Car Makers And Their Love\Hate Relationship With The Sunroof

Cars with sunroofs have become a growing trend in India. So much so that manufacturers have started to offer them even in the mid variants of many models. And above that, you have panoramic sunroofs as well, which are now being offered on the top-end variants. In this article, we are going to discuss the manufacturers take on sunroofs and how many of them love the sunroof and why some of them hate it.

• Hyundai India

We start with Hyundai because they were the first manufacturer to provide a sunroof in the mass market segment, and they started it with the Hyundai i10.

Hyundai now offers the sunroof on a wide variety of cars in their stable. The list of cars includes

1. Hyundai i20
2. Hyundai Venue
3. Hyundai Verna
4. Hyundai Elantra
5. Hyundai Tucson
6. Hyundai Creta
7. Hyundai Kona

Out of these, the Creta, Alcazar and the Tucson get the panoramic sunroof. When you see the list, you can clearly see that Hyundai actually offers them on almost all their cars, on the top end variants with the exception of some of them offering them on mid variants as well. The only cars that don’t get the sunroof are the Grand i10 Nios, Aura and Santro.

Verdict: Hyundai definitely loves the sunroof, and most of their cars except the entry-level segment have it, and some of them even flaunt the panoramic sunroof as well.

• Tata Motors

Tata Motors has caught up to the trend of sunroofs and have slowly begun to offer it on their models. The list might not be much, but we hope to see them on many more of their upcoming cars.

As of now, the list of vehicles that come with a sunroof from Tata includes

1. Tata Nexon
2. Tata Harrier
3. Tata Safari
4. Tata Nexon EV

Tata is one of the manufacturers who won’t take a risk like Hyundai by introducing the sunroof on most of its cars but will look at the consumer market, check for demands, do research and then include it in their products and so far, it has worked out very well.

Verdict: Tata loves it but is a safe player and right now has started to embrace the concept of the sunroof while it does understand that users do like it. So while we look at more upcoming Tata cars with sunroofs, we understand if Tata follows the Hyundai way by denying the sunroof for the entry-level segment cars.

• Kia India

Kia Motors started their journey in India quite recently and have definitely shaken the market with their products. The interesting thing is that Kia offers sunroof on all the 3 models that they have on sale in India. And the Kia Carnival boasts of 2 sunroofs and not just one.

Kia has released the Seltos, Sonet and Carnival in India, and all of them have Sunroofs. The Sonet is the product that brought stress to other manufacturers by introducing the sunroof in the mid variant (HTX) as well. If you observe the market, Nexon, Venue and XUV300 started offering the sunroof in the mid variant only after the release of the Sonet. Well, we definitely need to thank Kia for that.

Verdict: Kia definitely loves the sunroof, and there’s no denying that, as it has at least one on all their products.

• Maruti Suzuki

This might come as a shock to some of you, but India’s largest car manufacturer does not have a sunroof on any of its products. It’s not like we are complaining, but even after paying a premium amount of 10+ lakh for the Ciaz, Brezza, XL6, Ertiga, and the S-Cross, the sunroof should have been offered at least on the top-end variant.

We understand if they do not want the sunroof on entry-level segment cars like the Wagon R, Alto, Celerio or the S-Presso, but the buyers in India are maturing and at least on the higher segment we want more which the competition is offering like hot cakes.

Maruti Suzuki also told Express Drives in one of their interviews that according to their research, their cars don’t need a sunroof, and you can read all about it here.

Verdict: By the looks of it, Maruti Suzuki definitely hates the sunroof, and whether it will adopt it in future models is yet to be seen.

• Mahindra & Mahindra

Mahindra also seems to be following the trend just like Tata. Mahindra had introduced the XUV500 with the sunroof a while back and since then has introduced it in some more models.

Right now in the Mahindra lineup, these are the following cars that come with a sunroof :

1. Mahindra XUV300
2. Mahindra XUV500
3. Mahindra Alturas G4

This is actually a small list considering that Mahindra has 11 models up for sale, and most of them are SUVs. Things are about to change as the manufacturer is bringing in the Mahindra XUV700 and, with it, a few more products that are about to create a storm in the market. The XUV700 is also reported to sport the largest panoramic sunroof in the segment.

Verdict: Mahindra was hating the sunroof but is forced to love it as the demand has increased substantially. Hopefully, we will see more products in Mahindra’s lineup with the sunroof.

