The word Sedan is used to describe cars that have a 3-box body style, consisting of the hood (first box), passenger cabin (second box), boot (third box). The boot or trunk is separate from the passenger cabin and sticks out the rear. Many people have asked the question, which is the best sedan car in India?
Let’s dive deeper to answer this question, and look at the various array of sedan cars available in the country. Compared to a hatchback, a sedan car offers more rear passenger space, a larger luggage space in the boot and a generally sleeker styling than a hatchback.
Why Choose a Sedan Car?
Sedan cars come with a wide variety of shapes, sizes and varying levels of comfort, engine performance and body style. Some of the most popular sedan cars in India are the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Honda City, Honda Amaze, and Hyundai Verna.
Sedans offer a low, relaxed seating position for the driver and passengers, as compared to an SUV which offers a higher seating position, is generally larger and has more ground clearance compared to other types of cars.
Top Sedan Cars in India Below 6 Lakhs
Are you looking for the best sedan cars below 5-6 lakhs? It is true that budget is one of the most crucial factors in buying a new car, and finding a good car that fits your budget is not the easiest task.
In this price range, some of the best sedan cars you can get are the Tata Tigor, Honda Amaze, Hyundai Aura and the Maruti Suzuki Dzire.
Tata Tigor
The Tata Tigor is a stylish, sub-4-metre, compact sedan and is available in both petrol manual transmission and petrol automatic transmission. It gets an exceptionally high safety rating of 4 stars from NCAP on adult occupant protection.
The Tata Tigor has a unique sedan, fast back design with a neat interior as well. The insides have a touch of class and give the feeling of a premium cabin for the occupants. There is ample headroom for the rear passengers, more than you would expect for this sloping back roofline style.
The boot space is a roomy 419 litres, lots of space for your luggage. The engine is a 1.2 litre petrol, 85 bhp which is smooth and refined but tends to get a bit loud when revved high.
The manual gearbox is smooth and refined while the AMT transmission takes away some of the stress in city traffic. One issue is that the AMT tends to be a bit jerky at slow speeds which get ironed out as the car speeds up.
Overall, the Tata Tigor has a light steering, is easy to drive, offers good stability over a variety of surfaces, and has the ability to straighten out bumps in the road.
Honda Amaze
The Honda Amaze comes with a stylish design, great comfort for passengers, and a long feature set for convenience and safety. It has improved a lot from its first generation and Honda has priced the Amaze at a competitive price range. The choice of engine – transmissions on offer include a petrol – manual, petrol – CVT gearbox, diesel – manual and diesel -CVT gearbox too.
As far as compact sedans go, the Amaze is roomy on the inside and quite comfortable too. A rear seat space makes this car an excellent chauffeur driven option as well. It also gets a large boot as can be expected from a compact sedan design.
The 1.2 litre petrol offers 90 bhp and paired with the manual gearbox, it will take some rowing through the gears to get past the weak midrange of the revs. The CVT gearbox works exceptionally well and doesn’t suffer from the weak points of the manual transmission.
The diesel engine is a 1.5 litre that outputs 100 bhp with the manual gearbox and 80 bhp when paired to the CVT transmission. The car doesn’t feel underpowered with any of the engine transmission options however, the diesel can be a bit noisy in the higher revs. In cabin sound insulation is something Honda should look into. Another area Honda should address is the soft suspension that would do better with a slightly stiffer set up especially at high speeds.
Hyundai Aura
The compact sedan from Hyundai gets a BS6 compliant petrol and diesel engine, two gearbox options and a host of colours to choose from. The Aura is based on the Grand i10 Nios and gets a similar front face and grille.
Twin boomerang shaped LEDs do duty for the front headlights and it gets fog lamps to match. It is difficult to gauge the compact sedan’s length due to the way the c-pillar meets the boot lid giving it an almost fastback coupe design. Diamond cut alloy wheels give the Hyundai a sharp look from the exterior and the rear gets LED lamps and a chrome finished boot lid to complete the package.
The interior elements of the Hyundai Aura are similar to the Grand i10 Nios, but the highlight of the cabin is the 8-inch touchscreen that is compatible with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto. The touchscreen system integrates into a bigger unit that incorporates the semi-digital speedometer and gives the interior a premium feel with a modern touch. There is also automatic climate control for the comfort of occupants.
The BS6 compliant engines include two petrol options and one diesel unit. The standard petrol unit is a 1.2 litre powerhouse with 81 bhp and 114 Nm of torque. There is also a turbocharged 1.0 litre petrol producing 98 bhp with 172 Nm of torque. The 1.2 litre engine gets either a 5-speed manual or a 5 speed AMT, whereas the turbocharged engine gets only the manual transmission option.
The diesel engine is a 1.2 litre, four cylinder producing 74 bhp and 190 Nm of torque which gets either a 5-speed manual or a 5 speed AMT gearbox.
Maruti Suzuki Dzire
The Maruti Suzuki Dzire is the sedan version of the Swift and is one of the most popular sedans from the Maruti Suzuki manufacturer due to its efficient engine and good looks.
