An old thread, but came across this while looking for something else and it held my interest because it is good to know the reasons behind customer (dis)interest for certain cars.
Looks, price, space (lack of) and low boot-space seem to be major reasons for this car not selling, as per most comments.
Looks is surely a good reason that makes/mars a car. A friend was choosing between AT versions of i10 and A* and plumped for the former, mainly due to looks, though it is 80K costlier and has lower FE. While i10 is no looker, it seems most people hate the way A* looks.
Price IMO is not that bad when you consider that this is the cheapest hatch that you can get with ABS, airbags and the works. Yeah, it is costlier than an Alto, but then the Alto is no way comparable to this car in anything other than also being a 4/5 seater hatch.
Interior space seemed to be a major concern with everyone. As I headed to the basement-parking for a coffee, I chanced upon a Spark and an A* parked next to each other. Visually, the A* looked wider which should mean same or more space at the rear. On returning, I look up the specs of Alto, A* and Spark and get this data from respective manufacturer sites (given below) and find that the visual feeling was true on paper too. I fail to understand how people say the Alto is more spacious than the A-Star. And no one even says Spark is low on space, though it is as long as Alto and just 2cms wider.
----------Alto------Spark-----A-Star
Width---: 1475 -- 1495 --
1600
Length--: 3495 -- 3495 --
3500
Height--: 1460 --
1518 -- 1490
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sankar The rear is not cramped unless the front seats are pushed all the way back. |
Agree. For the average Indian (w.r.t height), the rear has more than enough space. We recently did a 333km trip to Idukki with 5 adults and few kids and the ladies at the rear were comfortable. Ofcourse other than the strain of having a kid each on their lap - which would have been the case even if we were in a Swift.
Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez On my visit to Chennai, I was surprised at the number of A-Stars there. I saw far far more than in Bangalore/Mysore. |
You should see how many are in Kerala - the place is teeming with A-Stars - I think people find the Alto too common and are moving to this. Checkout this done-up A-Star I spotted last weekend. Strange coincidence that the snap has all the cars discussed in this post.
While it would be OT here, I have never understood why the Getz was not a hit - it looks good, is spacious, good boot, Hyundai service, competitive price etc etc. So, is there something more to a car not finding favour with customers ?