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• Toyota

Toyota happens to be the most interesting car manufacturer when it comes to the topic of sunroofs. The main reason for that is because they have a very valid reason for not having a sunroof which we definitely understand. The reason why Toyota does not offer sunroofs is that the Air Conditioning system of almost all Toyota cars is placed on the roof. The vents, ducts and even the controls are on the roof, which limits the space required for a sunroof, and this is why they don’t have any.

And the alternative for that is Toyota can provide the rear AC vents on the pillars or in between the driver and co-driver like most other cars and make space for the sunroof. Now is replacing the roof-mounted AC for a sunroof actually an advantage? Definitely not. The roof-mounted AC makes more sense, but since there are alternatives as suggested before and also because they actually work, we believe the pillar mounted AC along with a sunroof is good to have feature.

Verdict: We cannot say that Toyota is right for having a reason as we believe there are alternatives, but in the current situation, we can say that Toyota does hate the sunroof.

• Ford

Ford already has a very small lineup to start with, and yet they have 2 models that are provided with electronic sunroof, and one of them comes with a panoramic sunroof as well.

Only the Ecosport and the Endeavour are available with sunroofs in India. Out of which, the Endeavour sports a panoramic sunroof. The other products from Ford include Figo, Freestyle and Aspire. The future of Ford itself is unsure at the moment; hence we won’t be able to comment on their future products.

Verdict: If Ford stays and decides to bring in or probably develop some more products, then in that case, we are pretty sure they will be provided with a sunroof looking at the demands. So we can say that Ford has started loving the sunroof; it’s just that we need to start loving Ford more for them to come up with more good products.

• Honda Cars

Honda also has a very small lineup, although it is one of the oldest car manufacturers to enter India. It currently has 3 out of 4 cars that come with a sunroof.

When it comes to the sunroof, Honda follows the Hyundai way of denying the sunroof at entry-level and the cars that offer the sunroof are

1. Honda City
2. Honda Jazz
3. Honda WRV

Although the sunroof might be small, it does its duty and provides an ample amount of light to give you a more airy and spacious cabin.

Verdict: Honda definitely loves the sunroof, and the fact that most of their products have it is proof enough.

• MG Motors

MG Motors is a pretty new entrant in the Indian market and hence has only 4 products in the lineup.

What is interesting is that all their products sport not just a sunroof but a panoramic sunroof. Their products are

1. MG Hector
2. MG Hector Plus
3. MG ZS EV
4. MG Gloster

MG is not shying away from the fact that all its products are feature-rich throughout the segment.

Verdict: MG definitely loves the sunroof, and there are no two thoughts about that. We think MG might give a sunroof for every model it brings as well, but of course, we need to wait and see for that.

• Renault – Nissan

The products from these duos have created a niche requirement, and they cater to those requirements. Starting from the Kwid and the Duster, which were runaway successes for Renault, while Nissan is changing their game with the Magnite and hoping to dominate the Compact SUV segment.

But when it comes to sunroofs, both the manufacturers do not provide them on any of their products, and we are yet to see them on the new products as well. Both the Magnite and Kiger do not come with sunroofs, even as an option on the top-end trim.

Verdict: Both Renault and Nissan hate the sunroof, and they refuse to provide them to keep the costs in check.

• Volkswagen

Volkswagen is one of the largest car companies in the world, and yet their portfolio in India has been slightly poor. It has 4 cars in its lineup in India, and only 2 of them provide the option of a sunroof.

The cars that come with a sunroof are the Volkswagen T-Roc and the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace. Both of them are above the Rs.20 Lakh segment and accordingly sport a panoramic sunroof. The others that don’t come with a sunroof are the Polo and the Vento.

Verdict: Volkswagen offers the sunroof on the premium segment, so it loves the sunroof only above the 20 lakh segment and hates the sunroof for products below that.

• Skoda

Skoda also offers only 4 products in India, out of which 3 of them come with a sunroof.

The sunroof is offered on the new Kushaq, the Octavia and the Superb. The Rapid is the only product without the sunroof from their stable. Interesting to see that most of Skoda’s lineup were sedans until the Kushaq came along. Skoda has plans of introducing more products that are developed in India, so hopefully, they will be as good if not better than the Kushaq.

Verdict: Skoda definitely loves the sunroof, and we can expect it to be present on their upcoming products as well.