Hi Frens
What i am going to write about is just my personal view so no offences to anyone
About the year 2015
1) Chevrolet: The american company builds solid cars with good engines and good interiors but somehow do not have that factor which makes people go crazy for it. The Beat and the Cruze were instant hits during their launches but the craze fazed out. The Chevrolet enjoy also did not fair that well.Now in 2014 the company is offering an face lift for the beat which i doubt will make that much of an impact on the buyers but yes the Chevrolet Trax which they are offering does look good in the SUV range.
2)Fiat : The cars have changed completely from the time in the 80's but no matter how much face lifts the fiat offers to the punto and the linea the car wont sell that much due to the tata branding behind it. Very frankly i was very impressed with the linea and the punto with the quality and finish but the engines were a complete failure. The only engine options worth drivng wer the T jet and the 90 bhp punto. Now in 2014 they are offering the Bravo, Panda and the more anticipated Abarth but again doubt the sales only the abarth might sell due to petrolheads but again depends on d specs. So 2014 will be the same for Fiats as it has been always.
3)Ford: Another american in the market but somehow they never impressed the car buyers towards them. The fiesta classic had the best in class mileage for the diesel but in the end all the savings would be eaten up by the maintenance of the vehicle only. The figo was an instant hit and the diesel with the no turbo lag was impressive but again the running cost and after sales killed it. The ecosport created a great hype before its entry but some how when it did enter the fizz had gone off. The company offers the new Endeavour and the New Mondeo but the competition is too tight for Ford in those segments. So i guess thats another fizz out for ford.
4)Honda: One of the most reliable Car manufacturers known for its bullet proof impression in petrol engines. The honda had ruled the petrol market for almost 10 years until the launch of VW Vento and the Price hike of petrol. But the amaze almost saved the honda as it was launched with the first Diesel engine from honda which was the one factor honda was missing. Now with expected launches of Mobilo, New Jazz & Accord Diesel in 2014, they are planning a full frontal attack on the car manufactures covering 3 major segments of the car industry. The honda will rule the 2014 market mostly with the line up.
5)Hyundai: According to me Hyundai is a very smart korean company like the Samsung Mobiles they usually keep on upgrading their designs and interiors so frequently that it becomes difficult for the other companies to cope up. Also like samsung they tend to provide all the features to a small car making people go crazy for it just like if you have a small phone with all the features. The Fluidic I 20, Verna gave the company a good boost but somehow hyundai does not realize that it is killing its own products by launching the facelifts soon. The grand i 10 was a big hit as it provided all the packaging in the small box as well as an diesel option. but again i doubt the fizz will last for long. In short 2014 will be the same as the last year.
6) Mahindra: Mahindra had a different crowd for buying these people who usually preferred going off road or the maximum in the south indian movie industry. Scorpio was one of the most successful SUV in its class.The entry of the Xylo surely hit the sales of the Innova but not for long people some how preffered the Innova over the Xylo. Still xylo played an important part in the tourist industry after the india.Then comes the biggest entry from mahindra the XUV 500 it turned the tables for mahindra more then even they had expected. The SUV was packed with all the features few of which was only available to the segment above. People became crazy but later on due to a few hicups and problems there was a bit of drop but still it is marginally doing well. In 2014 mahindra plan on a compact SUV in competition with the Eco Sport now its a 50-50 for mahindra in 2014 the tables may turn up or fall drastically.
7)Maruti Suzuki: One of the Biggest dealers in india with the widest range of products. Maruti has been a leader but since a few years back it has been facing the competition heat a lot. It has a big line up of cars which i think no other company has to offer. In fact there are so many hatchbacks among the company that they almost compete each other. maruti's tables turne big times with the launch of the swift way back in 2005.People went crazy about the car. The Manufacturer hit another big sixer after introducing the Multijet Diesel in the swift which turned out to be more successful than the petrol. Later on with the launch of the Dzire, SX4, Ritz maruti kept playing along well. Maruti did face a bit of dissappointment with the Kizashi though. Maruti timed the entry of the facelifted swift and dzire perfectly on time revivwing it again.The Launch of the ertiga was one of the biggest blow to the innova sales. I can say that maruti is one of the safest companies in the lot with a wide range of products and the lineup in 2014 with the facelifted A star and Ertiga Automatic and the Wagon R Diesel is another good move by them.
