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-   -   Indian Car Manufacturers and their missed opportunities (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/284661-indian-car-manufacturers-their-missed-opportunities.html)

There’s no denying that car manufacturers have a lot of decisions to make before launching a product in India. Some decisions work perfectly and some decisions in hindsight seem like they could’ve worked. As the title suggests, I’m talking about the missed opportunities. The opportunities could’ve worked in the Indian market if executed properly and at the right time. Here’s my list -

Maruti Suzuki – Giving up on diesel was clearly a big missed opportunity for Maruti. Especially when there’s still demand for diesel in cars like the Ertiga and XL6, even on cars like the Vitara Brezza or the Grand Vitara, a diesel engine option would’ve done very well. Unfortunately, Maruti shelved the plans to make their excellent 1.5-litre diesel engine BS6 compliant due to a design flaw (related thread).



Another missed opportunity for Maruti has been the focus primarily on the budget segment and not developing premium cars. As of now, Maruti doesn’t really have a premium product in their portfolio and is quite slow in introducing premium features in their cars as well. Get this, none of the Maruti cars have ADAS features. Here’s GTO’s article on how Maruti is out of tune with emerging market preferences.

Tata & Mahindra – Both Indian manufacturers have completely abandoned the MPV market which IMO is a missed opportunity. This way, they’ve just handed over the market to the likes of Toyota Innova / Hycross, Maruti Ertiga / XL6 and Kia Carens / Hyundai Alcazar. MPVs are a big market today and have all the qualities of SUVs with additional practicality as well.



Honda – In a recent thread I mentioned that Honda India currently has one of the weakest lineups. Today’s Honda is a shadow of its former self. So, if I had to list out the missed opportunities, the list would be pretty long. But Honda completely getting rid of the Civic, CR-V and Accord IMO wasn’t a great idea. The cars still have a following and with the right powertrains and the right price, they would still find buyers.



Even when you think about the Elevate, it has a single powertrain in times where the competition has 3. With the diesel engine gone, Honda could’ve gotten the hybrid powertrain to India to attract some additional customers. As of now, although the Elevate is the only one bringing in good numbers for Honda, it’s still nowhere close to the competition.

Jeep – We have witnessed a change in the dynamics of the Indian car market in recent times. The demand has caught up with the supply and when this happened, Mahindra immediately cut down the prices of the XUV700. Surprisingly, Jeep did no such thing and tried to get away with high prices for the Compass and the Meridian. Both these cars should’ve gotten price correction a long time back. Definitely would’ve helped sell some more cars.



Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi – Just like Maruti, the VW group’s abandoning of diesel is a big missed opportunity. The VW 2.0 TDI was an extremely popular engine in the Indian market and they should’ve made efforts to keep it going, especially when the engine is still on sale in the European market and is Euro 6 compliant.



Citroen – They had a very capable car with the C5 Aircross, but it was expensive at the time of launch. Citroen could’ve priced-it-to-sell-it and we would’ve seen a few more of the C5 Aircrosses on the road. With the C3, again they had a good car but without any features at launch, they failed to make a good first impression. Sure there might have been challenges with cost and profits, but first impressions last. The C3 was launched in July 2022 and almost a year after that a well-kitted Shine variant was launched (May 2023). And now, in 2024, we finally get an automatic variant as well. Imagine what would’ve been if Citroen had launched this version 2 years ago.



Kia – When the Seltos was launched in 2019, it was a proper all-round product. It was loaded with features, looked great inside out and had multiple powertrains. They even had a manual transmission with the turbo-petrol engine which the Creta didn’t at the time. This made the Kia Seltos Turbo-petrol MT the go-to option for enthusiasts. When the facelift was launched last year, they brought in the new turbo-petrol engine but swapped out the 6-speed MT with an iMT (clutch-less manual). Not sure what the market research showed, but I don’t think enthusiasts were lining up to buy a clutch-less manual performance car. Now, if you have to buy a turbo-petrol manual transmission you have to opt for the Hyundai Creta N-Line. IMO, this was a missed opportunity from Kia.



