8 Indian Cars With Maximum Number Of Haters

With the exit of many eminent brands from India, everyone knows it’s not a piece of cake to be in the good books for Indian customers. That said, it takes a lot of planning and zillion hit and trials to get to the right product in the country. And to do exactly that, there are numerous times that the carmakers did bring in a product (car) in the market but it didn’t do well. Or rather, that helped the company learn what not to manufacture in India. So, in today’s read, we bring you 8 cars that many of us feel were not good hence these vehicles landed in the hall of hate. Let’s get going!

1. Mahindra Quanto
   

   

   Starting with the list we have the vehicle that was Mahindra’s take on the subcompact SUV, the Quanto. Essentially Mahindra Quanto is the chopped off version of the brand once taxi king, the Xylo. Well, it literally seemed to be a chopped off version of the Xylo as the rear end of the Quanto was a little too abrupt.

   

   Guess, this was one of the reasons, the car didn’t make it to the home of a lot of customers. Keeping the design aside, the Mahindra Quanto was surely more practical than its competition. For starters, Quanto was a 7 seater whereas its rivals could only seat 5. But the 2 side-facing jump seats in the boot, were best suited for children.

   More about Mahindra Quanto (NuvoSport) | A Mini-Xylo That No One Wanted

2. Premier Rio
   

   

   One of the lesser-known cars in the Indian market is Premier Rio. For those who do not know, the ‘Premier’ brand is the very same brand that manufactured the Padmini in the late 19th century. During the evolution in the Indian automobile industry, Premier launched the Rio in India in 2012.

   

   Fun Fact: Premier Rio was the first subcompact SUV in India. Also, it was indigenously manufactured. Of course with some aid from a Chinese company. Because of the design and lack of demand, Premier Rio was not able to make a dent in the market.

   Know more about Premier Rio | A Failed Rebadged Chinese Car

3. Sonalika Rhino
   

   

   Remember, there was an MPV in the Indian market that was and still is considered the OGs of taxis called the Toyota Qualis? Well, it was discontinued just to make way for the improved and still going strong Toyota Innova. Keeping that aside Sonalika was somewhat an attempt to revive the OG Qualis (by just using the exterior design).

   

   How you may ask? From the looks of it, Sonalika Rhino had a similar body structure. But the front end and the rear of the vehicle was thoroughly reworked. But this rework gave the vehicle weird characteristics and the resemblance provided it with negative criticism. Hence, it was not sold in large numbers and it ended up in the hall of hate.

   Interesting Read: Sonalika Rhino: An MPV from the most successful tractor brand

4. Mahindra Verito Vibe
   

   

   Renault in collaboration with the Indian brand Mahindra came to India with the Logan. Next, Mahindra gave the vehicle a unique touch just to experiment with the Verito Vibe, which tribally failed. The renowned Indian carmaker Mahindra loves to just chop the rear section of cars gives them a new identity. The same happened with Logan or Verito in India. The Mahindra Verito’s boot was slashed just to make it a little smaller and more typical than practical.

   

   This act of Mahindra gave the Vibe a not so Vibing appeal and hence it did land in the hall of hate. The things were even annoying as the boot of the Vrito Vibe was not at all practical. Firstly it was not at all proportional meaning it was practically impractical. Further, the loading area was rather quirky and small leaving the space at the rear even less user friendly.

   Recommended: Remembering The Renault Logan | A Byproduct Of Mahindra-Renault Venture

5. Renault Lodgy
   

   

   Only a few cars from the French carmaker Renault have done well in India, clearly, Lodgy is not one of them. To take the competition to one of India’s most affordable MPV, the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, Renault launched the Lodgy. Keeping the personal thoughts aside, it didn’t do well in here (though it was a capable MPV).

   

   Renault Lodgy was affordable, it was powerful and it offered more space on the inside than its rival. Still, because of some aspects like an extra tall vehicle height and a vanilla looking exterior, it was a flop vehicle. Not many in India fell for this rather functional and utilitarian MPV Lodgy in India.

   Related: 7 MPVs That Failed In The Indian Market

6. Volkswagen Ameo
   

   

   It’s a little weird that once in a lifetime a carmaker did something quirky to escape from some taxes, Volkswagen Ameo is a perfect example. In the peak time when compact sedans were selling big, Volkswagen did something unusual. They chopped off the Vento and made a sub-4-meter iteration of the vehicle.

   

   Though it had retained all the characteristics of the Vento and Polo for that matter it was well, unproportionate. Because of this, not many people are fans of this vehicle and this subcompact sedan ended up you know where. This vehicle was somewhere between its parent cars, the Polo and the Vento. More Practical than Polo but cheaper than the Vento. Still, this was a good attempt from the German carmaker Volkswagen that failed.

   Interesting Read: 5 Cars Discontinued Within 5 Years Of Their Launch

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7. Mahindra KUV100
   

   

   If we make a list of quirky looking vehicles, Mahindra would have the maximum number of the car in it. But let me get it clear, it is a good thing as Mahindra likes to experiment a lot. Another experiment from this never giving up carmaker is the KUV100. Mahindra, the company known to only have SUVs in its lineup dedicated itself to make a micro SUV, KUV100 was exactly that.

   

   Speaking of which, this was or rather is among the first micro SUVs in India. Because of its weird proportions, it is not so common on the road. By now it seems in India, jo dikhta hai voi bikta hai. Meaning the things that look good sells good. Moving on, it was practical on the inside as this micro SUV could seat a maximum of 6 people in decent comfort (yes it gets an option of a 5 as well as a 6 seater).

   More about: Mahindra KUV100NXT BS6 petrol priced at Rs 5.50 lakhs

8. Nissan Evalia
   

   

   Another Japanese carmaker that is in its league is Nissan and an experiment that didn’t go as planned was the Nissan Evalia. Like most of the other vehicles on this list, Evalia was practical and was built to precisely do one thing, transport people in comfort. And it did exactly that with quite finesse.

   

   If you haven’t guessed its rivals already, Nissan Evalia was an attempt to rival the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and still the king Toyota Innova. Guess, people, resist change. In the end, Nissan Evalia did not deliver good sales numbers in 2015 the company gave up on Evalia for India.

   Let us Recall The Nissan Evalia | When Nissan thought ahead of the time

   Fun Fact: the Indian heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland did help Nissan and launched a rebadged Evalia called the Stile. Again it flopped most probably because of the same reason.

Let us know in the comment section, which according to you is the most hated car in the Indian market. Help us with Part 2 in making.