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Originally Posted by vinaydas hatch basically in india has the image of practicality so anything sporty related and impractical for the masses ,it wont sell so manufacturers dont bother bringing them. |
Vinaydas, that may have been the case earlier. Like I said, if manufacturers can look at offering B+ Premium hatches in India, why not a 3 door Hatch. A 3 door Grand Punto, A Star, Swift, i20 would look hot & appeal more to the younger generation.
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Originally Posted by aerohit Since India has the highest population reproduction rate (higher than China) for reasons i dont know, there will always be a requirement for a "family" car. |
Family car yes. But how many of us drive around in the car which is always packed with 4-5 people? I guess not more than once or twice a month.
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Originally Posted by aerohit If someone only had a 2 door car, sooner or later he/she would eventually require the necessity and practicality of a 4 door. |
The average ownership period of a car has gone down to 4-5 years from 8-10 yrs earlier. Most of these 3 door hatches would find favourites with people from 18-30 age group. So before they eventually need a family car, the 3 door car would have run through its life.
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Originally Posted by aerohit You would probably use 2 door to pimp around in the town, which really serves no good purpose to the economy. May be you watched fast&furious and became a victim of movie influence. (not your fault) |
No Sir, I am not influenced to pimp my ride. As a matter of fact, there is not a single sticker on my cars & they are as clean on the exterior as the day they rolled out of the showroom
Regarding economy, I havent spoken about introducing any bigger engines in the existing cars. All I am saying is to introduce one more variant in the existing hatches which is a 3 door.
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Originally Posted by aerohit Even a Nano will always be a 4 door. |
But if you look at the bookings nano got, approx 50% are for the 3rd and the highest variant. I am sure given an option, 15% out of this 50% would have opted for a 3 door top end variant. Also 3 doors(rather 2, They already have fixed boot door to reduce cost

) would have reduced the cost on nano further.
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Originally Posted by sohail99 But as the car would have only 3 doors! body length would be less. |
Sohail, as SLK said, the length of the car would not reduce. Only the front doors would be a bit larger.
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Originally Posted by SLK What % uses a third family car in India anyways. Its a commercially un-economical project. |
May not be the third car, but out of the total cars sold in metro cities, there are atleast a good 10-15% young guys(who drive without families or atleast only husband & wife) who buy the cars.
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Originally Posted by SLK I travelled in a few 2 door cars when in UK. I'd say impractical for India. |
Again a matter of preferance. I have travelled extensively in 3 door hatches/2 door coupes in Canada and I simply love them.
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Originally Posted by SLK Double-decker cars would work in India though. |
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Originally Posted by pedrolourenco Manufacturers like Maruti & Hyundai produce 3 door models for the export market. So releasing them in the Indian market will not cost them anything. Even if the sales are less, it's not a problem because they're not producing it specially. It's already in production for export. I was expecting a limited edition Alto 3 door in India when the Alto was replaced by the A-Star (New Alto) in Europe. The Zen Carbon & Steel were released when the Alto replaced the Zen in Europe. |
Pedrolourenco, Zen carbon & steel were released in India only because maruti had surplus from the export market. Else they also would not have been available. But as you said, 3 Doors are already manufactured for export market and it would not take manufacturers much cost impact to release the same in Indian market.