List of upcoming compact sedans for Indian market in the near future
Indian’s are generally very economic people. Anything which is inexpensive and feature rich at the same time appeals to us, maybe this is why compact sedans became a major hit in India. For people who didn’t know, the government rules say that, any car which measures 4-metres or lesser, using a diesel engine of 1.5 liters or lesser or a petrol engine with a capacity of 1.2 liters or lesser, qualifies for the excise benefit scheme and attracts excise of only 12%, whereas other cars which do not conform to the above said conditions attract excise duty of 27% and this benefit eventually gets passed on to the final consumer, which shows exactly why the compact sedans cost so much lesser than other cars with similar features.
The pioneer in this segment in India was, Tata, who launched the Indigo eCS which had a fair run, and then came along Maruti Suzuki with the Swift Dzire and now recently, Honda has come out with the Amaze in this category. The compact sedan segment has been seeing a steady 25000-27000 units a month sale from the last few months, and every automotive company out there wants to be a part of the boom in this segment and everybody has their own compact sedans coming out in the near future. We have a look at some of the compact sedans that will be launched in a few months time.
1) 2014 Tata Manza CS –
2014 Tata Manza CS (speculated rendering)
- Launch – Mid 2014
- More information – Tata Motors Vista or Manza CS prototypes ready for real world tests
The 2014 Tata Manza CS is a chopped version of the full size Tata Manza. The boot capacity will come down, as the boot will be chopped, but the wheelbase of the car will remain the same, which means the space on the inside too might remain the same. Engine options include a 1.2 liter turbo-petrol and the famous 1.3 liter multijet turbo-diesel. This car would be positioned right in between the full size Manza sedan and the Indigo eCS, both pricing and segmentation wise. We expect the car to be launched Mid-2014.
2) Renault-Nissan Micra/Pulse based CS –
Nissan Micra compact sedan (speculated rendering)
- Launch – End 2015/Early 2016
- More information – Not available
This one is just a rumour at this stage in time, but cannot be dismissed entirely as well. There is high possibility of the Renault Nissan alliance producing a compact sedan based on their European counterpart, Datsun’s GO. The Micra platform already hosts the Sunny, so they already have resources to produce a hatchback based compact sedan. We are eagerly awaiting an announcement from Renault Nissan regarding this front.
3) 2015 Hyundai Grand i10 CS –
2015 Hyundai Grand i10 compact sedan (speculated rendering)
- Launch – Sometime 2014
- More information – Hyundai to launch 2 new models in India by 2015 – a compact sedan and an SUV
The replacement for the outdated Hyundai Accent has been long due now, and Hyundai has decided that it will be a compact sedan based on the recently launched i10 grand hatchback. This is indeed a wise move from Hyundai, as the i10 grand has been ground-breaking for Hyundai in terms of sales figures. Given that the upcoming compact sedan too would share the mechanical parts from the hatchback, this too would shatter sales records and it also directly competes with the Honda Amaze and Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire.
4) 2015 Up! Based Sedan from Volkswagen –
Volkswagen Up! compact sedan (speculated rendering)
- Launch – End 2015
- More information – Volkswagen to build new compact sedan – production debut set in India for late 2015
We had earlier reported about Volkswagen’s plans to use the Up! Hatchbacks platform for its upcoming sedan and it’s perfect for the job as well, as it also underpins the Taigun compact SUV. The Taigun is set for launch in mid 2015, and this new compact sedan is also expected to follow shortly. It will be powered by a 1.2 liter TSi turbo-supercharged petrol or a 1.5 liter turbo-diesel.
5) 2015 Ford Figo CS –
2015 Ford Figo compact sedan (speculated rendering)
- Launch – Mid 2015
- More information – 2015 Ford Figo/Ka sedan – Rendering + Spy Shots
The 2015 Ford Figo (also known as the Ford KA) will be launched early in 2015, and its compact sedan variant too is expected to follow in a short period of time, probably mid-2015. The sedan will use the current-gen Figo’s underpinnings and newer, more developed versions of the current engines, which will also be found on the 2015 hatchback.
6) Maruti Suzuki YL7/Alto based CS –
Maruti Suzuki Alto/A-Star compact sedan (speculated rendering)
- Launch – End 2015/Early 2016
- More information – 2013 Maruti Suzuki A-Star sedan rendered image
To fully exploit the compact sedan segment, Maruti Suzuki will produce multiple compact sedans at different price points. The second one in line, after the Swift Dzire will be the alto based compact sedan. The YL7 platform which also hosts the 2014 Suzuki Alto (international model) is expected to host the alto based compact sedan. As of now, there are no details about the features or the engines, but we expect them to be out shortly. But, we know one thing, that it will be the least priced compact sedan in India as, the current alto is one the cheapest hatchbacks out there, and Maruti’s pricing strategies are the best. A late 2015 or early 2016 launch is most likely.
7) Tata XO based CS –
Speculated rendering of upcoming Tata Manza just used as an illustration
- Launch – Sometime 2015
- More information – Not available
This is a direct rival to the Maruti Suzuki YL7/Alto based CS. It will be based on the Tata XO platform and will be Tata’s third compact sedan in 2015. According to pricing and segmentation , the first Tata CS will be the Manza based CS, the second will be the already launched indigo eCS and the last one would be this XO based CS. Engine options will include a 1.05-litre turbo-diesel and a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine.
If all goes well, and each of these cars make it into production, we could see a future in which the Indian consumer would be spoilt for choice and also, a healthy competition between manufacturers.
8) HM Ambassador CS –
Hindustan Ambassador compact sedan (speculated rendering)
- Launch – End 2014
- More information – HM Ambassador hatchback on the works, alongside the compact sedan variant
And if you think we are joking, you are absolutely wrong! Hindustan Motors is silently working on next-generation Ambassador, which will be available in 3 forms, a hatchback, a sedan and a compact sedan, the chopped-boot version Ambassador was spotted testing by the folks at AutoCarIndia in May-2011. Since then the car has never been seen testing, but now some of the leading business newspaper claims that company is developing compact sedan of their age old workhorse.
Also see – Upcoming SUVs in 2014 for India
Source – CarToq
Image Credit – Team-BHP, Matheus Andrade, Theophilus Chin, MotorBeam, CarToq
