10 Super Hyped Cars in India That Turned Out a Total Dud!

Considering the number of cars sold in India, our country stands at a decent 5th place. Well, it is evident as many of the cars sold here are good and offer an amazing value for money. In the past decade, many cars came to the shores and companies expected a ton. Little did they know that all the hype will go in vain. Today we look at 10 such cars, that were hyped but due to some reason, they just didn’t deliver what they were meant to do.

1. Tata Nano
   

   

   Ratan Tata, with the Nano, wanted to change the mentality of the Indian car buyers as his company launched the worlds cheapest car back in 2008. In 2008, Tata first showcased Nano in the Auto Expo where this car was the main attraction. Well, why not, it was the cheapest production car in the entire world. They didn’t know that the hype was a hoax and it was gonna soon gonna steep down. The sales of the Tata Nano were not as expected even with regular minor updates. Hence in 2018 for the final time, Tata stopped its production. For you to know Tata Nano had a 624cc SOHC naturally aspirated petrol engine. This small 3-cylinder motor churned 37hp of peak power and 51Nm of peak torque. Talking about acceleration, yes! this car did 0-100 (with the A/C off).

2. Maruti Suzuki A-Star
   

   

   Similar to the Tata Nano, Maruti Suzuki A-Star also debuted in the Indian market in 2008. Typical Maruti, hyped the car before its launch, later which turned out to be quite the opposite. The car offered a decent package yet it did not appeal to the Indian car buyers. That said, the A-Star came with a 1.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine. The motor produced 66hp of max power and 90Nm of peak torque. With that, Maruti was going good with the entry-level cars like wagon R but failed miserably with the A-Start.

3. Hyundai Santro
   

   

   The compact hatchback Hyundai Santro enjoyed about 20 years in the Indian market. After it was discontinued in 2015, we all had anticipated a really good car from the house of Hyundai. That said, in 2018 Hyundai did bring back the legendary Santro and cherished it with a generation change. The latest generation finally moved into the current era. But the catch is, the car though good value for money, didn’t give the market leader Maruti Suzuki the run for its money. The not so common 2018 Santro came with a 1.0-litre 4-CYLINDER naturally aspirated petrol engine. This unique motor churns out 69ps of peak power and 100Nm of peak torque. This engine is a gem engine with a deep throaty exhaust note and top of the line refinement.

4. Fiat Punto
   

   

   By now it seems that most of the cars launched in 2008 were all show and no go. Like the first two, Fiat Punto made its debut in 2008 by the name of Fiat Grande Punto. Fiat Punto was among the first host hatches to be launched in India and trust me it handled like a Go-Kart. Four engines were available with the car, a couple of diesel and petrol. Later Punto also got the Abarth DNA with a turbo petrol engine. The more powerful naturally aspirated petrol engine made 88.77hp and 115 Nm of peak torque. On the other hand, the Multijet Diesel produced 91.73hp and 209Nm of peak torque. Whereas the Abarth Punto ran on a 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine that made a whopping 145bhp and 212Nm of peak torque. Considering the size of the car, it was a pocket rocket.

5. Hyundai Aura
   

   

   After the Hyundai Xcent, the job of sales in the sub-compact sedan was handed over to the Hyundai Aura. Where the Xcent was a good buy especially for in the commercial vehicle sector, Aura took a totally different approach. This doesn’t mean that it is a bad car, its just people in the market prefer its rivals. That said, the Aura was powered by 3 engines, a couple of petrol and a diesel engine. The less powerful petrol engine makes 83ps of max power and 113 Nm of peak torque for a 1.2-litre engine. The turbo petrol though a smaller one is more powerful all thanks to the turbo magic. For instance, the 1.0-litre 3-cylinder engine produces 100ps of peak power and 172 Nm of peak torque. The diesel is the 1.2-litre engine that makes 75ps of power and 190Nm of peak torque.

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6. Ford Fiesta
   

   

   In the International market, the Ford Fiesta is considered to be a drivers car. Well, some of the famous rally racing drivers use the car in their races. But sadly that racing DNA is not a part of major of us here. Coupled with the sharp looks and the features on the inside, the Fiesta could have been a really good car from behind the wheel. Keeping that aside, Fiesta in 2010 used to run on two engines, a petrol and a diesel. The petrol was a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated engine that produced 101ps of max power and about 146ps of peak power. On the other hand, the diesel was a 1.4-litre 4 cylinder engine. Later in 2015, the engine was upgraded and was a 1.5-litre turbo diesel that made 91ps of max power and about 204 Nm of peak torque.

7. Maruti Suzuki S-Cross
   

   

   In 2015 after a really long time, Maruti Suzuki again tried to go premium with the then-new S-Cross. In fact, this cross-over was the car to start the premium Maruti Suzuki dealership ‘Nexa’. With that began the new era of vehicles from Maruti Suzuki, at least that’s what the company thought. Because Maruti was on top of the sales charts for almost forever, the company played a gamble of bringing this S-Cross with a more powerful engine. Initially, this cross-over came with two engine options. A 1.6-litre DDiS 320 which was an import straight from the euro spec vehicle. The other was the tried and tested 1.3-DDiS 200 Multijet turbo diesel. So, the bigger engine made 120ps of peak power and 320 Nm of peak torque. On the flip side, the DDiS 200 churns 90ps of peak power and 200 Nm of max torque.

8. Tata Aria
   

   

   In 2010 Tata introduced a new MPV that had a ladder on frame construction. Where this type of construction is good for off-roading, it is not at all recommended for day to day driving. But talking about the ride quality, Tata Aria had an exceptional ride and handling features. The sheer size was the bottleneck for the car buyer as it was hard to manoeuvre in the city. That said it was powerful, it was feature-loaded, and it was spacious. Tata Aria came with a 2.2-litre Dicor engine that produced 140ps of max power and 320 Nm of peak torque. later the power was bumped up to 147ps.

9. Maruti Suzuki Kizashi
   

   

   It was 2011 when the leading car maker Maruti Suzuki brought a premium luxury saloon to our shores. It was not manufactured or assembled here in India, rather it was imported, taking the price of this sedan really high. So, the car came with just one variant with one engine option. It was 2.4litre naturally aspirated petrol engine churning 178hp and 300Nm of peak torque. Not just that, Maruti Suzuki Kizashi also came with top-notch features on the inside, that also included powered seats, dual-zone climate control and more.

10. Honda Civic
    

    

    The legend is back, is what Honda said as they brought back the Civic. Starting with the engine, I guess Honda took their quote too seriously. The new Honda Civic came with the same engine that came in the previous generation. The engine was or rather is a 1.8-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine. So, this i-VTEC motor produces 141ps of max power and 174Nm of peak torque. These figures are slightly up from its previous generation that made 130ps of peak power and 172Nm of peak torque.

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So these were the 10 cars that we think were hyped and didn’t deliver what the companies expected. Do let us know in the comment section below, did we miss any of such cars?

Also, Read: 7 Defunct Automotive Manufacturers in India | Gone Too Soon