If you are living in India & you want to buy a car around rupees 10 lacs then there is going to be lots of confusion. There are so many alternatives within that price range that it may create chaos around anyone. There are three main segments in that price range. Sedan, MPV & SUV & in each of them there are some good alternatives. So let's take a look at them one by one.
Sedan
Let's commence with the sedan, I think top three sedans in that price range are Verna Fluidic, SX4 & Honda City. Hyundai's Fluidic Verna is leading the segment at the moment & it deserves to be on top with the kind of features it has. It would have been perfect car if Hyundai has focused more on its design. Anyways it is still leading the segment. The former leader of this segment is Honda City which has everything good looks, great engine & top of all it was a symbol of high class but now it's no. 1 position has taken by Verna. Due to this Honda launched a new look of the City with its diesel engine & with that City is finding its way back to the top.
My favorite in this segment is SX4. It's a complete package of good muscular looks, powerful engine & nice average. What else you expect from a Sedan. As Maruti Suzuki position it in the market, it's the real man. My preference & recommendation will always be SX4 for a Sedan around 10 lacs.
MPV
Multi Purpose Vehicle segment as a whole has come out of nowhere & has grown incredibly well. This type of car is best for bigger families. Top three cars in this segment are Ertiga, Innova & Evalia. Ertiga is a nice looking MPV but its engine is not that powerful, so it will trouble you on upward journeys. Maruti Suzuki needs to work on that of Ertiga. Innova's old look is still around 10 lacs & is still value for money. It's the perfect car in this segment. Moreover, it has ruled this segment for a very long time. Compact SUVs have taken away Innova's market, but it still is value for money car.
Evalia is a newer one in the segment, but it is establishing itself well. Nissan's Sunny & Terrano are performing pretty well in their respective segments. Now if Evalia found its feet among MPVs, it will be a bonus for Nissan. According to me Innova is the best car in this segment.
SUV
Companies can't produce SUV around 10 less, but then concept of the Compact SUV emerged in India in 2012. Compact SUVs can be made around rupees 10 lacs. Best Compact SUVs in the market today are Duster, Ecosport & Terrano. Duster was the pioneer in the segment so it got a huge advantage of that & Renault made lots of money from it. Duster is not anyway near to either Ecosport or Terrano but it is much better than Quanto that's why it is good.
Ford Ecosport was about to be the pioneer of the segment, but it came after Duster due to cost cutting issues but it has affected the market of Duster immensely. It has got the looks of SUV, engine of Ford & good average as compare to other SUVs its best. Nissan Terrano is known as Duster based SUV, but much better than Duster in everything except engine as Terrano has the same engine. Both Ecosport & Terrano have made Duster disappear from the market, but still stand out among them in Ecosport. I am still waiting for XA Alpha.
If I have to choose from Sedan, MPV or SUV, then I will go for SUV anytime.
