ZigOpinion: India’s Newfound Love For Affordable Sportier Cars

India has a shortage of sportier cars on a budget – the real deal and not the sorry sticker jobs that are unmemorable. History saw many entrants in this niche club and to be honest, nothing really clicked. Most of them turned out to be sales duds and some sold reasonable digits, but not one car tasted success if you solely go by the numbers. Just when we thought a revival might be out of the cards, there has been some activity in the enthusiast-oriented space of late. So, what’s changed?

The backstory and the backbenchers

The Zen Carbon/Steel started it all back in the day. Although a collectible today, a Zen with two doors missing did not seem like the best idea to the masses then. The Fiat Palio 1.6 S10 was an absolute peach to drive and despite being limited to 500 units, nobody saw it fly off the showrooms. Skoda’s Octavia RS did throw a punch but it wasn’t really a numbers car.

Ford brought in the Fiesta 1.6S which received rave reviews from everyone for its chassis and dynamics. But the same enthusiasm was nowhere to be found when it came to picking one instead of a run-of-the-mill sedan. The Skoda Laura vRS followed its predecessor's footsteps, both in performance and sales figures.

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After a brief hiatus, Maruti Suzuki gave us the Baleno RS and Ford tried to pull off another Fiesta 1.6S with the Figo S and Aspire S. Although these cars did better numbers than everything else before, it wasn’t substantial enough. If it had been, then Maruti would’ve given us another RS, maybe a Swift RS, or even the Swift Sport. And we all know what happened to Ford in India.

Kudos to Fiat for launching the Abarth Punto. But even a turbocharged mill with close to 150PS couldn’t save its ill fate. The Tata Tiago and Tigor JTP were the last of it and all of these cars are now confined to the used car market. One could argue the Volkswagen Polo GT twins did rope in some amazing numbers. But then, apart from the engine/gearbox combo, there weren’t any changes whatsoever to classify it as an outright driver’s car. Also, without the DSG gearbox, we seriously don’t think it would’ve been the same. 

Did N Line crack the code? 

We don’t know what really happened but the Indian automotive scene is not the same anymore. We have started drooling over lifestyle vehicles and the Mahindra Thar’s success is a result of that. Moreover, it seems like Indian consumers have also started liking special edition drivers’ cars. A case in point is the Hyundai i20 N Line. Over 10 percent of i20 buyers are picking the N Line and that is a welcome change. The hatchback registers around 7000 odd numbers every month and with basic maths, we know that on average, Hyundai sells around 700 N Line cars.

These are solid figures and Hyundai should be happy with that because it has launched the Venue N Line with the same formulae of go-fast bits and goodies. Similar to the i20 N Line, it gets an array of visual changes with racy red accents, a new set of 16-inch alloy wheels, a new spoiler, the same red treatment for the cabin, sportier exhaust note and tip, four disc brakes, stiffer suspension and steering revisions to aid dynamics. 

Volkswagen and Skoda registering good numbers for the Virtus and Slavia also point towards the change in market perception towards fun cars. Mahindra’s decision to plonk a powerful engine in the XUV300 and suffix it with a ‘TurboSport’ badge might pay off, unlike how Renault could not do the same with the 156PS Duster Turbo. Although the Duster Turbo had something going for it, the fact that it was dated in contrast to the competition put off most of its buyers. All we hope is that more manufacturers go the same path as Hyundai and give us some exciting cars that won’t cost an arm and a leg.

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It is obvious that electrics will soon become the norm and within no time they will knock at our doors. ICE is on its way out and these sportier cars on a budget are more like the last hurrah. Indian enthusiasts and buyers might have finally warmed up to them knowing these might not exist in the near future. Or maybe, just maybe, Hyundai is at the right place at the right moment, other manufacturers weren’t; or like we said, India is finally ready for special fun-to-drive cars. Our bets are on the latter, what about you?