What are these cars doing in India?

We come across a lot of spy pics of cars that have been caught testing on Indian roads. Most of the cars that we/our readers spot are the ones that are close to being launched in Indian car market and usually wear a camouflage for concealing the identity.

Now, there is no running away from the fact that three door body variants of ‘regular 5 door’ hatchbacks do not really make sense for Indian car market. This is because these cars don’t make for as practical a family car as a conventional 5 door hatchback does.

There is also no denying that 3 dr variants look uber cool and are well suited to teeny bloppers.

However, in a country like India where having more than one car in a family is considered to be quite a luxury, there is still some time to go before 3 door hatchbacks start appealing to the car buying lot.

Hence, it is no surprise that car makers like Hyundai Motors India Ltd. have so far shied away from introducing 3 door variants of their hot selling hatchbacks.

Regulars here would remember that exactly a year ago, we spotted a silver i20 3 dr in Chinchwad, Pune. The car bore private registration plates and, in all chances, was registered in name of some individual. Back then, we wondered what the car was doing in India.

Now, another i20 3 dr has been spotted in Pune. The car was seen near Fergusson College by our friend Vinayak Satam. Vinayak reports that the car seen sported Recaro racing seats and a private registration.

The car seen this time was powered by the 1.2 litre Kappa petrol motor and appeared to be the base variant. We do not think that HMIL is testing the 3 door i20 hatchback in India because neither these cars were camouflaged nor they sported red TC test plates.

Do you know what these cars are doing in India?