The Indian automobile market experiences new launches almost every week. Indian customers are now exposed to international brands. It is 2020 and we have our own brands like Tata and Mahindra who are doing really good in the market. There are some international brands too which have tried their hand in the Indian market and have succeeded. Examples include MG and Kia. We have seen Hector and Seltos succeed in the Indian market. Sadly, the situation is not always the same with every car. In today’s featured, we discuss 10 discontinued cars in India that we are glad are gone! These were some ill-fated cars which couldn’t impress the audience!
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Mahindra Quanto
Not meant to offend any Quanto owners but after almost 5 years of its discontinuation, I still can’t figure out why did Mahindra even make this car! It was a compact crossover derived from the Mahindra Xylo but had some really awkward looks. The rear section looked “chopped off” due to which it had some serious disproportionate looks. It was a 100hp workhorse but failed to impress any enthusiast too. Credits go to its high kerb weight!
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Mahindra NuvoSport
Mahindra made a second attempt at the Quanto by launching it in a new avatar, NuvoSport. The same tale continued. This one also looked like a chopped off Xylo which made it look awkward just like its predecessor. Although the NuvoSport was feature-loaded and had a good build quality, it failed to impress the audience because Mahindra was serving old wine in a new bottle!
Read Mahindra Quanto (NuvoSport) | A mini-Xylo that no one wanted
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Volkswagen Ameo
Another one among the discontinued cars in India is the Volkswagen Ameo. Realising the growing trend of sub-4-metre sedans in India, the German automaker also decided to try their hand at it once. Volkswagen, later on, realised that the customer base they had developed in India was more interested in buying the Vento over the Ameo. Just like the two cars mentioned above, Ameo also looked awkwardly chopped off from the rear section. Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Mahindra Verito Vibe
Mahindra Verito was doing fairly good in the Indian market when Mahindra made another bad decision! Verito Vibe is among the few sub-4-metres in Indian which chose to be a hatch. Verito Vibe failed to impress the audience from its launch day itself. Seeing some really bad designs in the form of Quanto, NuvoSport and now the Verito Vibe, Mahindra needed to hire new designers or at least the people who approved those designs! Well, Verito Vibe didn’t receive a good response and is now discontinued. We are glad it is!
Read Remembering the Renault Logan | Byproduct of Mahindra-Renault Venture
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Renault Fluence
The first car introduced by the French automaker in India. Renault Fluence was meant to offer a plush ride but we think people disagreed to step in seeing its looks! Fluence was a big failure in the Indian market. Renault however, decided to launch the facelift thinking that it would help improve sales but Fluence sank even deeper when the facelift was launched in India. Fluence also stands among discontinued cars in India that we are glad are gone!
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Renault Koleos
It’s 2020 and one of the largest selling SUVs in India offers a BOSE audio system. But did you know, Renault Koleos offered the same back in 2014? Well, Renault officials said realising the demand of the Indian market, they were planning to target the local audience with more budget cars. Koleos was not a bad car at all but the Indian audience didn’t want to pay for some premium features back then! It is among the discontinued cars in India and we are glad it’s gone because it wasn’t meant to be here.
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Ashok Leyland Stile
Remember the Nissan Evalia? The famous truck manufacturer, Ashok Leyland tried their hand at manufacturing light vehicles by rebadging the Evalia. This was the first product under Nissan and Hinduja Group’s joint venture and failed drastically. This example shows us that expanding to a different segment is not always good and beneficial.
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Maruti Suzuki Kizashi
Okay! Before you head to the comments section and say that this was indeed a good car, just read our reason why we are glad about its discontinuation! We agree Kizashi was an enthusiast’s delight but coming from a brand that is known for delivering fuel efficient cheap cars made Kizashi a misfit in its lineup. Although Kizashi was a really good performance car, it turned out to be a flop machine in India The major reason behind its failure was that it was brought in by Maruti Suzuki. People have a different expectation from MSIL and therefore, eventually, Kizashi also made its way to the list of discontinued cars in India. We are glad about it because the sales figure was a disrespect for such a good machine!
These were 8 discontinued cars in India that we are glad are gone from the Indian market. Some had a bad design and others simply failed to impress the audience because they couldn’t understand why they were introduced. Have some other car in your mind that you are glad is discontinued? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let us know what you think!