Nissan – Given the current situation of the company in India, there are tons of missed opportunities. I'm referring to the most recent one which is the launch of the X-Trail. If the idea was to launch a CBU car in India for brand presence, then there were much better cars in Nissan’s portfolio to showcase that. Launching a mid-size SUV with a 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine and expecting people to pay ~ Rs. 60 lakh on road isn’t wise. If the idea was to launch a halo product, then there are cars like the Patrol or the Z cars as well.



Do share your thoughts on car manufacturers and missed opportunities in the Indian car scene.

Might as well add to it,
Renault :- Not launching 2nd generation Duster in India when there was clearly hype for it and trying to push the 1st generation Duster to us till 2022!
There are rumours that the 3rd generation would be launched next year but knowing Renault they might just not do that for the stupidest reason they can find.
Nissan : Just like Renault they are in a death roll to by launching the non facelifted Xtrail for stupid amount of money. I am pretty sure the excellent Qashaqai is also not going to launch here.


God knows what stuff these guys are smoking:disappointed

One more thing about Nissan, they often announce products coming to India but never actually launch them. This has happened multiple times in the past.

Nissan arranges events and declares a few vehicles that are expected to be launched in India, but hardly any vehicles actually get launched. If I remember correctly, even Nissan's X-Trail was initially showcased in 2016 and later again in 2023, but it was only launched in 2024. In 2023, two more cars, the Juke and Qashqai, were showcased along with the X-Trail. Currently, there is no news about the launch of the Juke or Qashqai.

Regarding Tata, the Altroz was a good product to compete against i20 and Baleno, but after the initial hype, no real efforts were made to give it a facelift or add new features. After long gap, the Racer edition was launched, but the normal Altroz still awaits a proper facelift.

Honda: If Honda had launched the Vezel instead of the Elevate much before instead of constantly testing and dropping the idea, I feel they would have been somewhere else today.

Here's my list:

Maruti: Discontinuing 1.5L Diesel engine, not focusing on overall build quality of their cars. Over-pricing enthusiast Cars like S-Cross 1.6, Baleno RS, Jimny, Fronx Turbo.

Hyundai/Kia: Just like Maruti, Hyundai has too compromised on Safety. Also, Hyundai messed up with the Santro 2018. Kia has missed an opportunity by not launching a Kia i20 with better design and features.

Tata: A.S.S, Reliability and Engines. This is the only chink in Tata's portfolio. Feel bad for the Altroz as well because it's receiving a step-motherly treatment from Tata.

Mahindra: Looks. I agree Mahindra does make good designs but I personally do not like the looks of the XUV3XO, Marazzo. Both are very good cars, but they're let down by their looks.

Toyota: JV with Maruti. For Toyota it's a win-win situation since their sales have touched 30K+ units every month, and also they're manufacturing both Grand Vitara and Hyryder. Instead of the JV, they could've launched the global products with better pricing.

Honda: Launching outdated cars. No Turbo Petrols/Diesel/EV. Also no fancy gizmos like Panoramic Sunroof etc. Honda needs to launch a 4M SUV, CRV and Pilot.

Renault/Nissan: Delaying the launch of new Duster. As per reports, new Duster is going to be launched in 2026! Ok Fine. But when will they update their current lineup. Triber is ~ 5 years old, Kiger ~3.5 years and the Kwid almost 9+ years. Neither of these cars have received a proper facelift/next-gen. Same with Nissan, no new products (ignoring the X-Trail), but yes the Magnite facelift is around the corner.

Morris Garages: By not launching Hector Diesel AT. In a segment where Diesel AT is a favorite among customers, Hector doesn't have one. Even the Petrol DCT offers a subpar performance. If Hector Diesel AT is launched, they can sell ~3-4K units of Hector every month.

Skoda/VW: No diesels, no features, reliability issues. Discontinuing Octavia and Superb.

Jeep/Citroen: They should write a book about their blunders in India.

Honda : Dilution of the City Brand in India by converting the Jazz into the City. The few generations that they did so, it destroyed the brand and it's premium-ness as Honda kept focusing on development efficiency. The first gen Amaze, Mobilio etc were even bigger blunders with Honda enlarging a car whose base model itself didn't sell well in the market, the Brio.

