Got a close look at a Maruti Ciaz earlier this morning at a stockyard, without the usual PR teams and media feeding frenzy in the environs, and this is what I have to say - there is now no difference in terms of quality, design, safety, bells & whistles and features between the so-called luxury sedans at 30+ lakhs of the same size, and the Maruti Ciaz at one-fourth to one-third the price. Question now arises - reliability and resale value? Answer is simple - reliability - how often have you seen luxury cars rolling past grandly loaded on the back of flat-bed trucks? And on resale - maintenance and condition being good, if you bought in say 2006, the luxury car will be at about 20-25% of sticker price while the Marutis will be at about 33% of original sticker price. Do the maths. Now all we need to see is what the Ciaz will be priced at, and then how it will impact the other sedans. Fun times ahead.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 02:22:00 +0000