[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

And now there's an advertisement saying that they have just sold the 100,000 th A Star.Lately the fuel pump gasket problems forced MSIL to recall all the A Stars made between Dec 2008 (month of launch)till Sept 2009.
The car was selling well in Europe but the post recall demand for this car is not yet known.

The sales figures of the A Star are still dismal for the Indian market. There is a lot of heat in its segment lately and with the new entrants including the blue eyed Wagon R (same K series engine) the future seems gloomy for the A Star. Also its main market in Western Europe is still under recession and with Greece tumbling down (Spain and Portugal are on the tenterhooks) due to the Euro crisis, the European dream of the A Star may not come true in the next two years at least.

[Eddy]

I met the brand manager of the A-star during the WagonR review. He put up a brave face and said that MUL is selling as many Astars as expected. It was never meant to be a mass product in the domestic market, but targetted mainly at exports.

Left it at that, though I wanted to argue.

[ampere]

They definitely need a re-launch of this product with a bigger boot. That should salvage some sales figures.

I still dont understand, how come Maruti which has the pulse of the masses chose to make this product?

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I met the brand manager of the A-star during the WagonR review. He put up a brave face and said that MUL is selling as many Astars as expected. It was never meant to be a mass product in the domestic market, but targetted mainly at exports.

Left it at that, though I wanted to argue.

Can never expect candid views from these people.

[Ricky_63]

A Star is pure UGLY, that is the reason it does not sell- period

That is my opinion. For whatever it is worth !




Cheerio !! (not really)

[BheemBoy]

A Star and Zen ESTILIO are ------ looking cars from Maruti.

I need a word to fill up the blank.

[xingamazon]

I guess looks are not the issues its just another new design.

Their main drawback is people still see it as a slight higher level of Alto.. though the engine is the same in WagonR.
In short, WagonR is a full fledged family vehicle, but Alto kind of car is only for newly wed couples..

[jkdas]

My take on Alto vs A-Star.

Alto

• handles bloody great;
• engine loves to be reved and sounds nice too
• gives you great mileage even when its pedal to metal with AC
• easy to maintain
• takes rough roads without hurting your pocket in long run
• AC eats engine power a bit.
• cheap to buy too
• still looks cute
• a better canvas for mod than A-Star

A-Star

• steering too light; you should be careful when flicking
• high speed stability is great and does triple digits faster than you would think or know
• muted engine growl; doesn't inspire a driver
• brakes are great; no drama.
• low is pathetic for such a new engine; an issue when you are in city; read might sip more fuel
• A-pillar obstructs more than Alto's
• You sit lower, steering is higher; driving position isn't good.
• ride quality far better than Alto; lesser back pain after a long fun drive
• modern interior but plastic could be better
• Suzuki should point both horns towards front !

Based on my experience with Alto LXi and A-Star VXi

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I met the brand manager of the A-star during the WagonR review. He put up a brave face and said that MUL is selling as many Astars as expected. It was never meant to be a mass product in the domestic market, but targetted mainly at exports.

I think he is correct. He forgot to tell you that A-Star "exceeded expectations" w.r.t sales.

Originally Posted by ampere

I still dont understand, how come Maruti which has the pulse of the masses chose to make this product?

IMO A-Star has all the ingredients of Maruti car. It failed cause it could not impress customers walking in for Alto.

They definitely need a re-launch of this product with a bigger boot. That should salvage some sales figures.

How about this?

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

In short, WagonR is a full fledged family vehicle, but Alto kind of car is only for newly wed couples..

I tend to disagree. Both are based on the same platform and are effectively four seaters only. An Alto owner might see the Wagon R as an upgrade, not the A-Star.

But I would not call it's sales figures as "dismal". They are still more than those of the best sellers from, say GM, aren't they?

[designersf]

Actually, the A-star was meant to be a replacement for the Alto but in India it is priced much above it. What Maruti should ideally do now is reposition the Alto to replace M800 and send the A-Star above it followed by Estilo-WagonR-Ritz-Swift

[download2live]

I hate its frog like headlights. That was the reason it never ever figured in my list when I started out looking for a car.

[thelightening]

Car looks good from the front view, but interested to know who designed its rear part "(

[amitk26]

See it like this once a buyer enters Maruti showroom and checks A-Star rear seat feels little cramped for 2 Adults. So If you have to choose an ugly duckling why not another more spacious ugly duckling from same stable that is Wagon R ?

If you prefer looks then you can ignore both A-Star and Wagon R and If you can up the budget a little bit and you can go for Swift or Ritz in the same showroom.

In case budget is fixed and also looks are important then why not plane old Alto ?
So A star looses out to one of it's own siblings in showroom.

[Mafia]

The issues i see with the A-star:

Cramped Rear
Lack of head room and small windows
Ugly rear
high Dash
Small car for the price of a mid sized hatch by competition or even more than the Wagon R
The diminutive size has made buyers feel it is an over priced Alto