SX4 or Verna or city? Some bare facts

I booked a SX4 ZXi with leather upholstery on 12th May with Vitesse Mumbai. I was promised the car delivery in 5 weeks. My loan was disbursed and I got a statement from Kotak stating the EMI would start from 10th July. Vitesse GM told me yesterday that they are getting 2 cars per month of my variety, the plant is shut from 17th to 24th for maintenance (see economic times for confirmation) and therefore he will let me know the status on 25th! On 25th if the status is that they will get 12 to 15 cars then I MIGHT get it in last week of July, BUT truthfully end of August! He had no answers for getting the loan disbursed without the delivery! He also had no answers for my friend who had a booking number 7 digits below me being told only 3 more cars and he would get his car!
I cancelled my booking in frustration. Now comes the best part of the story. I thought it would be prudent to go and buy City ZXi since it is time-tested and you see so many on the roads. I went to the Arya Honda dealer and they offered me an upfront 8000 Rs. CASH discount and all accessories free including the sun film since I was buying a Honda against SX4! I do not think Honda ever offered any discount on their cars. Just for fun I drove the new Civic (I can not afford one) and there is no discount on that car. My friends wanted me to drive a Verna CRDi before deciding so I next drove the diesel Verna and my god the ride is amazing! It feels like a petrol car and the fuel efficiency is 12 in City with AC and 16 to 20 on highways. The fully loaded version is of course expensive compared to SX 4 but has a better music system i.e. a Kenwood with DIN. The waiting period of Verna CRDi top of the range is about 1 month but again hearing that I cancelled my SX4 the management was willing to bend backwards in giving me a car!
Bottom-line: Customers win in this war. My advice: do not wait for SX4, Maruti has seriously botched up the launch and you get a time tested City with great fuel efficiency for less than the top end SX4. Those who want to try diesel Verna is great VFM. Both Honda and Hyundai have great after sales service. I have owned 3 Hyundai’s so far. I learnt that people are falling for SX4 because of the air bags and high ground clearance. However the air bag quality is questionable and if they open without a reason it would cost you 50000 to fix them and if they do not open then you may not be alive to pay the bill! The high ground clearance makes the rear seat sitting uncomfortable since the suspension has to be adjusted. Interestingly the Honda dealership had a printed folder comparing SX4 and City and citing reasons to go for City! So why not take this advantage! If Maruti had launched the car with better preparation then they would have probably shaken the Hondas and Hyundai of the world!

Purchase Price (INR):	8.5lakhs
Dealer Name and City:	Vitesse/mumbai
Model Year:	No Comment