A hatchback has to be small, affordable and reliable. RightIJ In a country so in love with the small car that we have developed the cheapest and second-cheapest cars and where three-quarters of annual sales are of small hatchbacks, there is a new category of hatchbacks on the rise — hatchbacks that are far from basic. Cars that wear foreign badges, cars that cost 10 times as much as your typical Maruti Alto or Hyundai i10. And cars that make a lot of sense for someone with money to spend but little room to park.
The concept that a car is a statement of your identity and size matters has been the driving force behind the sales of luxury cars for a long time, particularly in India. A luxury car, therefore, had to be big, it had to establish stature as well as wealth. There is a rise of a new professional class in India with 30-somethings earning a lot of money, wanting to get into luxury brand cars but not necessarily having solved the crisis of parking or wanting to drive themselves. This is where cars like the Mercedes Benz A-Class enter the picture.
And this revised variant of Mercedes small car isn’t the only contender in this space, the BMW group’s Mini cars and the Volvo V40 are also players and over the past few months your writer has driven all these cars.
The first thing to note is that all these cars are typical hatchbacks in the sense that they are front-wheel drive cars. Unfortunately though, none of them conform to the rules that will help them pay less excise as they are all longer than four metres and all have much bigger engines than allowed. Also, none of these cars is currently even assembled in India, although the Mercedes and Mini could well be assembled in the country by later this year.
All these cars are available with petrol and diesel options; the Mercedes A200d is unfortunately not allowed to be sold in Delhi as its engine is above the 2000cc size specified by the Supreme Court for sales in the National Capital Region (NCR).
The Volvo V40 has the most powerful diesel engine, and the Mini, with its three-cylinder unit, has the smallest and least powerful. However, given that all these cars — and you must not forget that they are small cars — produce well above 100 horsepower, they are great fun to drive on the road.
The Mini and the Volvo are also available with juiced-up petrol variants that actually make both these cars true ‘pocket rockets’. The Mercedes A-Class petrol is more of a sipper than a hot hatch, but has the nicest ride, interiors and in-cabin technology of any of the three cars.
Yet, the same thought keeps popping up over and over again — with all cars costing nearly `30 lakh, they are very expensive for cars that small. While they are longer than four metres and have decent rear legroom, they have limited luggage space. The question, therefore arises, why not spend a little bit more and buy something like the Audi A3 or Mercedes’ own ClA-Class insteadIJ
There are a couple of arguments here — a boot is believed to have a sense of practicality because it fits more luggage. Or, given India’s love for the ‘sub-compact’ sedan, having a car with a boot is considered a sign of status because small cars are small cars no matter what the badge. The former argument is true to a small extent, but if luggage space is what one needs then a people carrier like a Toyota Innova is what you need.
Buying a car for the occasional road trip or need to travel to the station or the airport in the age of Uber is a bit ridiculous. A small car is immensely valuable in the city, especially if one drives themselves. The latter point is defeated by the fact that all these small cars are head-turners on Indian roads flooded with Marutis and Hyundais.
These cars are far more practical than their size suggests; they are also incredibly attractive in a sea of drab hatchbacks. And while they are not in any way performance cars — save possibly the 190 horsepower Mini Cooper S — they are all a pleasure to drive inside an urban environment. They may not always make sense with a driver, but behind the wheel they’re great fun. They are small and equipped with parking aids, making them far easier to park than their larger siblings. Sure they cost a lot and the same amount of money can buy you a gigantic Toyota Fortuner, but somehow these small boys make much more sense.