines getting back at small diesels. Highway infra growing even more stronger.

Negatives - Inconsistent government policies. No proper policy on alternative energy vehicles. Unviable market still dominated by Maruti.


Ever packed city roads, possible increased taxation on cars, possibility of draconian forced scrappage policies, no incentives for EVs or hybrids, imminent recession fears, high riding vehicles onslaught. Seems a bad time for even the common buying public, let along enthusiasts.

But c'mon. We Indians are generally a hopeful lot!!!

More GDI turbo petrols, decent 1.5l diesels, ever increasing features and tech trickling down thanks to Kia-Hyundai. Heck, even Hyundai started riding/handling decently.
Wide choice of crossovers/SUVs.
Our home grown companies growing fast and a slew of products waiting to be launched. The market shifting upwards, leaving no excuses for global companies to bring in their strong capable products. Exciting affordable EV models.
Gonna be fine.

Cheers.

[vinya_jag]

For me, it was the 2000s, (Maybe starting from 1998).
The slew of new cars coming in, every major company trying to setup shop in India, was probably the Boom time.
I even remember telling my grandma that - "the days of Maruti are gone"
How wrong I was

[venbas]

No Voting rights yet...but I would go with mid 90's to pre 2005. Even though the cars were limited you had the empty roads to push it to the max. I remember doing an entire Navalur office to Tiruvanmiyur to drop a friend and dash back home to Tambaram in 40min flat on an Hyundai Accent 1.5L Petrol . There used to be little to no traffic after 9pm.

[octane1002]

Probably going to be the shortest post on the thread.

2000s without a doubt in terms of game changing enthusiast launches.

Old Honda City VTEC
Palio 1.6 GTX/S10
Skoda Octavia vRS
Fiesta 1.6 S


Period.

[aargee]

I like all vehicles across all era. If at all I dislike, it may be some 1% of vehicle in the entire automobile segment (eg. Fiat Multipla kind of ugly cars). So please count my vote for all era.

[GTO]

Most definitely the 2000s . It was also a simpler time when ~100 BHP was enjoyable. Cars like the City Vtec, Lancer, Petra / Palio 1.6 made that time super fun. Cars were reasonably priced too then. I'd written a thread on a related subject in '06.

Equally, I'm very pleased with the 2020s too. In each segment today, we have fun to drive cars. From a Rapid TSI or Figo 1.5L diesel under 10 lakhs to the upcoming Thar, the revv-happy new City going all the way up to rides like the RS 245 & BMW 330i. These are seriously good times for enthusiasts. Highways offer premium tarmac today & cars are safer. I feel 2020s will be remembered as one of the best times, before the inevitable downsizing & EVs come.

Great thread idea, thanks for sharing .

[dhanushs]

+1 to what GTO said above. I think now is the best time for an automotive enthusiast. Agreed there were certain gems in the last decade, but overall if you have the $$$ in hand, 2020 has the material and infrastructure to enjoy it!

Going forward when emission norms are going to get stricter and EVs becoming the norm I’m sure the graph will follow a downward curve.

[Mad Max]

Without a doubt, the current decade starting in 2020. A majority of assumptions about the industry have been upended. User bases are shifting, usage patterns are shifting and no car manufacturer or even a dealer can stay away from the media spotlight / gaslight.

The common mans car has much more of the features that were resigned to luxury cars. Adoption of new technology is no longer the big-3 arena. China is putting pressure on global markets. EV is taking over the world one step at a time. Can't beat anything in terms of rapid change and that too for the betterment of the common man.

Five years ago, leasing a car was balked at. Eight years ago, if you rented a car, you did it for weddings. And here we are, Uber, Zoomcar and app-based leasing / rentals being the norm than the exception.

The new kids are questioning everything. And that is good. The sooner we evolve from object-based status and reverence to an outcome-based status model, the better off our society and country will get.

Amazing times indeed.

[Flash777]

Undoubtedly the 2000s. It was the dawn of a new era and MNCs gave out some absolute great cars which laid the Blueprint for the cars to this day.

VTEC Engines, CRDI Engines, Turbo Petrol, All Disc Brakes, DSG Gearbox and a plethora of absolutely great cars like Honda City, Mitsubishi Lancer, Fiat Palio, Ford Ikon, Maruti Swift, Skoda Octavia, Ford Fiesta etc were some of the great memories.

Ofcourse, I do feel 2020s shall end up the most significant decade of them all with the EV revolution which is changing the landscape of Automobiles and Infrastructure across the world.

Really excited for a great decade forward!

[iamitp]

2020 because it's when I'm making my first car purchase. My current ride, a 2nd hand 2008 Honda City, is 'hand-me-down' from dad a year after completing my MBA and getting a job. I only got really interested in cars when time came around to deciding on the vehicle I'll spend my own hard-earned money on.

As with most things in life, the we tend to remember our firsts more fondly than the others. I think many of us would be biased towards the decade when we bought our first cars?

[kamilharis]

Undoubtedly - 2000s

Cars in 1990s were either unreliable or under powered.

In 2000s we had handful number of beautiful sedans and some hot hatches too.

2010 and later onward the 100bhp+ cars became a rare site or there were really not much options to choose from too, and now a days the cars are like a plethora of blings.

Moreover cars which came in the 2000s were mechanically more solid with less electrical, hence more 'workable'.

[arunramaswamy]

Voted for 2000s. That was the decade when the cars were true value for money. They were high on quality and features for that time. I feel automobiles are no longer value for money in this decade.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by kiku007

The 2000s:

These cars weren't trying hard to have the best fuel economy, lowest emissions or a big equipment list.

Originally Posted by DicKy

90s
Positives - Excitement of global products, hope

2000s
Global companies started bringing their higher end products
In the second half of the 2000s, more luxury car options.

Positives
Even more companies. Variety of products. Signs of segment consolidation. Highway network growth

First half of 2010s

sub 4m micro sedans
weak petrol engines
Emergence of the crossovers

Ever packed city roads

Originally Posted by venbas

I would go with mid 90's to pre 2005. Even though the cars were limited you had the empty roads

Originally Posted by GTO

Most definitely the 2000s . It was also a simpler time when ~100 BHP was enjoyable.

Originally Posted by Flash777

Undoubtedly the 2000s. It was the dawn of a new era

VTEC Engines, CRDI Engines, All Disc Brakes,

Having seen the auto eras from 1980s to date, I can safely say that the time from 1995 to 2012 was the best

1. High quality robustly built reliable cars

2. High focus on quality - products, services, customer satisfaction

3. Reasonable to run and maintain

4. Simple in technology (except the DSGs)

5. Driving was quite a pleasure with not many vehicles on the roads. Post 2012 or so, it has become crazy

That's why I'm still holding onto a 2007 built in Japan car.

I understand that in the US, people swear by Lexus/Toyotas/Hondas built in that time.

Late 90s in India was great - the Santro and the Honda City were the ones that shook Maruti out of their slumber and that is when MPFI 16V engines became the norm.

[vtecblast]

Undoubtedly it has to be 2000s.
Old Honda City Vtec, Opel Vectra and Chevrolet (Subaru) Forester these still hold a special place in my heart. Forester is still here in my very close friend's garage and everytime we take it out, it's heaven to drive, be it on-road or off-road.