India's Love Affair With Small Cars CANNOT Be Solely Credited To Maruti Suzuki

The automotive world lost a legend last month, the visionary Osamu Suzuki, the former Chairman and CEO of Suzuki Motor Corporation. He was the man behind the mighty Maruti 800, a car responsible for putting India on wheels.

Most Indian drivers today have either learnt to drive with a small Maruti car, if not, they must have driven one at some point. This is how deep-rooted Maruti Suzuki is in India. The simple reasons behind this immense nationwide admiration are very easy-to-drive and low-maintenance vehicles that come at affordable prices.

Maruti Suzuki's contributions are second to none in putting India on wheels. However, it was not alone in the journey. Maruti’s initial success inspired many indigenous and foreign brands to build their economy-centric vehicles for India. Many of these cars still exist in the market, albeit in newer generations, and only a few of them have been discontinued. Some, sadly, have left India.

However, we can not neglect the fact that all of these brands laid the foundation for the modern Indian automobile industry. 

Today, we will be remembering some of the iconic small cars, some of them are still on sale while a few have bid farewell. These very cars are responsible for the growth of the Indian automobile industry. 

Cars that made India fall in love with driving

Chapter 1: Maruti Suzuki begins 

In the 1980s, there were only a few cars on sale in India like the Fiat Padmini, Hindustan Ambassador, Contessa, Standard 2000 etc. These cars were out of budget for most Indians and also not very easy to drive and maintain. This is where the Maruti Suzuki saw the most opportunity and brought in the car which changed the Indian automobile industry forever. 

Maruti opened bookings for the 800 on April 9, 1983. The popularity of this car can be gauged by the number of bookings the vehicle achieved at the time. It attracted nearly 120,000 customers who booked the car with an advance of INR 10,000. For those complaining about long waiting periods on cars, the waiting time for this car was up to three years for some people. 

Other than the legendary 800, Maruti also introduced some other iconic cars in the same era, like the Omni van, the Maruti 1000 sedan and India’s first-ever hot hatch, the Zen.

But Maruti wasn't done

The Omni was the second Maruti car in India based on the Suzuki Carry from Japan. It was a passenger van with almost one BHK worth of space at a very affordable price. It had iconic sliding doors, which made ingress and egress a breeze. Because of these sliding doors, the Omni was also notorious in several Bollywood movies of that time. 

Cargo versions of the Omni helped small entrepreneurs and businesses move India, thus indirectly contributing to our economy. It borrowed the 800's 3-cylinder petrol engine and despite being low on power, the van's clever design worked wonders in India for 35 years!

Although the Omni had to be phased due to regulatory norms, Maruti gave the van duties to the Eeco, a stripped-down version of the older Versa which itself was based on the 10th Gen Carry from Japan.

A sedan for the masses

Since India loved sedans, the Maruti 1000 had to come in. Based on the older generation Swift from Europe, this car was the first Maruti sedan for the nation and it became very popular for its performance. However, the underpinnings of a compact hatchback meant that the 1000 was cramped in the rear row and it was pricey for its time. The 970cc 4-cylinder engine was also deemed inadequate.

Hence, Maruti gave it a new 1.3-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine and a new name to enhance its appeal, the Esteem. The Esteem went on to put a greater show on the sales charts and its engine found its way into the first-gen Swift. 

Maruti Zen

The Zen was a modern and better-engineered version of the 800. An interesting fact about the Zen is that it was an acronym for “Zero Engine Noise”, indicating how refined its engine was.

The Zen was also celebrated as the first hot hatch of the nation because it was very fun to drive by that time’s standards. This car had much improved aerodynamics compared to the Maruti 800 and it also got a beefier new four-cylinder engine. This 993cc engine was a big upgrade compared to the 796cc 3-cylinder engine on the 800, making 50 hp of peak power. This upgrade, which does not seem huge on paper today, made a tonne of difference back in the day. The Zen was essentially a pocket rocket!

However, other manufacturers had newer ideas to pamper the mushrooming Indian auto sector. 

Chapter 2: The emergence of Hyundai

With the economy opened in 1994, the Indian automobile industry started growing and attracted many global brands. One such brand was South Korea's Hyundai which arrived in India in 1996. The Korean automaker established a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu, thus showing that they were well prepared for a long journey in India. 

After Maruti, Hyundai is one of the key brands that contributed to the initial growth of the Indian automobile industry. They launched the iconic Santro in the year 1998 as their debut car, with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador.  It became an instant hit and a big headache for all its rivals.

Indian customers were impressed by the spacious cabin of the Santro as it was the first tallboy car in the country. It was significantly different from any other car of that time. The Santro offered a nicer driving experience, a lot of modern comfort features and an overall appealing package. The Santro’s success made Hyundai the second-largest carmaker in India. 

