Not all great cars sell well. We take a look back in time to find the cars which were actually great but weren’t able to translate their greatness into sales figures and ultimately had to be discontinued.
1. Ford Fiesta
Back in 2011, Ford released its new-gen Ford Fiesta in the Indian market. Which was Ford’s best-selling model in Europe, although we didn’t get the globally praised hatchback version, Ford did release a Fiesta sedan which replaced the old Fiesta. Ford Fiesta in India was going against the cars like 3rd gen Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Fiat Linea, and Maruti Suzuki SX4, and it is safe to say that it was the most dynamically sorted sedan on sale at the time. It had a very beautiful steering wheel with plenty of feedback, chassis, and suspension which were actually competing against cars one or two segments above it.
Fiesta’s failure in the Indian market was due to its lack of space for the rear passengers and not-so-beautiful rear end. Ford tried to revive it by giving it a facelift which gave it an Aston Martin-like grille, this facelifted Fiesta was only offered in diesel and did not address the issues which Indian buyers had
2. Ford Mondeo
The Mondeo was Ford’s take on the premium saloon segment, at the time it was fighting the Hyundai Sonata and the Honda Accord for market share. Mondeo had bold and imposing looks with big triangular taillamps, with edgy and boxy looks being its stand-out design details. It was considered to be premium inside with four airbags and leather seats.
It was also offered with both diesel and petrol options. Although never caught on due to its high price and less brand appeal, buyers preferred options from Honda and Hyundai which offered better value over Mondeo’s dynamics and overall stunning looks.
3. Suzuki Kizashi
Maruti Suzuki Kizashi was Maruti’s entrant in the market for premium saloons, Maruti thought that by entering the premium segment it could shake its cheap and cheerful image with a high-quality offering. However, it was a pivotal point as the premium saloon segment was shrinking and people were preferring to pay extra for either SUV’s or entry-level luxury sedans like the Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class, and BMW- 3 Series. Honda Accord and the Volkswagen Passat/Skoda Superb were leading the premium saloon segment while being more expensive.
Maruti Kizashi had really striking looks and was indistinguishable from the concept car that it was based on. Kizashi was offered with only a 2.4L Petrol engine, which was another mistake from Suzuki as during that time diesel were all the rage.
4. Maruti Suzuki SX4
Released in 2007 the Maruti SX4 was sold in decent numbers compared to other cars in this list, yet in the eyes of Maruti it was a failure as Maruti had really high expectations from the SX4. SX4 was a high-riding saloon, which was exceptionally good for rough Indian roads, it had saloon attributes but with SUV-like ground clearance. Unlike its competitors both diesel and petrol options were available. Maruti paid attention and didn’t cut any corners in its construction. It was a well-built, practical, powerful, and good-to-drive car, especially in its petrol avatar.
However, the diesel engines which were offered came later than the petrol and weren’t as powerful or refined enough as competitors, and diesel being the engine of choice for every household at the time was its downfall. In 2011 they updated the diesel engine with a new 1.3L DDiS unit but it was too little too late and by 2014 they discontinued the SX4 due to its poor sales.
5. Every Station Wagon Ever
In the early 2000s automobile manufacturers were experimenting in India with different body styles during this period a lot of Estate body style cars were released which are extremely popular in Europe and still are in countries like Sweden and Germany. Unfortunately, none of them took off here in India, which is a shame because they were as good-looking as they were practical for a big family. Prime examples of these were Skoda Octavia Combi, Opel Corsa Swing, Maruti Baleno Altura, and Fiat Weekend.
Failure for this body style is hard to pinpoint but we believe it could be because of the slight premium over its conventional three-box counterparts and dealers who tried to push sedans and SUVs over wagons to customers.