Nissan : Unlike what Hyundai did to KIA and positioned it in India as a premium brand and somewhat like what VW did to Skoda (which was essentially a Taxi making Brand in Europe), Nissan kept floundering in India without focus. They started with Micra, launched the XTrail, the Sunny, Terrano but were confused what they wanted to be in India - Mass market brand or a premium economy maker. What they are today is a copy-paste OEM brand of Renault in India.

Suzuki : The inherent contradiction between Suzuki, which is a very small car maker globally but is a market leader in India has led to a big expectation-reality gap for the increasingly aware, literate but immature/bling loving Indian Consumer. Suzuki understood the same but were caught unaware by the tidal wave of increasing SUV consumption and Focus on Safety. The Indian arm and Japanese parent not being totally in sync did not help matters. Case in Point - the disastrous Jimny.

Toyota : After the non-performance of the Etios twins, Toyota has more or less given up on the Indian mass market, instead focussing on Premium cars only. This is a big miss as Toyota has absolutely fantastic lower cost cars globally, especially in Japan. It is an absolute loss for the Indian market.

Ford: Had products that were driver focussed. Somehow couldn't get a hand over the cost in India. Ecosport and Endy having a good pre owned premium is a classic example

Jeep & Citroen: Understimated the market heavily. Jeep could have placed the Compass on par with XUV700 and Harrier / Safari. Also they should have launched Renegade equvivalent product. Missed opportunities. C5 Aircross ideal price point should have been in the 35-40L budget, rather it touches 50L

Toyota: Small and medim sized offerings. They have given up on that space and have gone for rebadging suzuki. Japan, Middle East and the US has some really cool offerings that never see light in India

Suzuki: Giving up on diesel and reliance on small car segment. This segement is shirinking as per my understanding and they need to come with a solid strategy

Honda: Cannot be a one trick pony all the time. HR-V, CR-V are good offerings. Has potential to be in the premium crossover space, but they will not act

Nissan & MG Hector - Wrong product mix and are currently suriving because of one product that did well. Hector needs a Diesel AT, Nissan needs to get the pricing right on X-Trail

ISUZU: Build products for India. MuX is outdated and V-Cross still runs on previous gen, while international markets have the next generation. Less said about pricing

Kia: IMHO should focus on the space between Seltos and Carnival. A feature rich SUV like the Sportage or Sorento with the right pricing will be a good addition.

Mahindra & Tata: Explore the MPV space. It is largely untapped and with the right product mix there is a potential winner on hands. Don't think about competing with Toyota, think something similar to the VW bus concept with the right pricing point.

Apart from Toyota, Suzuki and Honda to some extent, none of the players in Indian market have Hybrids, which would be a big opportunity to address. Plug in Hybrid is the right approach considering the EV infrastructure issues for the Indian region.

Honda

Honda fell from being a premium car maker in a brand with a great aspirational value to an average underperforming mass market brands that is shrinking steadily. They went from having city as the entry-level model to ending up having it as the top-end model in their lineup— it's all due to their miscalculated steps. When we thought they would do the required correction in their strategy and go back to their basics and launch their global offerings like HRV and CRV, they came up with a half hearted attempt in form of Elevate which lacks features to become competitive in the market. Too many buses have been missed by Honda and any more misses would kick them out of the market.


Sadly,
A Honda Fan.

Ford : Missed big time with their product planning. My take :

- Facelift for EcoSport - EcoSport when launched took the market by storm and they were lazy enough to not bother too much about a "proper" facelift and got carried away with it's success.

- No Creta / Seltos competitor - Ford, in their global lineup did have great fit products for Creta / Seltos. But again, they were lazy and were never bothered.

- Not banking on the success of legendary name plates like the Endeavour / Ikon : With the success that EcoSport was and the fan following that the likes of Endeavour/ Ikon had, Ford simply had many options to stay afloat in the Indian market. But they choose otherwise

I think this thread is a really good reminder not only of where manufacturers have slipped up but also how skewed and difficult it is for manufacturers just to survive in the market. It is a super price sensitive while value for money market so any cost savings that any manufacturer does has to be invisible which further worsened by illogical taxes and the unique sub 4m rule.