In 2003, Hyundai launched the Santro Xing, a more feature-loaded, better-designed and well-built version of the Santro. Indians fell in love with this new avatar of the Santro and the car sold faster than hotcakes. The Santro Xing is still used in massive numbers in Mumbai as "Kaali Peeli" taxis. Other than these commercial uses, the car is still very popular in the second-hand market because of its refined engine and CNG compatibility which results in low running costs.

Santro inspired WagonR

Santro's huge success was not unnoticed by Maruti Suzuki. They geared up and brought the WagonR to India in the year 1999. The WagonR wasn't as good-looking and spacious as the Santro but Maruti's lower price helped them gather more sales for the car.

Times have changed dramatically, the WagonR is still ruling the national sales chart and sadly the Santro is discontinued.

Building on the success of the Santro, Hyundai introduced the i10 in 2007. The i10 brought a fresh design and modern features, making it a favourite among urban drivers. Its compact size, fuel efficiency, and feature-rich cabin made it a popular choice amongst many middle-class buyers.

The Grand i10, launched in 2013, further solidified Hyundai's reputation for quality and innovation. With its premium interiors, refined engine, and advanced features, the Grand i10 offered a perfect blend of comfort and performance, appealing to a wide range of customers. The Grand i10 is now known as the Grand i10 Nios and it still is one of the top-selling cars of its segment. 

Gauging the increasing success of more premium variants, Hyundai launched the i20 in 2008. It was a premium hatchback that redefined the segment with its stylish design, spacious interiors and powerful engine options. The i20 quickly became a favourite among young buyers looking for a car that offered a premium feel over the rest of the cars of that time. The Hyundai i20 created the premium hatchback segment which now also has cars like the Tata Altroz and the superhit Maruti Baleno hatch.

Hyundai also created the compact sedan

The unimaginable success of the Santro motivated Hyundai India to launch their second vehicle in the nation dubbed as the Accent. This compact sedan arrived in India in the year 1999 and Indian driving enthusiasts fell in love with its performance. The car was equipped with a 1.5-litre petrol burner which chuned out 96hp and about 134Nm of peak torque. These performance figures made the Hyundai Accent an enthusiast favourite. It even managed to attract many Maruti Esteem buyers which was a top seller in this segment at that time. 

The Accent eventually gave way to the Xcent, a compact sedan built on the Grand i10 platform to tackle the threat from the Maruti Dzire and Tata Indigo CS (more on this later). After an immense success with family owners and fleet operators, Hyundai ditched the name and made it the Aura, giving it new styling and an even better value-for-money package.

Chapter 3: Designed in India, for India

How can we talk about the Indian automobile industry and miss the legendary Tata Indica? It was India's first fully indigenous passenger car, designed and manufactured by Tata Motors. The Indica gave hope to India that even a made-in-India car can be stylish, comfortable and fun to drive.

It was one of the dream projects of the visionary businessman Ratan Tata. His vision with Indica was to create a car that was affordable, roomy and tough enough to handle Indian roads. He wanted the car to have the rear seat comfort of the Hindustan Ambassador while the design of the car should make a statement on the global platforms. The Tata Indica was designed collaboratively by the Engineering Research Centre in Pune and I.DE.A, an Italian company renowned for designing the Alfa Romeo 155 and Ferrari Mondial. No wonder the Indica still looks pretty even today!

The Indica was launched on December 30, 1998 and it became a massive hit. The Indica garnered over 1 lakh bookings within a week of its launch, which frightened Maruti and led them to lower the prices of the M800 by INR 30,000.

The Tata Indica was a hatchback with a 1.4-litre diesel engine and features like air conditioning and electric windows, central locking and a roomy cabin. However, the Indica faced several quality and engineering issues, including uneven tyre wear, belt noise and defective pulleys. These issues led to consumer complaints and criticism from the competition. A refined Indica V2 came later and fixed most of the issues. While the diesel-engined Indica bore the brunt of the huge demand, Tata Motors came up with frugal petrol engines to combat the rising pollution and attain lower prices.

Tata built the Indica on a monocoque chassis named the X1 platform. The same platform was later used for other Tata cars like the Vista, Bolt, Zest and, more surprisingly, the Nexon! You see, the Indica's spirits still live on in the country's top-selling compact SUV even today!

Indica inspired the Swift

Maruti saw the success of Tata Indica and they couldn't keep calm. The WagonR was no match for the Indica's spacious cabin and its flairy exteriors. This is when Maruti decided to bring the first generation Maruti Swift to India.

The Swift offered a perfect blend of performance, comfort, reliability, European style and affordability. The recipe became an instant hit in the country. The Swift has been a continuous top seller and it still rules the sales charts in its segment. Inspired by the Indica, the Swift also got a 1.3-litre Fiat-sourced diesel engine, which coupled with its lightweight body, made the Swift very swift! And frugal!

