Honourable erstwhile finance minister of our country, Mr. P Chidambaram wrote the definition of a small car. Length not more than 4 metres. Petrol engine not more than 1200 cc and diesel engine not more 1500 cc. This definition of small car was the father of the so called and exclusive to India "Compact Sedan". My dear readers, might be wondering who the mother is, eh? The mother is - 'Our countrymen's fixation with the sedan body style'. Indians love the three box style. I don't know why this body style is directly equated to status or where this perception came from!
Well, moving on - Tata became the first 'midwife' and helped in giving birth to the first unwanted child, the Indigo CS. Urgh! And then there was no looking back for more midwives like Maruti(Swift Dzire), Hyundai(Xcent), Mahindra(Verito Vibe), Honda(Amaze) and now Ford is latest one to join the bandwagon with its Figo Aspire and Volkswagen is also in line with its own derivation of the polo in Compact Sedan form. Icing on this not so tasty cake is most of the above feature in the top ten selling cars in our country.
Personally I hate this whole concept of so called CS (read: compact sedan). Seems like an unwanted child of Chidambaram's definition and our fixation with sedans. I am very tempted to use the popular and apt word, b**t**d for this thing, but google and my values stop me from using it in its full glory. The concept of CS is an insult to my senses and my passion for cars. I can imagine this world without underwears but not without cars. But if, CS were the only cars left in this world, I would leave my passion rather than embracing them. Come on guys, if the boot is so important go for the honda jazz, i20, polo etc. They have similar sized boots. What I mean to say is either go for a hatchback or go for a full fledged sedan. Where have all the purists gone? And where is the status in the three box style? How can one buy Dzire or Amaze over a Polo? What about the poor sods who own the Volkswagen scirrocco, Mercedes A class, BMW 1 series, Audi A3 hatchback, Renault Megane etc etc.... The list is long. Guys, go back in time and recall the BMWs, Audis and Benzs of 70s, 80s and 90s, Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer. Those were sedans to behold and own to name a few.
Ford is one of my favourite companies in India for their focus on driving pleasure and their fine tuning of the suspension. When I first heard about their aspiration to join the CS bandwagon with the Aspire, I was really crestfallen. But still I was ready to turn a blind eye to the styling and looked forward to the Aspire because it was from Ford. I love the way the Ikon, Fiesta, Figo, New Fiesta handled. Since the Aspire was based on the new Fiesta's platform my expectations had snowballed. But ford messed up the suspension and handling this time. The verve and connected feel of Fords is gone in the Aspire. Thanks to Ford's messing up with the suspension i won't have to own a CS. Ford not a good midwife, eh!
Well, moving on - Tata became the first 'midwife' and helped in giving birth to the first unwanted child, the Indigo CS. Urgh! And then there was no looking back for more midwives like Maruti(Swift Dzire), Hyundai(Xcent), Mahindra(Verito Vibe), Honda(Amaze) and now Ford is latest one to join the bandwagon with its Figo Aspire and Volkswagen is also in line with its own derivation of the polo in Compact Sedan form. Icing on this not so tasty cake is most of the above feature in the top ten selling cars in our country.
Personally I hate this whole concept of so called CS (read: compact sedan). Seems like an unwanted child of Chidambaram's definition and our fixation with sedans. I am very tempted to use the popular and apt word, b**t**d for this thing, but google and my values stop me from using it in its full glory. The concept of CS is an insult to my senses and my passion for cars. I can imagine this world without underwears but not without cars. But if, CS were the only cars left in this world, I would leave my passion rather than embracing them. Come on guys, if the boot is so important go for the honda jazz, i20, polo etc. They have similar sized boots. What I mean to say is either go for a hatchback or go for a full fledged sedan. Where have all the purists gone? And where is the status in the three box style? How can one buy Dzire or Amaze over a Polo? What about the poor sods who own the Volkswagen scirrocco, Mercedes A class, BMW 1 series, Audi A3 hatchback, Renault Megane etc etc.... The list is long. Guys, go back in time and recall the BMWs, Audis and Benzs of 70s, 80s and 90s, Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Lancer. Those were sedans to behold and own to name a few.
Ford is one of my favourite companies in India for their focus on driving pleasure and their fine tuning of the suspension. When I first heard about their aspiration to join the CS bandwagon with the Aspire, I was really crestfallen. But still I was ready to turn a blind eye to the styling and looked forward to the Aspire because it was from Ford. I love the way the Ikon, Fiesta, Figo, New Fiesta handled. Since the Aspire was based on the new Fiesta's platform my expectations had snowballed. But ford messed up the suspension and handling this time. The verve and connected feel of Fords is gone in the Aspire. Thanks to Ford's messing up with the suspension i won't have to own a CS. Ford not a good midwife, eh!
nice insight
ReplyDelete👍👍 good one !
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