9 Best New Car Buys This Diwali

Diwali is now only a week away and it’s that time of the year when car buying tends to become relatively difficult, thanks to a slew of new products and attractive discounts/finance schemes on offer. Buying a new car can be a tough choice to make. Fortunately, we are here to help with a list of new cars to buy this Diwali.

 

Small car - Renault Kwid

Launched in late September, the Kwid is Renault India’s first proper take on the highly competitive small car segment in India. Backed with extremely competitive prices and a good blend of practicality and efficiency, the Renault Kwid is off to a mighty good start with over 50,000 bookings in its name within a month of the official launch.

 

Premium hatch - Maruti Suzuki Baleno

It is somewhat surprising to comprehend Maruti Suzuki’s absence in the premium hatch segment up until recently when the brand introduced the all-new Baleno. The Maruti Suzuki Baleno, then, has a bit of an uphill task in representing the Maruti badge in the premium hatch segment, among several established global brands. But with plenty of equipment as standard and an efficient engine range with the convenience of a CVT, the new Baleno has got the basics right and makes for an ideal premium hatch.  

 

Compact sedan - Ford Figo Aspire

Besides being the most powerful and the most proportionate looking of all the compact sedans, the Ford Figo Aspire is also highly safe. Ford, in fact, is offering airbags as standard across all variants. Better still, the automaker is offering the top-spec Titanium Plus variant with six airbags – a first in the compact sedan segment. And it’s because of these three reasons the Figo Aspire remains one of the best buys in the sub-Rs 10 lakh segment.  

 

Sedan – Honda City

Probably the oldest car of this lot, the Honda City is a crowd favourite to this day, and for good reasons. Sure, the funky centre console design with the touchscreen air-con controls is not to everybody’s taste and the fact that Honda’s 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel motor is noticeably rough as ever, the City still makes for an impressive family sedan thanks to its generous rear seat comfort and impressive ride quality.  

 

Luxury Sedan - Audi A3

The A3 is Audi India’s most affordable offering, however, there is hardly anything in it that screams of base-spec or entry-level. Offered with either a 2-litre diesel or a 1.8-litre petrol motor, the A3 is Audi’s equivalent of the BMW 1 Series and the Mercedes A-Class. But unlike the BMW or the Mercedes which are basically premium hatchbacks, the Audi A3 for India is being offered as a sedan which, as we know, is always more desirable in the minds of Indian buyers.    

 

Compact SUV – Mahindra TUV300

The Mahindra TUV300 arrived in mid-September and since then the compact SUV has gone on to become yet another successful model from Mahindra. So much so that it has managed to outsell its arch rival – the Ford EcoSport for the second consecutive month since its launch. The TUV300 may not have that long-lasting feel of its rivals or the streamlined looks, but as a practical and rugged compact SUV that’s efficient and hopefully cheap to maintain, the TUV300 puts up a strong case for itself.

 

SUV – Hyundai Creta

From a practical standpoint, the current breed of small SUVs has accomplished a lot and the Hyundai Creta is probably the finest of its kind. Yes, the Creta is pricey for its size but it’s also the one with the most amount of power, high-quality bits and the feel good factor that is somehow missing in the competition. Also, the Creta maintains an ideal blend of size, safety features and good build quality to make it one of the safest cars this side of Rs 15 lakh.

 

Full-Sized SUV – Chevrolet Trailblazer

The newly launched Chevrolet Trailblazer is for those with a penchant for towering driving position and ultimate street presence. With length and width of 4,878mm and 1,838mm respectively, the Trailblazer is both longer and wider than the Toyota Fortuner and the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. Compared to its rivals, the Chevy also has the most amount of cabin space and the most powerful diesel engine by a big margin.

 

MPV - Maruti Ertiga facelift

The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga is quite an accomplished MPV although they have made it even better with the facelifted version introduced recently. The Maruti Suzuki Ertiga facelift gets cosmetic updates both inside and outside and more importantly, is being offered with the SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki) system in the diesel variants making them all the more efficient in stop-start traffic.