Had it not been for the regulations, the Swift diesel would have continued to sell like hotcakes. That said, the fourth-gen Swift with its efficient 3-cylinder petrol engine achieves the same kinds of fuel economy figures! 

India wanted to go more!

Tata Motors knew that Indians loved sedans and hence, a Tata-branded sedan had to come. Hence, in 2002, the Indica gave birth to the Indigo. It had more space for the rear occupants with a more comfortable cabin, a larger boot and a premium styling that superseded the Esteem and any other sedan on sale at the time. The diesel engine made it frugal to own. 

But Maruti had a 'Dzire'

Hence, Maruti took the Swift and gave it a boot! It was ugly and struggled to verify its nameplate: the Swift Dzire. However, the value-centric market in India lapped it up like free sweets at a temple! The Swift Dzire outsold the Indigo and anything else India had ever seen!

It was based on the first-generation Swift, with the same trim levels and engine variants. It had a 1.3-litre petrol engine and a 1.3-litre diesel engine, both paired with a 5-speed manual transmission.

Tata now wanted to take a dig at compact Marutis!

Tata knew that Indians loved sedans but only wanted to pay a lower price. Hence, they took the Indigo and chopped its boot to limit the length to 4 metres, calling it the Indigo CS. The sub-4-meter length of the sedan helped Tata evade a higher tax and hence, price it moderately higher than the Indica hatchback. The Indigo CS essentially offer a larger boot for the price of a hatchback! India, as a result, was hooked and they bought Indigo CSes like there was no tomorrow!

But Maruti couldn't sit silent. And same can be said for Honda and Hyundai. Hence, a couple of years later, we saw the emergence of cars like the chopped Swift Dzire (now called the Dzire), the Honda Amaze and the Hyundai Xcent (now the Aura). The refined and efficient engines of the competition eventually phased out the Indigo CS and despite Tata Motors replacing it with the Tigor, Tata's sub-4-meter sedan has struggled to pick sales ever since.

Chapter 4: Injecting some 'Josh'

While the cat-and-mouse game went on between Maruti and its rivals, Ford saw an opportunity to enter India and compete in the compact sedan segment. While the Escort failed to give Ford any traction in India, Ford's decision to bring the Ikon changed the blue oval's fortunes. 

Ford introduced the iconic Ikon to the Indian market in 1999. It was based on the Ford Fiesta Mark IV and tailored for Indian needs. The car was equipped with a powerful 1.3-litre SOHC petrol engine that produced nearly 70 hp of peak power and a peak torque of 100Nm. The boot at the back offered ample storage space for luggage and the cabin, while being compact, made a big impact on occupants. It was one of the best-performing cars of that time and rightly justified its unique slogan, “The JOSH Machine.”

The Ikon paved way for the Fiesta sedan and that too worked wonders for the brand. The Fiesta was pricey though and Ford's Indian arm realised the need for an affordable hatchback. Since they had the premium and unsuccessful Ford Fusion in the inventory, Ford repurposed it to create the Figo. This was a masterclass!

The Figo shocked Maruti, Tata and Hyundai!

The first generation Ford Figo, launched in India in 2010, quickly became a popular choice among enthusiasts. This compact hatchback was known for its low-slung stylish design, spacious interiors and impressive performance. It was launched in India as the replacement of the Ford Fusion crossover and was based on the underpinnings of the Ford Fiesta hatchback.

Under the hood, the Figo offered both petrol and diesel engine options, providing excellent fuel efficiency and a thrilling driving experience. The petrol variant came with a 1.2-liter engine while the diesel version featured a 1.4-liter engine. The diesel Figo was known to be a pocket rocket and it also returned great fuel economy. The second-gen iteration of the Figo not only added more upmarket features and a roomier cabin but it also spawned a compact sedan version -- the Aspire. The Freestyle crossover variant came with slightly more ground clearance and rugged exteriors.

Then came the EcoSport!

The arrival of the EcoSport changed the way India saw compact cars. The 2013 EcoSport popularised the compact SUV class of vehicles and changed India's taste in small cars. The EcoSport was based on the Fiesta's underpinnings and hence, it drove like a hot hatch. Although 1-litre 3-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine delivered 99 hp to play with, India loved the 1.5-litre TDCI diesel engine for its superior economy figures. The butch SUV-like styling with the tailgate-mounted spare wheel made the EcoSport more appealing. 

Maruti and its friends had to fight back. Hence, within three years, India saw cars like the Maruti Brezza, Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV 300. The rest is history. While the segment saw unparalleled popularity, the EcoSport fell out of favour due to its ageing components. 

Ford eventually shut operations in India and discontinued its global compact cars portfolio. But the blue oval had left its mark on the Indian compact car segment.

