The average customer for a sub-four-metre sedan wants the car to offer everything from looks to driving dynamics to fuel economy. So with the new Ford Figo Aspire out in the market, we decided to pit it against the Honda Amaze and the Maruti Suzuki DZire in a bid to find out which of the three can meet the customers’ desire for such amazing aspirations
Story: Aninda Sardar
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
In my 11th standard at school I made a monumental error in choosing economics as one of my elective subjects. Although I was hopeless at it (well, mostly), I did learn one thing on the first day itself – human desires are limitless. That, in fact, was lesson number one of our economics class. What I learned on that day, however, can be very aptly applied to the uniquely Indian sub-four-metre sedan segment. The average customer who buys into this category of vehicles wants his car to look good, feel premium, be loaded with gadgets, be powerful, drive well and also be fuel-efficient. In short, he (or she) wants it all, but, and that’s a big but, at a price. Manufacturers with products in this segment, therefore, have their task cut out.
The biggest and most well-established player in this hotly contested part of the Indian automobile market is Maruti Suzuki. Their DZire (based on the Swift hatch) has been a hot-seller for years and continues to bring in good volumes for India’s largest passenger car-makers. The Honda Amaze (based on the Brio hatchback) is a relative newcomer but then it’s a good product overall and, with the backing of the Honda badge, the car has been accepted quite well by the demanding Indian. The latest entrant into the fray, however, comes from the all-American house of Ford in the form of the Figo Aspire. In the natural progression of things, we, at Car India, decided to clear the consumers’ confusion by pitting the three, in their diesel guises, against one another to find out which of these offers the biggest bang for your buck.
