In an increasingly crowded market, auto companies are looking for niches to find a much-needed breathing space away from the heat of intense competition. A couple of years ago, it was the then-untapped luxury mid-size segment that the global auto companies first rushed into. They talked of international brands, global quality and technology and expected Indians to pay a premium price for it. The thinking was that after decades of old technology, Indian consumers would be dazzled by the array of new cars and would empty their wallets to get them. Car buyers briefly swallowed the sales pitch of the new multinationals who touted their cars as the best in the west.

But after sampling these new products, the Indian consumer quickly came to realise that they were simply not value for money. Foreign car companies have learnt the hard way that buyers are willing to spend only if they are convinced that they are getting a good deal. It’s because Indian consumers are essentially value-driven and decades of Gandhian austerity and Nehruvian socialism have instilled an almost-puritanical sense of value in their minds.

Those who graduated from the Esteem to more premium models came the full circle back to it because there was nothing else in the Esteem’s price bracket.  As a value proposition, nothing came close, that is until now.

The Esteem’s growing market share in the mid-size segment drove home the fact that there is considerable demand for an entry-level mid-size car, one that is just as functional as a luxury model but a couple of lakhs cheaper. One that does 90 per cent of the job for just 70 per cent of the price.

Everyone caught on quickly. Daewoo was the first to react and dropped the price of its Cielo into Esteem territory. Fiat launched the Siena in May 1999. Meanwhile, Hyundai introduced its all-new Accent and Ford launched its made-for-India Ikon. In a span of just six months, we suddenly have five saloon cars in the Rs 500,000-Rs 700,000 range — this is the newly-emerged lower mid-size segment, one that is all about value for money and getting a good deal. To find out who gives what, we conducted a mega test of the Maruti Esteem, Daewoo Cielo Executive, Fiat Siena, Hyundai Accent and the Ford Ikon carried out over 7000km and several weeks.  

The oldest face around here is the Esteem. Although this body style has been around since 1990 in the form of the Maruti 1000, it received a freshening-up in 1997. The front grille, bumper and headlights, sourced from the Hungarian Suzuki Cultus, gave it a much-needed face-lift. The Esteem still looks pretty good, especially the new nose and the raked lights but it’s too familiar a face to elicit any hard looks or attention.

Dimensionally, the least generous automobile of the five cars, the Esteem is not surprisingly the lightest vehicle by far. Weighing a mere 815kg, it is only 15kg heavier than the Matiz, to say nothing of the heavier Uno and Indica! And while the safety conscious may baulk with disdain, this light weight pays rich dividends to those more interested in performance and economy. Maruti has risen to the competition by improving the paint quality and overall fit and finish of the Esteem. Last month, another styling touch was added — a chrome grille.

The Esteem was followed into India by Daewoo’s Cielo, aka the Nexia in other markets but not here. Confused? You should be! The Cielo’s parentage goes back to the Opel Astra of the 1980s on which its platform and mechanicals are based. Re-skinned as the Cielo in 1994, the styling is now beginning to look dated in comparison to its competition. In fact, the greenhouse or passenger section — made up of thin pillars and a rear quarter-glass — hail unmistakably from the earlier Astra. Still, when viewed from dead front, the Cielo’s flowing headlights give a certain softness, setting off the chunkiness of the body.

The rear section is dominated by a massive boot with large tail-lights. The front and rear overhangs are also very pronounced. The recently refurbished ‘Executive’ version comes with a chrome grille and newer paint shades along with a quality which has always been first class.

The Cielo is easily the largest of this quintet of automobiles here, but the poor utilisation of the overall length is a sure giveaway of the age of the design. That said, the Executive’s boot space is easily the most voluminous at a colossal 530 litres, enough to swallow even your mother-in-law should the need arise!

Of the recent accruals to the Indian market, Fiat’s 178 World Car platform-based three-box Siena was the first to hit the showrooms nine months ago. Designed specifically for harsh road and environmental conditions experienced in emerging markets, the design parameters for Project 178 were finalised after considering local tastes and vendor concerns. The Uno platform was the starting point for the 178 range (the Siena and other derivatives) which has been heavily modified and strengthened especially around the suspension mounting points to cope with bad roads prevalent in emerging markets such as ours.

The Siena’s body structure could shame an armoured personal carrier as far as solidity and the feeling of invincibility are concerned. If you don’t believe us,  go on and feel the way the well-weighted doors thud shut.

The Siena’s styling is very chunky and very European (by IDEA). The ‘handlebar’ front grille is the Siena’s most distinctive feature shared with all the other 178 derivatives (Palio, Weekend, etc). Another distinctive feature are the swanky headlamps and the sinewy, muscular bonnet and fender that give the Siena real character and a look you just can’t confuse or ignore.  The huge 500-litre boot dominates the bulbous rear end and is not its prettiest side.

The Accent is the most contemporary car of the lot, having made its world debut at the Frankfurt Show last September. In fact, for a change, the Accent has come to India before the rest of the world. The new Accent is based on a new platform codenamed LC, which was developed at a cost of $200 million (did we hear $1.2 billion?!).

The Accent is a notch wider than the others in its class and the elderly styling with square edges and bulky overhangs gives it the look of a mainstream mid-size car in the Lancer mould. Hyundai designed a new ‘smiling’ grille for India and thankfully spared us the toothy grille of the Verna (the domestic version), which is similar to the Santro’s. The rear end styling is very classy, very European with smart tail-lights which follow the contours of the boot. We found the Accent’s paint job to be the best of the lot,  thanks partly to an attractive range of paint shades. The body structure felt taut and rigid as it has to pass all the crash tests in the international markets the Accent was designed for.  33

The Ikon is not just a brand-new car but it has the unique distinction of being designed specifically for India. The platform has been derived from the Fiesta, which is a great starting point. This chassis, which has spawned cars like the Ka and Puma, is one of the best in Ford’s stable. What Ford did was to increase the wheelbase by 40mm (thereby generating terrific room) and, from the B-pillar backwards, redesigned the whole car to give birth to the Ikon.

While some preferred the muscular looks of the Siena and others the contemporary styling of the Accent, the general consensus was that the Ikon was the best looking of the lot.  The front-end styling with the cat-like headlights, which have shades of Ford’s ‘New Edge’ design, looks great. The Ikon’s overall proportions, despite the long rear door, are superbly balanced. The all-new rear end styling makes the Ikon look like it is doing 100kph even when standing still. The roofline swoops down into the flowing C-pillar and is neatly integrated into the stubby boot and the huge tail-lights which have a deep wraparound into the side flanks.

Mechanically, all these cars are similar in layout in the front; ie transverse engine, front-wheel drive suspended by MacPherson struts. All five come with a front anti-roll bar except the Ikon which has stiffer springs to compensate. The Ikon’s sub-frame has been modified from the original Fiesta’s to take unequal length driveshafts, which are locally available. 

The Siena’s suspension system too is slightly different as its lengthy helical (spiralling) springs are damped by dual-rate shock absorbers. This suspension is also the least altered or modified of the systems as it was designed for conditions very similar to our own.

At the rear, the Esteem and the Accent are the only ones with an independent set-up, the others have some form of a dead axle. Each car-maker has done its own suspension tweaking to suit Indian conditions. After years of feedback from their customers, Daewoo and Maruti have recalibrated the damper/spring settings on their cars. In fact, all these cars here have been Indian-ised to a great degree to operate in an environment that is so unlike their markets back home. 

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