To find out if the Figo Aspire has what to takes to become a leading player in the sub-4 metre space, we took the diesel versions of both the cars for a spin.
The Ford Figo Aspire has definitely rattled the competition, and what's more, it has already outsold the Honda Amaze in its first month on sale. The car is attractively priced, looks very sexy, and is well loaded in terms of features. The Amaze was all those things, but a while ago.
The compact SUV segment in India has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Case in point, the arrival of cars like the Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport, and the Nissan Terrano - these cars have taken the popularity of this segment to an entirely new level.
Hyundai is calling the Creta, the perfect SUV, and yes of course that is a bit of a stretch! But is there some truth to it? The only way to really figure that out is to put it to the test against the segment benchmark - the Renault Duster.
Cars with automatic transmissions are the future and also the need of the hour. If you thought the technology was expensive; well not anymore. There are two affordable AMTs in the market and we drive them to find out which is better.
Two cars stand on the evolution ladder - the Bolt and the Grand i10; while Hyundai wants to enter a new segment, Tata Motors wants to tell people that it's made a car that moves away from the Indica's shadow. Which one will prevail?
These cars are still not of the 'hot-hatch' level. It's a good start, and things will (hopefully) only get better and more manufacturers (again, hopefully) will embrace this relatively small-volumes segment just to help build somewhat of an enthusiast culture in the mass segment of motoring here. Amen.