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I completely endorse your views. Its the success of the Amaze inspite of serious cost cutting that has made Honda confident of the success of the Mobilio.

Being a Honda, it will sell and it will sell in huge numbers ! They have nailed it as far as the looks are concerned.

Great review!
Does anybody has thoughts on if the front seats can be (successfully) converted to have the adjustable neck restraints? This one (and the dash design) is a deal breaker for me.

The Ertiga too has reclining and sliding second row and liberates generous amount of leg space (only when the 3rd row is upright).

Awesome review GTO and Mpower. You ask a great question about why Mobilio will be priced higher over Ertiga when the Brio is priced lower than the Swift. Looking at the equipment levels and general 'cost cutting' all over the car (exposed wire in wheel cavity, exposed spot welding, exposed wire on seat belt housing, dash shared with Brio, front face almost shared with Brio, etc.) I wonder if Honda is repeating their mistake. The Jazz did not take off due to pricing. The Mobilio probably will, despite of the pricing; but it does beg to ask the question - what did you achieve, Honda, by saving a few thousand rupees? You might as well have made it a bit more upmarket and still have sold no less than what you are going to now...

Mobilio 2.0: the car to wait for

Nice review. Overall I still see a winning product with the right pricing.

I think for those who are not in the immediate market, Mobilio 2.0 might actually be the right buy. I see a lot of the points listed above as negatives to be areas that a 1st anniversary would possibly spruce up / correct. Autocar already reports that there's a plan to make the diesel quieter. On the cosmetics, I'm sure 2.0 will make some improvements.

Hello Experts,

I am planning to buy the Mobilio, I like the RS version.

I am not able to decide between the Petrol and Diesel. My average usage per month would be max 200 kms in city. Once in a while I will go to my hometown, total usage would be 1500 kms. On the whole, my usage would be 3000 kms per year. Please suggest if I should go for petrol or diesel (I guess the RS version is Diesel only).

Mod: Please move this to the appropriate thread, if the post does not fit here.

Thanks

Uma Shankar

The way the car is built makes me draw comparisons with what Chevrolet did with Enjoy.

Flimsy and cost cutting wherever possible.

Well, the Mobilio is an impressive product.
But it has it's share of flaws:

• The welds around D-pillar and the boot door look very bad.
• The interior will get a lot of bad response
• The third row seat looks too low. The photos reminds me remind me of the innova
  
  Other points:
  
• Is the RS lower because of change in suspension tuning or the Skirts?
• I think giving something like an automatic climate control would help to remove the bad impression about the interior to some extent
• Launching CVT mobilio immediately is the way to go. The next 7 seater automatic is Scorpio and Fortuner/Rexton/Pajero. While Scorpio isn't exactly preferred, Fortuner, Rexton and Pajero are aound INR 25 lakh On-road. So you can buy a compact Mobilio CVT(if you're not image conscious) and spend the rest $$$ on fuel.
• Prior to the Mobilio, Innova and Ertiga were the only petrol UVs on sale. Mobilio+i-VTEC=The best petrol UV.(Innova=Bad FE. Ertiga=No power in midrange.)
• I think Mobilio should be priced within INR 20k of the comparable Ertiga. Else, with better interiors Ertiga all the way
• Rental self drives are new in India. So owning a 7 seater made sense. But hopefully the trend changes now

Saw this at Garuda Mall in Bangalore on Saturday. Here are my first impressions:

1. Very spacious 1st and 2nd row seats
2. Thin seats as compared to any other vehicle in this price range
3. Third row seats best left for kids that too for short drives
4. Quirky and unappealing centre console. There is no flow to it. Looks like an unfinished jig-saw puzzle
5. Low vehicle height translates to lower seating position across all seats
6. Top-most position of steering adjustment is not to my liking. Felt it to be low
7. Did not like the chrome bit at the front bumper. Looks odd
8. Instrument console looks to have been squeezed laterally and looks cluttered

Apart from these, I feel fit and finish is something that can still be improved upon while delivering the final product to the customer. But the above design flaws, though not big, are enough to put one off.

The above being said, for a large family who are of average height, say not more than 5'7" or 5'8", this would be an ideal people mover. I am sure there are many people out there who would overlook the many small quirks just because it is a Honda. This would be enough to give Ertiga a run.

Asked the guy from the showroom on the pricing, and he says it should be around Rs. 12 lakhs on-road Bangalore for the top-end diesel. This is placed bang in between the Ertiga and the Innova.

Awesome and a most awaited review. Thanks GTO and Mpower for the attention to detail.
Considering the pricing (which obiviously will be more than an Ertiga) and the sour points (minute detailing missed out by Honda), Ertiga is scoring more on my rank card for my next car upgrade. Mobilio is now on the red/danger zone and is staring at an elimination :)

It's interesting to look at the Segment Competition Table, except the Innova all others have been sales flops or didn't do well as expected.

IMHO the Mobilo doesn't seem to be packing enough to break it. A 10L sedan seems to be more aspirational and practical for a typical Indian Family. I'm wondering how many private buyers are out there who would have a Mobilo instead of a City in their garage.

