Maruti Suzuki

Ever since Maruti Suzuki set up shop in the Indian Market in it has gone onto revolutionise the Indian car market. When it started out back in 1984 with the 800 Maruti Udyog set up a bench mark for quality and reliability in the passenger car market in India. And unlike most companies who tend to slip with their own standards overtime, nothing of the sort happened to Maruti, their quality since then has been top notch. So the basic requirement from a manufacturer has been looked after then. Oh, and they do have the widest service network in the country, a fact acknowledged by the sales figures.

Research and Development

The Boffins at Maruti Suzuki were clearly asleep for just a little over a decade since the launch of their first car here. They did absolutely nothing to modify their cars or make them safer or add any new features whatsoever.  Actually come to think of it I don’t think they had a R&D department at all. Then the Indian Government kicked in and enforced the Euro II emissions norms. Suddenly the people at Maruti cleared the recess room and set it up into an R&D office. Here they did many exciting things such as introduce VX versions of some of their cars which featured power windows and power steering and so on.

And their efforts have to be commended. Since they set up that room, they were the first car maker in India to offer climate control, airbags and antilock brakes in a car which cost on the happier side of the 10 lakh price bracket.

The Change

Yes, I ‘am talking about the Maruti Suzuki Swift. With the Swift Maruti revolutionised the Indian car market. It offered to the public features that no car below the 10 lakh price mark could offer. 

After the Swift’s success Maruti upgraded all of their cars that could carry off those USP features. As a result, today Maruti has the Indian car market gripped by the plums. Their efforts have to be commended. The whole of the hatchback market is in Maruti’s background. Their cars are well made, well equipped and have good engines. And they are cheap to maintain, because all their cars share components and are produced in bulk competitors cannot match their spare parts pricing to Maruti. What impresses me is that despite the mass production their quality is still very good and everything in their cars are built to last.

The dip in the curve

However, the down side is that the company feels hideously inbred. I mean just look at all their stuff the stereo, the buttons and knobs, the steering wheel, the seat fabric. Everything is exactly the same in almost every car they make. The seat fabric on the Swift is fine for a 5 lakh car but the exact stuff on the Vitara’s seats, come on.

Then there are the cars themselves. In order to capture the market share Maruti has gone and launched multiple models on the same platform, so they can capture the market share with different models. While it is always a good thing to cut costs, their design department has suffered, result the new Zen and Ritz. The Swift and Wagon R are fine, I get their point, but the Zen and Ritz?? If you want to do it then at least do it well.

And the Swift Dzire, what in God’s name is that. The back looks like a million bees have stung the backside of a monkey. And the handling of the car is, I’m sorry I can’t stop laughing, but its rubbish.

Back to the Swift, it’s a great car and I get the cheaper variants of it. But why did they have to go and fit the tyres from a peddle car on the Vxi and Lxi versions? Fine I get it, alloys are expensive. So what’s the matter with giving steel rims the size of the alloys on the Zxi?? If Maruti say the tyres are cheaper, why don’t they buy the wider tyres in bulk for all three versions considering the number of Vxi and Lxi versions sold, and this is only a hunch, the cost is bound to turn out to be the same, if not less. It’s not too late Maruti, come on you can still redeem yourself.

The SX4, a car that competes in its segment with seat fabric fit for a 6 lakh car, no leather anywhere and plastic borrowed from its hatchback siblings. Coupled with a bumpy and unsporty ride (no idea how they managed both at the same time) and an engine whose mid range is great but everything else isn’t, the car only sells because of its somewhat odd but popular looks and high ground clearance, which you have to admit is good for Indian roads. I love the spacious and airy cabin though it's a nice place to be in, shame about the materials used.

So, there you are the best car maker in the country with plenty of room for improvement. Let’s hope for the best then. Come on Maruti it’s nothing you can’t do.

Haha, Mr Ramesh

On November 12th the Environment Minister Mr Jairam Ramesh went on to say that it was "criminal" to use SUVs in India. He went on to name German Automakers, specifically Mercedes Benz and BMW for manufacturing such cars in India.
The German Ambassador to India Thomas Matussek responded to Mr Ramesh's statement by rightly saying that German Automakers have "the most outstanding expertise in engine development and is proud to have some of the most sustainable car companies in the world who have pioneered in CO2 emission cuts...., attributed widely to a variety of fuel saving and emissions-reducing measures....".
Now that is clearly a well cut out reply. But just look in your own backyard Mr Ramesh. The leaders of this country like the Prime Minister of India, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and numerous others all use a more crude form of an SUV called a Tata Safari, a car whose emission standards are way below that of German SUVs.
So according to Mr Ramesh it's alright for national leaders to pollute our environment with a crude excuse for an SUV while better cars are labelled to be "criminal."
What a pathetic joke.