It is powered by a 1.2 litre petrol engine that outputs 89 bhp and 113 Nm of torque and gets paired to a 5-speed manual or a 5 speed AMT gearbox.
The exterior gets projector headlamps with LED daytime running lights, a snazzy grille, 15-inch alloy wheels, redesigned front and rear bumpers and OVRMs that automatically fold.
Interior wise, the Dzire gets a beige coloured upholstery, reverse parking sensors, push button engine start-stop, keyless entry, rear seat air conditioner vents, a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and cruise control. A host of comfort and convenience features that make the Maruti Suzuki Dzire good value for money.
The Dzire has a well-proportioned stance for a compact sedan, is feature rich and has a fuel-efficient engine. It definitely is a well-rounded package that provides good styling with a strong motor. The best part is its comfortable cabin and well sorted dynamics that mean good ride and handling.
Sedan Cars in India Under 15 Lakhs
In the under 15 lakhs range we have cars like the Honda City, Volkswagen Virtus, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, and the recently launched Skoda Slavia.
Hyundai Verna
The Hyundai Verna is available in 2 petrol options and a diesel engine. It gets a 1.0 litre turbo (118 bhp of power @ 6000 rpm / 172 Nm of torque @ 1500 rpm), a 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder petrol (113 bhp @ 6300 rpm / 144 Nm of torque @ 4500 rpm) and a 1.5 litre diesel engine (113 bhp @ 4000 rpm / 250 Nm of torque @ 1500 rpm). Gearbox options include a 6 -speed manual or AMT unit, while the 1.0 litre turbo gets a 7-speed DCT transmission.
The Verna gets a sporty and sensuous exterior styling with new bumpers and a chrome mesh grille together with sporty and sleek headlamps that wrap up the front neatly. There are 16-inch alloys on all variants whereas the top end spec gets diamond cut alloy wheels.
For interiors, the Verna gets a beige and black colour scheme while the 1.0 litre turbo gets a sportier black interior with red accents. Front and rear power windows with rear seat air-conditioning vents are standard as are airbags, ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors, central locking, impact sensing door unlock, speed sensing door lock, front seatbelt pretensioners, ISOFIX child seating mounts and dual horns.
Honda City
The all-new Honda City comes with a petrol engine paired to a 6-speed manual or a 7 speed CVT automatic. The other option is a diesel engine with only a 6-speed manual gearbox.
On the front, the Honda City gets an array of LED headlamps along with LED DRLs, with the rear also featuring LED taillamps. The top end variants get 16-inch alloy wheels whereas all other variants get 15-inch alloys.
The interiors get a premium feel with leather seats and cushioned arm rests. The instrument cluster gets a 7-inch display with analogue dials. For infotainment, there is a 8 inch touch screen system that integrates easily with smartphones.
The City gets features such as Alexa remote connect, a blind spot monitoring camera which helps the driver to have better visibility on the move.
Skoda Slavia
The Skoda Slavia is pegged as a replacement to the Skoda Rapid, but is placed at a slightly higher rung in the mid-size sedan segment ladder due to its larger footprint, more power and greater number of features. It gets an option of turbo- petrol engines, with no diesel unit on offer. The main rivals for the Slavia include the Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the Volkswagen Virtus.
Maruti Suzuki Ciaz
A smart and sensible mid-size sedan from Maruti Suzuki, the Ciaz is a popular model with revised styling, more features and a powerful, mild hybrid, 1.4 litre petrol engine. These engines get paired to either a manual or automatic transmission and the Ciaz is sold exclusively by the Nexa retail network from Maruti Suzuki.
Volkswagen Virtus
The new sedan from Volkswagen is all set to be launched on June 9th, 2022. The contender in the mid-size sedan segment will see it rivalling the likes of the Skoda Slavia, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, as well as the Honda City.
The Virtus will be replacing the Volkswagen Vento and series production of the car has already begun at the VW plant.
Engine options for the Virtus include a 1.0 litre petrol or a 1.5 litre petrol without the option for a diesel variant. Feature wise, the Virtus will get a 10-inch infotainment touchscreen system, a fully digital instrument cluster, wireless phone charging, ventilated seats, sunroof, ambient lighting, a cooled glove compartment, and automatic headlamps and windshield wipers.
For safety it will get six airbags, a tyre pressure monitoring system, electronic stability control and hill assist and descent control.
The Virtus is expected to hit roads around mid-June and is a much-anticipated mid-size sedan from VW.
Conclusion
In India, comfort is king, be it at home or in the office, we are always looking for that extra relaxing experience. And it goes the same for our cars. This is probably the reason why so many manufacturers in India are trying to obtain the holy grail of comfort, fuel economy, space and design for a car.
Hatchbacks are great, but they lack in size. SUVs are good too, but are more suited to an off road driving experience at the expense of fuel economy.
A sedan ticks all the right checkboxes if it has a fuel-efficient engine, lots of comfort and convenience features, has a striking exterior design and sports a large boot for the extra space.
No matter what the budget, there is a compact mid-size sedan to suit your needs, which is why there is so much competition in this segment and why manufacturers are constantly updating their portfolio to cater to buyers
