Value is in the eye of the beholder

Growing up in India, things seemed to be pretty straightforward in the automotive food chain. There were hatchbacks or small cars, which were cheap and cheerful, the best example being the various Japanese and Korean runabouts like the Suzuki Alto or the Hyundai Santro (aka Atoz). There were saloons or three box cars, such as the Honda City or even the Opel Astra which were more expensive since they were bigger and had more features. And of course there was the absurdly priced Mercedes Benz E Class which was 3 times more expensive than everything else. Point is, it was very clear that saloons were more premium than hatchbacks, which is logical since they are bigger. Or is it?

Opening the back pages of any Singaporean automotive mag of the past few years, you will notice that Volkswagen Jetta (ala Golf with a boot) is cheaper than a Golf. The Chevrolet Cruze Sportback and the Kia Cerato Forte Hatchback (wow, thats a mouthful) are equivalently priced to their saloon counterparts. Small cars such as the Suzuki Swift and Volkswagen Polo were as or more expensive than big cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer GLX and Nissan Sunny. This would make absolutely no sense to the average Indian car buyer with the "bigger is better" and "Saloon is king" mentality.

The idiosyncrasies don't end there. If you've been familiar with the Singapore automotive scene for any amount of time, you'd also know a term called "Conti". Short for Continental, it refers to car marquees from Europe covering premium brands such as BMW and Audi and even 'mass' brands such as Citroen and Volkswagen. And Singaporeans really aspire towards owning Conti cars which means that the good folks at the "Conti" dealership can charge a hefty premium for helping you move one step up in your perceived social ladder. A good example are the Volkswagen Jetta and Polo, which are a good 10-20% more expensive than their Japanese rivals such as the Toyota Corolla or Honda Jazz and lets not even bring their Korean rivals into the picture. This "European is better" mindset is surely a remnant of the long gone by Colonial era, and something that must be common across several Commonwealth markets right? My first example India, with several centuries of British rule and a half a billion dollar fairness cream (to look whiter ala 'European') market should be a shining example for this line of thought right?

Well, yes and no. Premium brands such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi do occupy the stratosphere as they do in Singapore commanding illogical sums of money. But closer to the ground, things get interesting. Japanese and Korean brands rule the roost with the European brands trying to play catch up with very competitive pricing. A Suzuki Swift or a Hyundai i20 are as expensive as the Volkswagen Polo. The Volkswagen Jetta competes on equal terms with the Honda Civic and the Toyota Corolla or even the Skoda Laura (that's actually the Octavia ridiculously renamed as the older generation model still soldiers on in India under its original name. The art of naming cars in India to accommodate older generation cars is a topic I long to rant about at length but that will have to wait). If anything, Honda and Toyota are as premium if not more than Volkswagen.

Fascinating. What I take away is that contrary to popular opinion, the pricing of a car is not the prime indicator of its competence. A lot of your hard earned money goes behind the perception of the brand in the market. We don't like to admit it but the way people perceive your car takes priority over its intrinsic capability. I guess it's probably because your car, given that it is such a big ticket item, reflects your income level and therefore your level of 'success' but for something that is a utilitarian machine at the end of the day, well all I'll say is that human nature is funny.

One of my colleagues here in Singapore was once telling me that her husband was very pissed off because his Suzuki Swift had gone for some repair service and he was embarrassed to be driving around in the workshop's loan car, a Nissan Sunny. I had no clue how to react other and just about avoided swallowing my tongue in an attempt to stifle genuine shock which manifested as laughter. In India, being bumping up customers from a small Swift to a big Sunny, would have qualified the workshop to a best service award (probably presented by a has-been actor and covered by a me-too news channel) but apparently in Singapore, it was social suicide of catastrophic proportions.

I'm sure there are even more fascinating differences in brand perception all around the world if two relatively closely located markets can reveal such differences. Personally, I just try and learn a lesson from this. Free your car choice from the shackles of society's perception and there are some brilliant deals waiting for you. It's not easy and you do have baggage from your upbringing but try and make good use of it, especially if you move out of your home country. So if you are Singaporean and go to India, you can buy a Suzuki Swift for a mind-boggingly low S$15,000, feeling no need to oblige India's obsession with the booted car. And if you are Indian and are one of the infamous "FTs" in Singapore, (assuming COE prices reach reasonable levels) get a nice Hyundai and save a packet of cash over that Volkswagen or Toyota. Your butt won't know the difference.