prasad1
Active member
Clearly, the Indian customer is willing to spend, and spend a decent sum for a set of luxury wheels; otherwise our inboxes won’t be choked with sales reports from Audi and Mercedes, month after month. But, the Indian customer isn’t willing to settle for a car that doesn’t have the right badge on the nose. If you consider the Accord and the Audi A4 for instance, the Honda is larger, more comfortable and way better suited as a chauffeur driven car. It isn’t exactly short on equipment, either. Yes, the build quality and the materials aren’t as good as on the Audi, but overall, it still makes a lot of sense.
The only reason for the Accord’s failure then, is the badge – when it comes to snob value a Honda can’t complete with an Audi, not in India. Another strong contributor for Accord’s slow sales, of course, has been the lack of a diesel engine.
But then, the Passat only came with a diesel engine. And it was, in fact, even better equipped than the Accord. It had the self parking feature, an intelligent light system and a build quality which was almost as good as an Audi or a BMW or a Mercedes. But, it never did well either. Simply because it runs exactly the same badge on its nose as a Rs 4 lakh Polo. And no brand conscious Indian spending that much money on what is dead investment, will accept this.
http://www.zigwheels.com/news-features/auto-insight/why-the-accord-passat-did-not-do-well/17561/
The only reason for the Accord’s failure then, is the badge – when it comes to snob value a Honda can’t complete with an Audi, not in India. Another strong contributor for Accord’s slow sales, of course, has been the lack of a diesel engine.
But then, the Passat only came with a diesel engine. And it was, in fact, even better equipped than the Accord. It had the self parking feature, an intelligent light system and a build quality which was almost as good as an Audi or a BMW or a Mercedes. But, it never did well either. Simply because it runs exactly the same badge on its nose as a Rs 4 lakh Polo. And no brand conscious Indian spending that much money on what is dead investment, will accept this.
http://www.zigwheels.com/news-features/auto-insight/why-the-accord-passat-did-not-do-well/17561/
