Indians travelling abroad are often surprised to see familiar cars from India plying in streets in foreign countries and going by completely different names. It shouldn´t come as a surprise really since most car brands launch in multiple markets and they often launch the same car by different names in each country in order to better appeal to the local population there. Sometimes you may even spot a car that has been discontinued in India, continuing to ply in other countries. There may be variations in engine capacity and a few internal features, but otherwise many of them are familiar sights in an otherwise strange country for us Indians. Let's look at the most popular Indian cars known by different names globally.
Maruti is one of the most loved brands of all time in the Indian car market. In 2009, Maruti introduced the Japanese Suzuki Splash as Ritz in India. As a crossover hatchback with a powerful 1.2 litre k-series petrol engine and a 1.3 litre diesel powertrain, the Ritz should have been quite popular, but it failed to impress in looks due to its chopped rear end and the car was eventually withdrawn to make way for Ignis, in all global markets.
Launched in 2006, Hyundai Verna was, even then, a later generation version of the original Hyundai Accent. Though the Hyundai Verna was discontinued in India by 2013 to make way for Elantra, it continues to be sold as Accent in many other countries. An inexpensive version of the upgraded original Accent is now sold in the fleet market in India as Xcent. In North America, it is marketed by Chrysler as the Dodge Attitude.
Another famous Indian car that is sold in the international market by a different name is Volkswagen Vento. It is pretty common in countries like Thailand, South Africa, and Russia to spot the Volkswagen Vento aka Volkswagen Polo Sedan. The "Polo" has been a renowned brand in the international market for years. Therefore, Volkswagen Vento is also sold as the Polo Sedan in some regions.
Toyota is a popular name in the automobile industry and especially in the southeast Asian markets. The highly popular SUV Fortuner is sold under the name SW4 in Brazil and Argentina.
MG Motors is a new entrant in the Indian market, which is currently owned by the Chinese automotive conglomerate SIAC. The car, which the automotive brand sells in India, is originally SIAC's patent. This car is also sold in China under the name Baojun 530.
Although General Motors does produce cars in India anymore, there were plans for significant development in the country's automobile industry. To celebrate the success of the Toyota Qualis, Chevrolet chose the Panther, that partner company Isuzu was selling in Indonesia. However, it came out soon after the launch of Innova and did not achieve much success.
The Honda City ZX was introduced in Japan as Honda Fit Aria, where "Aria" signifies a type of expressive melody in mainstream opera. This popular Indian car was exported to Japan during its debut in the Bangkok motor show in 2002. Since then, this special edition by Honda has been known as the Honda Fit Aria in other countries.
The car that was launched as Honda Jazz in India and other European, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern countries got introduced as Honda Fit in Japan and America.
Aren't these name swaps interesting?
