We had upgraded from Maruti 800 to Aveo U-VA. As this was our 2nd purchase, we had gone through rigorous process of selection & contributed lot of DATA as follows .
In decision making(pre-decision method revised) the following approach was followed
I) Main Factors
a) The Budget was upto 5 lakh,
b) Air condition
c) Suspension
d) Looks
e) Shoulder / hip(basically internal useful space)
II) Secondary Factors
a) Mileage
b) Service network
c) Petrol version
d) Leg space(excluded as Indian mfg are not providing such data)
e) Boot space
Cars under consideration were: AStar, Swift, Ritz, Aveo UVA, Spark, I10, I20, Punto, Indigo CS, Indica Vista & Indigo Manza.
I got test driven all the above except Punto & Manza.
SPECIAL DECISION NOTE: IF SERVICE NETWORK IS THE LIMITING CRITERIA, THEN THERE IS NO FUN IN REVIEWING ALL ABOVE BRANDS, BECAUSE THE DECISION IS ONLY MARUTI. BUT AS I AM READY TO TAKE SOME RISK, SO THIS REVIEW.
SPARK: When I entered into Spark, I was surprised to see its spaciousness inside, though it looks smaller outside. NVH was very low, it was totally silent if A.C. was off. What we were able to listen is AC sound only. The Suspension was excellent(I think it is comfortable for low speeds may be upto 100 KMPH, experts may comment), which is only possible in high cost sedans like Honda Civic, Mercedes S class with all wheel independent suspension & noise absorbing lining with good mileage. But the drawbacks are low boot space;low shoulder space.LS model at~Rs 3.5 lakh on road.
History: The spark is 3rd upgradation of Matiz(M100 platform) with 800 cc 3cyl engine, which was upgraded to M150 platform 4 cyl 800 CC later upgraded to present M200 platform with 4 cyl 1000 CC engine. the design was changed to accommodate above engines.The original Matiz was designed for Fiat by ItalDesign, But as the Fiat rejected the design, the same was grabbed by Daewoo.It was known as world's Most beautiful car.But beauty was reduced in successive M150 & M200 due to space constraints?(subjective) but technically, it much improved like engine, gearbox, Gear shift, Suspension etc by GM.
Aveo UVA:
Similar to above but with large inner space, better looks but the suspension was not as good as
SPARK, Base Model Rs 4.4 lakh on road.
during my second visit to show room I further observed it was also Designed by ItalDesign S.p.A
as Kalos(=beautiful in Greek) Dream of elswere Daewoo, best looks from rear 2/3 view, side view is beautiful. Front OK. the curves & the rounds are excellent simply cute and classic. Further this is as per Original design. I liked the original designs over the new designs now available in UK & US(subjective). It appears to be bigger matiz.
AStar:
Highest mileage but stiff suspension, no where near SPARK, but, Maruti brand, bug eye head lights, funky looks.
Swift:
Sporty Design, Suspension is better than or equal to Aveo UVA, low mileage, , Maruti's network &
huge numbers on road, lesser inner space esp at rear. Unusual sideview towards front. On road
4.66 lakh for LXI
I10:
Better interiors, awkward looks(subjective), poor suspension, but it is selling like hot cakes with discounts Why I don’t know?
I20:
It is very beautiful, especially black diamond color, spacious but not very high, esp inner useful width. Boot Space is very good you may never need a sedan. This is the car what I wanted, though I have to stretch my budget by 50K which I can afford. But I am sorry to say the suspension is very stiff & very poor at low speeds because of this I am unable to purchase.
Ritz:
In fact I did not want to test drive the Ritz, because I did not like awkward(kicked back) shape. But due to sales person repeated requests, I had accepted for test drive.
Interiors were spacious & airy with better than SPARK in boot but not inner useful width at rear.Excellent suspension for Indian roads(pot holes, roughness can be smoothly handled, but at low speeds may be up to 100 KMPH?). Front view was OK / unusual, Back view was beautiful; side view at rear side appears to be funky / awkward(kick back). It looks attractive in white color. Good mileage 15 -17 KMPL. But Ritz Diesel was not as comfortable(NVH) as Ritz Petrol.
PUNTO:
I have not gone for test drive but I have observed that its useful space is very low for such very big Hatch. The sales person was convassing for Vista over punto(dealer is same)
INDCA Vista /Xeta/ Indigo CS
Tata Indica Vista mileage & NVH suspension is better than Indigo CS / Xeta but I feel it should be refined further. Personally I irritate with their bison tail lamp design. Actually they can make the car more beautiful.
TATA Indigo Manza.
Personally I liked this car, very spacious, beautiful, lot of goodies even in the base model, but not gone for test drive as I am not interested in such a big car.
Based on the above we have short listed: Aveo U-VA, Swift, Ritz & Vista
Now totally subjectively, we have short listed Aveo U-VA & Maruti Swift
Now came into our mind is BS-IV norms which are expected come into effect from 01.04.10.Now we have waited upto 11.01.10 for modified versions of above like swift with K series engine.
But our experience shows, new designs are funky, sharp turns, awkward shapes, (except I20), most of the face lifts spoiled the beauty e.g Zen estilo old to new, matiz to spark etc especially with new gen engine fitments. We felt it is better to purchase now.
Now we compared Swift Lxi to Aveo U-VA Basic
Looks & Design:Aveo U-VA>>Swift, Suspension:Aveo U-VA~Swift, Mileage:Aveo U-VA>Swift, sholder/Hip
space:U-VA>Swift, Boot Space: Aveo U-VA~Swift, Cost:Swift>Aveo U-VA with 2 front power windows,
clock, 3 years warranty & 3 years Free service. Delivery wait period:Swift>Aveo U-VA, Service
network:Maruiti>>GM Engine:both SOHC CC Swift>Aveo U-VA, both cars won many national / interntinal awards
The Decision was Aveo U-VA
The U-VA was delivered to me on 22.01.2010
I have inspected each curve / bend / design point of Aveo U-VA, it is simply superb / beautiful
it may be an arching roofline, it may be windows cluster, tail lamp, and use of circular shapes for the instrumentation, vents, door handles, and controls. Hats up to Italdesign Giugiaro Studio & its team leader Giorgetto Giugiaro, Car Designer of the Century awardee 1999.
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