I love profiling the automotive industry as a whole. And I have always been inclined on studying and understanding as to which automotive brand has what it takes to make sense for the extremely sensitive and demanding Indian market. According to me, there are a few that make perfect sense for India. One such automotive player that I think will make merry in our land is Mazda. Let me explain why.
I confess that I have a personal liking towards Mazda. I always did. The RX8 is one sports car that I would love to own, primarily because it does not have any of the regular sports car drawbacks. It is quite practical for a sports car and the engine – well, it is a rotary; and mad. It is merely a 1.3L unit but has 232 manic horses waiting angrily to unleash their power. Nothing’s better than owning a hyper-performance car that is endowed with goodies and does well to endorse a mad-hat character!
But true-blue, track-focused, yet affordable sports cars seem still quite some way off. Mazda could change that easily by bringing in the RX8. It surely has the capacity to capture the imagination of that chap who’s looking to have as much fun as a Porsche Cayman affords at perhaps less than two-third the price. The RX8 retails for close to about $32,000 (Rs 14.7 lakh) in the international market. If brought into India, and considering the import duties and other miscellaneous and processing charges, the RX8 can go at an asking price of about 27-30 lakh. Not bad, I think!
Other products carrying the Mazda badge that will make perfect sense for India are Mazda 2, 3, 6 and CX-7. And, trust you me, the Mazda 2, 3 and 6 may very well go on to become class leaders. If not that, they will make sure of inducing life-threatening heartaches in their rivals, at least. Mazda 6 is a rival to the likes of Honda Accord and Toyota Camry while Mazda 2 fights it out in the small-car segment. Mazda 3 is positioned against Honda’s Civic and Toyota Corolla.
So let us look at each of the mentioned products closely.
Mazda 2 then – when you look at it, it exudes a certain naughty character, just like a little brat going about his antics as usual. The front end is lively and the smiling grille section only adds to the cuteness while the rear is quite attractive too and looks enticingly voluptuous. Mazda 2 has a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating which should make it one of the safest cars in its segment. In the international market, Mazda 2 comes with a choice of three engines.
But we are interested in the 1.4L common rail diesel engine which is good for 67bhp and the 1.3L petrol engine that puts out a strong 74bhp. This will position the Mazda 2 directly in the territory of Fiat Punto, Maruti Suzuki Swift and Hyundai i20. There’s also a 1.5L, 102bhp petrol and a 1.5L 90bhp diesel engine on offer that could take the fight to premium rivals like Honda Jazz and Skoda Fabia.
To make things more interesting, Mazda could do a Maruti Suzuki here. The company does a sedan version of the 2 as well. A great product to directly aim at Maruti Dzire, Ford Ikon, Mahindra Renault Logan and Hyundai Accent, I reckon.
The Mazda 3 is a worthy contender for the segment in which Honda Civic has been ruling the roost ever since it was launched here. Mazda has the right set of engines too. There is a very economical 1.6-litre diesel engine that would keep the daily-commuter happy while a 2.0L 148bhp petrol motor will make it more powerful than both the Civic and Corolla. The interior too is sporty enough to do business in this class. And then we have the CX-7 that can threaten the likes of Honda CR-V and Mitsubishi Outlander in the petrol guise and the Toyota Fortuner with its diesel powerplant. There is also something called Mazda 5 with a 2.0-litre, 110bhp engine to take on Toyota Innova in the MUV segment.
Another Mazda that would sell like hot cakes if marketed well here is Mazda 6. It looks more delicious than a sizzling brownie, has enough poke to make Honda Accord sweat and interiors that would appeal to the driver inside you. Mazda has many engines, which could be perfect for India but we are primarily interested in two of them. There’s a 2.5L petrol engine that wakes up to 168 horses and 226Nm of torque that can keep the petrol-head satisfied while a 2.2L, 182bhp diesel engine that promises to be quite hot on performance. The Mazda 6 promises to be the mechanical equivalent of Demi Moore in visual appeal and Oksana Baiul for agility. What more could one ask for!
Mazda has a long standing alliance with Ford. If indeed Mazda plan to launch here, they could use Ford’s facility to manufacture their cars since the installed capacity is high enough to make numbers far more than Ford is managing in the current scenario. Yes, there will be logistical challenges initially, but heck, did Hyundai, Honda and Toyota did not brave such issues? Also, interestingly, Ford failed miserably with its Mondeo in the D segment. Mazda 6 could change that forever. Anyone listening?
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