No wonder we are full off unsafe, unreliable and poorly engineered options in the market because every time there is a change of emission norms, the volumes just don't justify the investments for a model refresh every 5 years. Hence we are stuck with less options in terms of both models and brands compared to where we were in 2010.

Hyundai Not getting into the small car segment and fighting with the likes of MS Alto, celerio etc. I mean there was a time when santro was ruling the market alongside MS. With the tech and specs that hyundai offers, i really think that a well placed small car could disrupt the market. Let's face it, MS is still on top because of the strong small car market. A well placed Santro facelift, could work wonders

Honda BR-V. Lot of talk about the CR-V but the BR-V was a very good and adept car in my opinion. Very good for a medium sized family with lot of city runs and average highway runs. A car in that segment could have worked wonders

Honda, Ford and Volkswagen: Diluting their brand by bringing the sub-4m sedans like Amaze, Aspire and Ameo. None of them sold in good numbers. They should have stick with "bigger hatchbacks" and "proper sedans" theme.

Hyundai: In an attempt to be the number one manufacturer defeating Maruti, they launched sub-par cars like Eon and new gen Santro. Lost the plot and still stuck at 14% market share for a long long time.

Maruti: Not making use of their image in the country and going after profit instead of affordability. They ended up pricing their new cars exorbitantly and lost the plot. Just learn from Mahindra how to price the cars lower at launch and then increase it gradually. Or just like how the Petrol prices were increased by 50 paise per month and see where it is now!

Also, not even trying to rectify the defects in their cars to make it acceptable to a bigger set of customers. They did it with Eeco, but failed to do that with other cars like Ritz, Ignis, Jimny, Spresso. See what Hyundai has done to Creta.

Engine department: When they have excellent Turbo engines like 1.4Boosterjet in other low-selling countries, they are not offering it in India - giving no hope to enthusiasts. Not bringing a 1.2L Turbo also.

Jimny: Not bringing a wider and powerful Jimny with basic storage spaces in place.

Mahindra: Instead of bringing a good sub-4m SUV, they launched laughable cars like Xylo-cut Nuvosport, KUV.

Companies should understand that just one car can change their life or give the bread of their life.

1. Nano: By launching the cheapest car in the world, people associated the "ultra cheap" tag with Tata, and they lost a lot of volumes from other segments.
2. Nexon: Tata's come back and survival can be credited to another single car: Nexon - with the 5-star safety tag. Now see where they are now!
3. Swift: Just see how Maruti's image changed after launching Swift in 2005.
4. Innova: The name seems enough.
5. Ecosport, Duster, Kwid: Helped their manufacturers for a long time before other manufacturers offered better models.

I had one for Kia.

All there mass market cars have been blockbusters. Be it the Seltos, Sonet or Carens.

Seltos was launched in 2019, and they should have followed it up with a locally manufactured Sportage/Sorento in India.

Should have given a multitude of options to buyers who want reliable and niggle free 30L cars with a large interior space and typical Kia levels of equipment.

Tucson suffers because of its CKD image, and subsequent high price. A locally manufactured Tucson/Sportage would indeed be a huge success.

Peugeot: I am a great admirer of these cars as I grew up my childhood in Nigeria and every 3 rd car in that country was a Peugeot. They are very tough cars for not so developed west African roads. They entered twice in India but failed. I do not know the reasons but India surely missed great cars.

Chevrolet: I used to admire Tavera when it was in India. Clean and a beautiful shape for a MUV without unnecessary curves. When I was in USA, I used to wonder on how this company makes an equivalent in every segment of automobiles out there. They compete at every level even if some models are not good. I like this spirit. I wish that big automakers must compete at every segment so that the customers have good options and get benefitted from competition.

Mitsubishi: Pajero. Dream SUV for every car enthusiast. Its design and shape is eternal. In fact all Mitsubishi cars are the most beautiful cars in the world. If they are still around, they would have ruled the market in India.