8)Renault: The Renault mahindra tie up had led to the introduction of the Logan. The car had a very simple design with simple structure but a very good diesel engine for combination which grasped a lot of customers but with lot of issues between mahindra and renault tie up and service problems the car fizzed out even though the car was given numerous face lifts could not be reviwed. The Renaults later on tie up led to numerous duplication of cars like Pulse-Micra, Scala-Sunny and now the Duster-Terrano. The pulse and the Scala did not fair that well due to second entry i.e Nissan launching earlier models hence they just looked like facelifts with different badges. But renault had its biggest share of success with the introduction of the Duster before nissan could launch the Terrano. The Small SUV sold like hot cake but again for a limited time due to poor after sales service. In 2014 Renault plans to launch an MPV and a sedan but again its very difficult to say anything it can be a hit or a flop .
9)Nissan: The Nissan has had a good share of success with the Micra specially with the launch of the Diesel. The Sunny however never faired that well due to very tight competition in the segment. The Nissan has launched the Terrano which is almost similar to the Duster, now nissan has always taken the cake by introducing its previous models before Renault but here i feel i made a mistake by introducing this one second it has also launched the Evalia in competiton to MUV but again has not faired that well.Again due to poor after sale service the sale of nissan are taking a hit. The year 2014 looks the same for nissan.
10)Tata: One of the World leading industries some how does not do good when it comes to making cars. Tata has a wide range of products but lack the Design, The quality and the technology that is required for the present day world and also to mention the horrible after sales service and the poor resales.Tata had some success with the introduction of the Aria and The Safari Storme later on but again for a short time.The Nano did try to revive the company but some how was not able to lift it up that much. Tata has a wide range of products in line up for 2014 launching the Indigo, indica in CNG also introducing the Nano in CNG & Diesel and the Aria in automatic but again this is not enough for tata to revive it will require a whole ne design and tchnolgy not to mention the quality also and the Service centres to back them up.
11)Skoda: The Czec manufacturer under the ownership of VW have launched some really good cars.Skoda has enjoyed its share with the octavia since its launch on 2002 till 2006 where the laura was launched. The quality and finish of all the cars have been perfect but due to the poor after sales service for which skoda is famous and the heavy maintenance cost of the vehicles only selected people buy these cars. The VRS badge had brought great success to the sales during its launch in 2004 but somehow the laura Vrs could not stand upto that.With decent sales of the new superb which has hit the sales of the Honda accord and Decent sales of Laura ( Now Discontinued) Skoda is enjoying a stable market. Now the launch of the New Octavia looks very promising and the designs are very new and fresh and with wide range of engine options Skoda should generate some decent sales this year and also from the expected refreshed Fabia .
12)Volkwagen: Volkswagen has enjoyed the limelight right from its launch in 2009 with the Polo. The launch of the vento in 2010 just put a cherry on the top. it was also a big blow to honda on their face. With decent sales on the upper end with the Jetta and the passat. Volkswagen is enjoying the market. But with recent competiton in mind i wont think that it will last for a long time.Now with the expected launch of the VW Up,the VW Taigun and the refreshed VW Jetta i feel it should turn the table again in the side of VW. With decent After sale service and resale this should be a good year for VW.
13) Toyota: Finally the Toyota, the most reliable brand in the world. It has a decent line up of cars for sale with the best reliability available in the market. Toyota had a good succes with the launch of Corolla & Qualif back in 2001. But Toyota had the biggest success in india with the launch of the Innova in 2005. Toyota was the unbeaten champion in this segment for 5 years till 2010 which i suppose was a small threat to Innova. if seen properly toyotas success was only due to the Innova rest of the cars were just sold in few numbere but innova was sold in 10 times the number.Once i asked in a showroom the sales figure of the showroom they told me that in a month 80 cars are sold out of which 70 are innovas and the 10 are the rest. The Launch of the Fortuner was also a bif success in its range but the sales were pretty less in that segment. The Etios and the Etios Liva were introduced but they could not help toyota in sales. Now the Toyota face lots of competiton from other companies introducing cars at almost half the price of an innova but still toyota are trying all the tricks trying to revive the beast. This year with the new launch of Facelifted innova i doubt it will make any impact as the competition is too tight.
Now i might have missed many cars in this topic but at the moment these are the ones that i could remeber.
Now again this is my opinion so please do not take it as an offence.
I have observed one thing in my life uptill now that no matter how much features you add to the car or how much you redesign it there will be only few people interested in all this majority of the people only look for the following things
1) Good After Service
2) Low Maintenance & Good Rliability
3) Good After Sales
These three are the most important points people look for rest all varies up and down. Considering these facts there are only three manufacturers which rule these segments according to me in India they are
a) Toyota
b) Honda
c) Maruti
And around the world i have seen just two the Toyota & Honda
No doubt the others will affect their sales but still these 3 will always be constant the rest will have their numbers going up and down.
Thanks to all of those who have read this completely.
Enjoy driving.