The car that put me on wheels

As a little boy my Dad bought me a plastic peddle car in the shape of a jeep, metallic gray it was with plastic tyres and all. It was my pride & glory for a number of years until my legs would no longer fit in the foot well. That I like to believe is how my passion for cars started. I drove around the house at full peddle power sliding around the custom made indoor race course, in the process damaging a lot of my mum's valuable decor. 

Then, in 2004 I had a set of keys to a shiny new Euro 2 Maruti Suzuki 800. It gave me a sense of freedom, I could go anywhere I wanted when I wanted without having to rely on anybody else. That I believe is the most important reason for the ever growing demand for a car.  

The Car

Anyway back to the car. The little 800 was a delight. It was extremely easy to drive, being a Gypsy graduate it actually felt like driving a toy car. And what a toy car it was, 800cc with 36 break horse power on tap. Now while that might not sound like a lot it actually wasn't. But the fact that the car only weighed a mere 650 kgs did help. 

It may only have had a tiny 800cc engine, it may only have had 36 puny horses under the bonnet, it may have had leaf spring suspension, the air con unit made more noise than the engine did, but it had the one factor that every car aspires to have, it had character. It was a basic car no frills, but thrill it did.  

The Drive

Bigger and more powerful cars were put to shame on the streets of Guwahati as a mint white 800 shot past everything in its view, through every little barely manageable gap. Sometimes it messed with the ego of other drivers in more powerful cars. Shift a cog down and the competitor faded from my rear view mirror in no time. The mid range of the 800 was its strongest point. The ideal gear was 3rd in the city. From 30 kph it pulled with all its might and before you knew it the engine was screaming at 65 kph. There was no limiter but a good driver knows the sweet spot for changing gears and in the 800 this was it.

The best part about the car as I always say was the steering. It was deadly accurate. It might only have been a basic car but sometimes that isn't a bad thing. Because everything was so direct the steering was too. Just point the car into a gap and shoot, I can bet you a million bucks it will not budge a centimeter off target. But more importantly you could feel the road with the steering. You knew what was going on all the time and that inspired major confidence while driving. Till date I have not driven a car with as a good a steering as the 800 had, and that is a big compliment.  

The Handling

The little car was so chuck able. The fantastic steering combined with the suspension setup provided excellent body control. The car went where you wanted it to go every single time. It inspired confidence. There was a little body roll past 60 kph but nothing that you can't manage. The grip from the tyres was good. It didn't have a very comfortable ride over bumps but the upside was that the car was so light that if you drove fast enough it would just float over them. 

The real Achilles heel of this car was high end speeds. I topped it at a 135 kph on the highway. But as you go past a 100 kph the front starts to lift, it goes light. You have to really concentrate to keep the car on the road. But that doesn’t stop 800 drivers from doing so. And it certainly didn't stop me. The car never lost its composure entirely till its top speed so you could manage it. But it's not highly recommendable.

The Ownership

The little 800 was a joy to own. Being a basic car it meant that there was very little that could go wrong. As long as I owned it nothing major went wrong with it. Just regular servicing and the car was always tip top. The cost of ownership is negligible and you are always at peace mentally because you know the car is never going to give you a problem. 

And here is the most amazing bit, the wheel alignment even after the kind of driving it was subjected to, never once went off. The car was sold on the very same tires it came with, and they were in good shape, all the grooves on the tyres were albeit little faded but were still there. That just baffles me! A five year old car having done 60000 kilometers was sold on the same set of tyres that it came out of the showroom on. Unbelievable.

The Niggles

The 800 had very good quality standards for reliability and quality for its price. 

And while you could fly over bumps on the road. Do not speed over speed humps because that wears out the front arms very quickly. 

The gear shift for the first two gears was appalling. It was very slightly better than the gear shift on a Ford tractor. 

The headlights were rubbish. They had very poor illumination when in dipper mode. You could barely see ten meters ahead. And on the highway at speeds even the high beam just wasn't enough.

The wiper blades provided by Maruti were useless and had to be changed twice every year. Mind you they were dirt cheap though.  

Safety

The 800 came with a crumple zone and that's it. There were no safety features. The glass was not shatter proof. It scares me to think of the way I drove that car. That was the level of confidence the car inspired.

Verdict

The 800 was a laugh to drive. When you drive an expensive car you drive it with a serious face and within limits because of the power it has and the value that the car has. When you drive the 800 you forget everything else. You become part of the car, it feels taught and together. And the car is so manageable that you can't but help but have fun with it. That I believe is the most important quality a car must possess.