Small-Car Upgrades on Upswing in India

MUMBAI – The small car, which revolutionized the Indian auto industry 30 years ago and has ruled it since, is being reinvented in India and abroad.

Through the first nine months of the current fiscal year, India’s small-car sales totaled 1.5 million units for 69.2% of the market. All were hatchbacks, but many perform like a sedan, a multipurpose vehicle or even an SUV.

The small-car design and features are changing in the new models that are coming to market. To be placed in the lowest tax bracket of 10% excise duty, a vehicle must be no longer than 13.1 ft. (400 cm) and the engine cannot be more than 1.2L gasoline or 1.5L diesel.

Despite these restrictions, the new-generation small car has more space and its engine generates more power and torque.

The small cars are designed as such, not as sedans stripped down feature by feature to cut costs. Designers are using a variety of techniques to increase legroom and headroom and generate a feeling of spaciousness.

Maruti Suzuki has reduced the size of the new Swift Dzire sedan by 6.5 in. (16.5 cm) to 13.1 ft. (400 cm) to bring it under the small-car cutoff point for 10% concessional excise duty instead of 22% standard duty for longer vehicles.

Yet, it is 2 in. (5 cm) wider and 1 in. (2.5 cm) higher. Its wheelbase has been increased 1.3 ft. (40 cm) and it offers 0.8 in. (2.0) more rear legroom.

Trunk space has been reduced from 15.4 cu.-ft. to 11.1 cu.-ft. (440 L to 319 L), but the use of thinner tensile steel has cut both the diesel and gasoline models’ weight to 2,200 lbs. (1,000 kg) to increase their fuel efficiency.

Maruti Suzuki also plans to bring to India three cars, the MR Wagon, Palette and Cervo, powered by 0.7L engines. The first two were displayed at the recent auto show in New Delhi. Both are smaller than the Maruti 800 or Alto but have more interior space.

Auto makers have set up design studios in India to develop new platforms. A mix of Indian and global designers defines and redefines exteriors and interiors, prototyping and 3D modeling.

The results of this approach include the highly successful Toyota Etios that was designed in Japan and engineered in India, and the Honda Brio, developed in Japan after the auto maker collected inputs and responses from India and Thailand.

Mahindra & Mahindra has started from the drawing board and gone to sheet-metal styling in designing the smaller Xylo MPV.

Bajaj Auto started to develop a new platform from scratch for an ultra-low-cost car but gave it up to focus instead on a 4-wheel rickshaw, but it has offered the platform to the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Ashok Leyland is in the preliminary stages of developing a platform for a Renault-Nissan ultra-low-cost car.

The pioneering Maruti 800 launched 30 years ago was stripped of features and comforts. Yet it met all expectations of the market at the time. More than 7 million of the small cars are on the road, and Maruti still sells 40,000 units annually.

Although the 800 has survived a generation of change, many of today’s customers are more demanding and are looking elsewhere. They want a complete small car that offers not only safety and space but also amenities such as air conditioning and audio systems.

Global auto makers are responding by bringing the Brio, Alto, Swift, Toyota Liva, Volkswagen Polo, Nissan Micra, Chevrolet Beat and Ford Figo and EcoSport to the Indian market.

The companies also are redesigning the basic components: engine, transmission, differential and steering. New materials allow the systems to be housed within stronger but thinner walls.

Many of the redesigned systems push the front axle forward and the rear axle backward to create interior space. Toyota’s iQ sedan achieves this in part with a flat fuel tank extended across the bottom of the car.

Designers also are making cabins more spacious by using thinner and smaller cockpit controls, smaller but more powerful air conditioners and replacing metal seat frames with thinner, higher-density foams.

These and similar techniquesallowed Toyota to shorten the iQ, modeled on the Tercel, by 48 in. (122 cm). But it has 10in. (25.4 cm) more legroom in the rearand headroom in the front, as well as 5in. (12.7 cm)more legroom in the front.

VW’s ’12 Beetle’s roofline looks flatter than before, but has 3in. (7.7 cm) more headroom inside. BMW’sMini Coupe is shorter than the Mini Convertible, but has more trunk and cabin space.

Tataincreased the Nano’sinterior space three years ago but has failedto develop effectivemarketing and distribution strategies.

The auto maker is struggling to resurface by increasing engine power from 35 to 38 hp, torque from 35 to 30 lb.-ft. (48 to 51 Nm) and fuel efficiency from 55 to 59.7 mpg (4.2 L/100 km to 3.9 L/100 km).

None of these smaller cars are problem-free, but they offset rising fuel prices and help alleviate parking-space headaches in India’s urban areas.