10 Good Cars In India That Rightfully Deserve A Second Chance!

“Was I a good car? No, you were one of the best.” Some of the cars that came to India with big expectations. Yet, they failed! Here is the list of 10 cars in India that failed but do deserve a second chance.

1. Tata Aria

   

   India’s very own carmaker, Tata launched an MPV in 2010, named Aria. It was a worthy opponent for Toyota Innova. Under the hood, it had a 2.2-litre Di-cor diesel engine 140hp of power and a peak torque of 320Nm. For your reference, the 2.5-litre diesel engine at the Toyota Innova used to produce a power of 102hp while churning out a peak torque of 200Nm. On the features front, it had steering mounted controls, infotainment system, automatic climate control, AC vents for the second and third row, 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors and much more, that too in 2010. But the Tata Aria is a failed car for sure which deserves a second chance.

2. Mahindra TUV300

   

   Only a few cars in India are rear-wheel-drive, Mahindra TUV300 being one of them. It was powered by a 1.5-litre mHawk 80 series engine capable of churning out 100hp of power and a peak torque of 240Nm. The engine came mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. It is one of the real SUVs in India, being built on a ladder on frame chassis. Apart from enthusiasts, the car didn’t go really well with the Indian buyers. The boxy looks were the major reason behind people choosing rivals over it. But this car does deserve to have a comeback.

3. Honda Mobilio

   

   One of the best MPVs to be offered in the Indian market, Honda Mobilio offered two engine options: a 1.5-litre petrol unit and a 1.5-litre diesel one. The i-VTEC petrol engine produced 119ps of power and a peak torque of 145Nm. The diesel i-DTEC engine was capable of producing 100ps of power and a peak torque of 200Nm. And it had an RS variant, a sportier Mobilio in terms of looks. Being an MPV, a fuel mileage of 24.2kmpl in the diesel variant was excellent. But the company discontinued Mobilio’ all thanks to the low sale numbers.

4. Nissan Sunny

   
   The CAAAAAAAARRRRR. It was powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine which produced almost 108hp of power. Nissan offered a CVT transmission with the engine, and let me tell you, it had one of the smoothest CVTs at that time. It had impressive handling and ride quality. The fuel mileage was good, the price of justified, the features were optimum but the sedan was not able to gain popularity in India. You must have a memory of watching the ad for this sedan for sure!

5. Ford Ikon

   

   How’s the Josh? Ford Ikon Sir! Not the car India needed but deserved. The Ford Ikon, completely tailored for Indian needs was launched back in 1999. Based on the globally sold Ford Fiesta, the company launched a sedan in November 1999 with the nameplate of Ikon. It had a 1.3-litre SOHC petrol engine which produced nearly 70hp of power and a peak torque of 100Nm. The engine came mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. The car came pretty loaded. It had power steering, power windows, air conditioner, anti-theft alarm, child safety locks, central locking, power door locks, day and night rear-view mirror and much more to the list.

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6. Punto Abarth

   

   The company advertised the Punto with a tagline, ‘The steering wheel isn’t just for steering, it’s for holding on’. Fiat in collaboration with Abarth launched the Punto, a 5-seater hatchback. Under the hood, Abarth had a 1.4-litre petrol engine capable of producing 145hp of power and 212Nm of peak torque. This unit came mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. On the features front, it had power steering, power windows, ABS with EBD, automatic climate control, airbags and much more. Yet it was not able to get the customers attracted towards it. The high starting price of ₹9.67 lakhs kept it off the charts of sales.

7. Maruti Suzuki Kizashi

   

   After the failure of Grand Vitara, Maruti should have learnt the lesson, but yet the company tried the CBU route once again. Kizashi is undoubtedly Maruti’s most disappointing venture in India till date. A lot of people remember the Kizashi as Maruti’s debut in the luxury sedan segment which didn’t turn out as Maruti probably anticipated. Kizashi is one of the most appealing Marutis in India. The Kizashi came with a 2.4 Litre petrol engine producing 175HP and 230Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and a 6-speed CVT.

8. Tata Nano

   

   “People’s Car.” Or this is what it was meant to be. Tata Nano is still the cheapest production car ever produced in India. Or was! In 2019, Tata sold ‘1’ Nano only. Tata made the car for the masses. For the ones, who dreamt of a car, but were tight on the budget. People who have a car, duly love the car. But Tata had a disappointment at its hands when the sales are concerned. What started as a promise to deliver the cheapest car, had to end with the lowest possible sales. So, do you think Tata should relaunch the Nano? Do let us know in the comments section below.

9. Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS

   

   The hot hatch from Maruti Suzuki came with the Boosterjet 1.0-litre petrol engine capable of producing 102hp of power and a peak torque of 150Nm. The current-gen Baleno offers a 1.2-litre petrol engine which churns out a peak torque of 113Nm. This is what the RS batch means. But, being a Maruti, it failed. People don’t want a performance hatch from Maruti Suzuki. And no one wanted to spend extra on a car that was identical.

10. Honda Brio

    

    A hatchback that no one has forgotten. Especially the rear windshield. My personal opinion: The best looking hatchback launched in India till now. The Brio came with a 1.2-Litre, 4-cylinder, i-VTEC engine making 87HP and 109Nm of torque mated to a 5-speed manual and 5-speed automatic transmission. But, Honda never offered a diesel engine on the Brio. And that led to low sale figures.

So these are the cars that deserve a second chance or do they? Do let us know in the comments section below.