The Hindu Business Line : My car...

So what drives a customer to buy one brand and not another? Jagadish Velusamy, a software engineer in Bangalore, bought a Zen a few months ago, because it was "small, cute, trouble-free, reliable, had diesel option, and fit my budget." But the decision to choose one from among a few favourites was not all that easy to make. He had short-listed Indica, Palio and Zen.

He rejected Indica "because it looks ordinary and the Palio was priced higher and the feedback on the service back-up was poor too." His two most important criteria were small size and diesel. "I would have bought an Indica, had it been a little more stylish," he says.

K. Sundaresan, an IT executive in Chennai, is tall and requires a car that is taller and has more leg room. Good suspension (he thinks Ford Fusion and Opel Sail have the best suspension) and price are the other deciding factors.

"My favourite when it comes to features, comfort and all other physical aspects is Ford Fusion. But it's way beyond my budget," says the man who has been test-driving and researching on new launches.

"Thanks to the promotional campaigns on the Net, I was really looking forward to Maruti Swift's launch in India, because the interior of the European version was stunning. But what a letdown the Indian version was! What was launched here was a stripped down version... The most disappointing factor was the poor suspension. We could hear the `plastic' interiors rattling on a bumpy road; it won't be ideal for Indian roads . The dashboard was disappointing too, offering no utility value, though I loved its air-conditioning. But the price is very competitive."

Utility and performance-wise, he rates Maruti Wagon-R the best in that segment. "But it looks pathetic!"

Picture by K.K. Mustafah

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