Another 5 Star review from GTO. Mobilio - Very good looking car. My wife was very impressed in first look. Its very tough to get her to like any car. There may be cost cutting in the car but if it cost around 10L-11L on road, it will definitely sell in large numbers.

Been waiting for this for a very long time. Thanks for a great and an in-depth review GTO!

I completely agree with this. The first time I saw it in some spy pics from Indonesia, it looked odd. The bonnet seems tool small in length in comparison to the overall length of the car. And personally, I too prefer the cleaner lines of the Ertiga's sides to the random Ninja Sword slashes on the sides of the Mobilio. Just to give another example to support my point, I personally prefer the Vento's cleaner design to the Fluidic Verna's busy design (although the Verna is a way better proportioned design than the Mobilio). The rear is a different story and Mobilio definitely looks better.

I am a new Ertiga VDi owner which I bought on the 27th June this year. I have been following the Mobilio since the sketches got published just before the Indonesian auto show. Over the last 7 to 8 months, I was a regular reader of the Mobilio thread on Team BHP, been reading every news article, and even Thai reviews about Mobilio. As more details started pouring in, and after personally taking a detailed test drive of the Ertiga, my preference shifted towards Ertiga from the Mobilio.

Based on some known facts, assumptions made from watching Indonesian reviews and other leaks on Mobilio, and a very detailed test drive of an Ertiga, I felt that Ertiga has

• better ride and handling package (I wanted a comfier ride as against the typically stiff rides of Hondas). And none of the Ertiga ownership threads seem to complain that a good ride at slow speeds is resulting in a bouncy ride at high speeds on undulating highways, which was a big plus for me
• meatier steering, offering more feedback, weighing up nicely on highway and giving ample confidence above 100. I don't like extremely light, video game console type steering units, which Honda is famous for
• more usable last row, because the seat base is higher off the ground. a better driver's seat, and a comfier middle bench.
• better interiors. Already having a Brio in the family meant I was already bored of the interiors. Couldn't imagine living with it for five more years in a car that would cost twice as much
• a more comprehensive MID and better looking speedo unit (again, its a personal preference), auto locking doors
• heftier build. The doors shut with a very reassuring thud compared to my brother's Brio
• better NVH. The diesel was very quiet and I could barely hear it when I was doing 80-90 on the highway during my TD (and the TD Ertiga had done 81000 KM). By the way, I also test drove the Amaze and I felt the diesel drone is ever present, specially at similarly high speeds. You get a lot of road noise in the Brio and the reviews suggested something similar for the Mobilio too. I thought this would be tiring over longer distances.
• better looks (already talked about this above)
• the Mobilio also looked short. The roof came upto the Indonesian reviewer's shoulders when he was standing besides it. This suggested a comparatively lower driving position. I liked the Ertiga's during TD

Of course Mobilio seemed to have some advantages too, like a more powerful and drivable diesel, better boot space, better looking rear. The sea of beige in the Ertiga's interior was a deterrent but it does make the interiors feel airy. Still I wanted to TD both back to back before deciding. And the biggest piece of puzzle, the pricing of the Mobilio, wasn't yet revealed so was going to wait for that. But a lot of reports suggested Honda positioning it between Ertiga and Innova and that it might carry a "significant" premium over the Ertiga.

While I couldn't see any significant advantages for Mobilio over the Ertiga (actually Ertiga had advantages in areas that mattered more to me) I simply wasn't ready to pay a premium. At-par pricing would have confused me a bit but anything over 50K for Mobilio and I would say its a deal breaker

Then why did I buy it just days before the Mobilio was scheduled to launch? well this may sound odd, but the Excise duty exemptions were expiring from July, and if not continued, it would have resulted in roughly a 30K increase in price of a car like Ertiga. Looking at the rail budget and the talk of bitter pills from Mr Modi, I got skeptical.

So I thought as I am already in favor of the Ertiga, and its not like its going to get any cheaper in July, and its highly unlikely that the Mobilio will turn out to be cheaper than the Ertiga. I decided to put my money on my assumptions about the Mobilio (that made Ertiga a better choice for me) rather than the Government's decision.

In hindsight, the duty cut got extended, but all my assumptions about the Mobilio have been true, and even today, I would choose the Ertiga over it.

Now waiting for the last piece in the puzzle to reveal itself on 23rd July. Not like I can do anything about it now stupid:

One key area where Honda has lost the plot is 2nd Row. In aiming to be a 7 seater, they have lost focus on importance of making the 2nd row seat 3 people. Even people who buy MPVs, rarely use 7 all the time. So if the 2nd row is not convenient, it will keep away few family buyers i guess.

Fuel Efficiency is key for MPVs. Adding a petrol automatic may open up new market but very few takers. Honda is looking for volumes with Mobilio rather than setting a trend or creating a niche.

Great review.

One thing that baffles me is missing dog bar in Honda cars, I had an accident on the highway, and condenser was dead meat. Really sad, on Honda part.