As our cities and towns get increasingly congested and the roads within them begin to see more and more blocks and jams, the obvious demand rises for the ideal kind of vehicles to drive in these conditions. The various categories of cars that are manufactured differ in the optimal conditions they can be driven in. As high powered SUVs are most suited to long stretches on highways, there is growing awareness among auto manufacturers to address the needs of city drivers too.
Do we have enough options that qualify to be a nice car to drive in the city? Let us take a look at the choices we can make for the ideal vehicle to be used in an urban set-up.
Ideally, hatchbacks cars are a natural choice. Given their dimensions, they are easiest to drive and park. In a car market like India, there are many models in this category to choose from. Maruti models like Alto 800 and WagonR come with the comfort of the country’s premier auto brand. There is also Chevrolet’s Beat and Spark, besides other compact cars like Nissan’s Micra and Datsun’s Go. Not to be outdone, even bigger small cars like Maruti very own Swift, Fiat’s Punto, Volkswagen’s Polo and Skoda Fabia have been doing very well in city conditions. Even Ford has offered the Figo in diesel and seen some excellent sales. So what of the other Indian auto giant? Tata had already introduced the India that has been the darling of the Indian taxi industry and it’s very common to see cabs and taxis doing service widely in most of our cities. Another bestselling brand in India, Hyundai, has also encountered terrific sales figures and fan following thanks to its iconic i10 and the bigger model, the i20. The i10 has also edged out Fiats in Mumbai as the preferred taxi models in the big city.
But to challenge these easy to drive models come even simpler automobiles. It was again Tata who has shown the way here. The Nano is a marvel of modern automobile engineering. Given its dimensions, it was very well suited to city conditions. But then it’s roomy enough and powerful too to do well in urban conditions. In fact, long before the Nano came into the picture, there was the fantastic Reva, an electric car, that hit the major cities, especially Bangalore. Produced locally, it was as small as a passenger vehicle could be and the epitome of a nice car to drive in the city.
So, auto companies are making a focused and committed effort to make driving in the city easy and comfortable. By the looks of it, it is only going to get better as newer models are introduced.
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