Rebati Adhikari

In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity.  Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined.

In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:

Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales.  According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.

Tata

Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it.

It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags.

Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million.

Hyundai

Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10.

“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.

Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.

Volkswagen

It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire.

Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million.

Ford

Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.

It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market.  Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.