The right car for the great Indian family

With kids growing up I have been scouting for a good 6 seater car/MPV and with that in mind tested Maruti Ertiga, Nissan Evalia and now the Chevrolet Enjoy. I have tested only the Diesel variants given that was my fuel preference. Here is the good-bad-ugly of these three vehicales.

The Maruti Ertiga is a car that can do no wrong and Maruti has understood customer needs very well. The car is priced right, looks decent and has sufficient space (albeit the third row seats can best seat two small kids). The Diesel has significant turbo lag and at low revs the car is very sluggish. My main complaint with the Ertiga is space - while ok for short runs with a full load (6 passengers), for ong runs it is a challenge.

The Evalia is much more spacious than the Eritaga and I quite liked the exterior design though others might find it a tad van-like. The car drives smoothly and has ample power. Seating for the middle row is good and the sliding doors make it a breeze to get in/out. On the pricing front this is the most expensive car in this line-up. At this price, customers might be tempted to put in an additional 10% and go for the much bigger (and better?) Toyota Innova.

Lastly, the new car in town - the Enjoy. I liked the style here. On size, it is bigger than the Ertiga and slightly smaller than the Evalia. The Enjoy Diesel is a real treat to drive. I enjoyed it so much and it almost drives like a petrol car.  On pricing, the Chevrolet is hard to beat. It is the cheapest car here and at Rs. 9.7 Lacs (Mumbai - on road), it is very good value. The space is just right and except for the access to the third row seats and small (R14) tires, the car is excellent in every other department.

Overall, I would rate the Chevrolet Enjoy at the first postion, the Ertiga next and Evalia as the tail ender.

Space, Peppy Engine (Diesel), Comfortable ride and handlingAccess to 3rd row seats, small tires, Chevrolet Dealer network