Chapter 4: The niche cars

Daewoo Matiz

The Daewoo brand came up with a small hatchback called the Matiz in 1998. The Matiz gave a good performance with its 796cc engine that churned 52 hp of peak power and a peak torque of 71 Nm. It also had a claimed fuel efficiency of 18.5 km/l. Also, this car was very spacious and offered a much-needed comfortable ride to the occupants.

However, due to poor service from the company and tough competition from already established cars like Maruti 800 and Hyundai Santro, the Matiz could never really take off and was discontinued in 2000. In 2002, General Motors bought the Daewoo and later introduced Matiz in India in the form of Chevrolet Spark. The refined Spark was now loved by the masses and the brand managed to sell it in good numbers. 

Chevrolet followed it up with the irresistible compact hatch, called the Beat. The Beat did good sales numbers and held on for the company. Sadly, Chevy focused on its SAIC partnership greatly and gave Indians the dull Sail hatchbacks as well as the Enjoy MPV. Chevy had to quit India. 

Fiat Uno and Palio

The Fiat Uno and Fiat Palio are cars that many remember fondly in India.

Fiat Uno was introduced in India in the year 1996. It was a small, practical hatchback known for its roomy interior and good fuel efficiency. It stood out with its European design and reliable performance, competing with cars like the Maruti Suzuki 800 and Zen. While the 800 was known for being affordable and the Zen for its sporty feel, the Uno offered something unique with its stylish look and smooth ride.

The Fiat Palio came to India in 2001 and it was built on Uno's popularity. It was more modern and sturdy, available in different styles like hatchback and station wagon. The Palio was known for its comfortable ride and powerful engines. It competed with cars like the Hyundai Santro and Maruti Suzuki Wagon R. The Santro was famous for its reliability, and the Wagon R for its practicality, but the Palio stood out with its strong build and good performance.

Both cars, the Uno and Palio, had their loyal fans who loved their Italian design and enjoyable driving experience. They bring back memories of a time when driving was more about the joy of the journey. Even though they're not made anymore, they still hold a special place in the hearts of those who drove them.

Fiat Punto, Linea and Abarth Punto

Fiat continued its India journey by launching more cars like the Punto, Linea and Abarth Punto in India. 

Fiat Punto was introduced in India in 2009 and quickly gained popularity for its sleek Italian design and solid build. The Punto's stylish exteriors and spacious interiors made it a favourite among young buyers and families. Its reliable performance, combined with a well-balanced ride and handling, set it apart from competitors. The Punto offered a range of petrol and diesel engines, delivering a smooth and enjoyable driving experience. 

The Fiat Linea, launched in 2008, was the sedan counterpart of the Punto. It boasted an elegant design, comfortable interiors and a spacious cabin, making it a preferred choice for those seeking a touch of luxury in their everyday drives. The Linea's robust build and advanced features like Blue&Me technology and an intuitive infotainment system added to its appeal. Its powerful engines, both petrol and diesel, provided a great balance between performance and fuel efficiency.

In 2015, Fiat launched the Abarth Punto, a car for true enthusiasts. The Abarth Punto was a high-performance version of the Punto, featuring a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine that produced an exhilarating 145 hp of peak power. With its sporty design, lowered suspension and distinctive Abarth badging, this car was all about speed and agility. The Abarth Punto offered a thrilling driving experience which made it an enthusiast's favourite. We get to see a few of these on the streets and keep drooling over the attractive design and the soothing exhaust note for days.

All these Fiat cars hold a special place in the hearts of those who experienced their charm. They represented the best of Fiat's Italian craftsmanship, delivering style, performance, and driving pleasure. Though they are no longer in production, their legacy continues to live on in the memories of countless Indian car enthusiasts.

The conclusion

The Indian automobile industry is still very young, compared to some other developed nations. The foundation of the industry has been made very solid by the hard work of various manufacturers and their iconic cars. Now we are considered a world-class manufacturing hub for many indigenous as well as foreign brands. 

We have certainly come a long way from the era of the Ambassador and Padmini. 

There is no doubt about the fact that Maruti Suzuki has played a very crucial role in the evolution of the Indian automobile industry, especially in the compact car segment. However, it is worth noting that brands like Tata Hyundai, Ford, Fiat, Honda and others have also played pivotal roles by bringing world-class vehicles, all of which inspired Maruti Suzuki to make efforts and upscale its cars. If none of these brands existed, Maruti's evolution from the 800 to today's cars like Baleno, Fronx, Grand Vitara and Dzire might not have been possible. 

With the future expected to be dominated by efficient and environmentally sound urban movers like the new petrol Swift, the electric super-compact MG Comet and the plush Tata Tiago EV, the small car segment holds more potential and excitement than ever.

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