2014 Auto Expo: Future Cars - Cross Hatchbacks

The cross hatchback segment has never really caught the fancy of the auto manufacturers that sell cars in the country. Recently though, the 2014 Indian Auto Expo painted a very different picture when it came to these alternative hatchbacks. With three cross hatchbacks on display at the Expo and another one displayed a few months ago, India suddenly has a spate of these rather unusual cars. 

Volkswagen of course was the first to launch a cross hatchback in the country with it’s Cross Polo last year and as expected, there was one on display at the Volkswagen stall at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. The Cross Polo was essentially higher and slightly taller Polo with extra plastic claddings that give the appearance of a tougher outdoorsy vehicle. Predictably though, Volkswagen have sold only a handful of the Polo Cross which makes us wonder whether the Indian audiences are ready for such a concept yet. 

Looking back at a few ‘firsts’ in the market, the case in favour of the cross hatchback can be made to look appealing if one looks back at the very first compact sedan and compact SUV that the Indian public was introduced to. The first ever compact SUV, the Premier Rio and the first ever compact sedan, the Tata Indigo CS made no waves in the Indian market even though they were way ahead of their time. The Premier Rio failed due the poor build issues combined with the obvious brand attached to it. The Indigo CS though should have made a serious impact but even after registering a few months of decent sales slumped to being just another older looking Indica based Tata product being used dominantly by the private transport sector. In the two years or so though we have suddenly see both these markets boom like never before. In fact, the 2014 Indian Auto Expo too saw almost every single manufacturer bring along a concept in either one or both of these segments. 

The cross hatchback segment too in our opinion is just approaching a tipping point. With two new unveils at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo, namely the Fiat Avventura and the Toyota Etios Cross expected to be in showrooms in a few months, the cross segment seems to have received the attention it should have. A car that was conspicuously absent from the 2014 Indian Auto expo though was the Tata Vista Cross concept that was shown exclusively to a few journalists last year at the Buddh International Circuit. 

As we mentioned, the Fiat Avventura is one such concept that was showcased at the Auto Expo. Fiat’s foray into this segment is not surprising considering the fact that it has had the platform to build a hatchback based cross for about three decades now. The Avventura, based on the Fiat Punto hatchback is the Italian manufacturer’s answer to this untapped sector. Based on the Panda platform and with body panels shared with the Punto, the Fiat Avventura does have a lot to offer. 

The biggest changes are obvious. The Avventura gets higher ground clearance than the Punto with an all-new suspension setup and of course, bigger wheels and beefier tyres. The rear too gets tweaked with the addition of a large spare wheel mounted on an independent swing arm that adds to the cross hatchback appeal and gels well with the overall design. The Fiat Avventura concept also features a set of ski racks on the roof.

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Mechanically, expect the Fiat Avventura to be offered with either front wheel drive or an optional all-wheel-drive setup. We also expect the Avventura to be the first Fiat in India to be offered up with the award wining Fiat TwinAir engine. The 0.9-litre TwinAir is Fiat’s turbocharged petrol engine capable of producing more power than much larger naturally aspirated engines. The 0.9-litre TwinAir features a two-cylinder setup with a small turbocharger that has been sourced from Mitsubishi. The 0.9-litre engine produces 85PS of power and 150Nm of torque while consuming less fuel than larger naturally aspirated engines with similar power ratings. The 1.3-litre MultiJet diesel engine on the other hand will receive the same 5-speed gearbox that currently does duty in the Fiat Punto with possibly the 90PS version being offered as the standard engine. Fiat’s addition of this new and fresh model adds a bit of sugar and spice to its recently stagnating range of automobiles. 

On the other hand, Toyota unveiled its Etios Cross to the public for the first time. The Cross is the third variant for the Etios hatchback adding to the standard Liva and the TRD Sportivo. The Etios Cross has plastic body cladding finished in a rugged looking matte grey finish, a new chunky grille, a grille guard, new larger 15-inch alloy wheels, roof rails and a roof mounted rear spoiler. Toyota has done the smart thing by providing the Cross with all the engine options in the Etios Liva hatchback and Etios sedan line-up. These include two petrols – the 80 PS 1.2-litre unit and the 90 PS 1.5-litre unit and also the 1.4-litre 68 PS diesel engine. But unlike the standard Liva model, the Cross will get fewer variants with more features as standard.

Fiat and Toyota will have to both learn from the mistakes made by Volkswagen when it launched its Cross Polo and adapt to how cut throat and price competitive the Indian Auto sector has really become. For cars that offer exactly the same amount of space and spec as their normal hatchback brethren, these cross hatchbacks cannot be priced at a premium over them. That said, we think the cross hatchback segment will really heat up when the big three, Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors decide to seriously invest in ‘Cross-dressing’ one of their existing cars or making a completely new car to foray into the cross hatchback segment altogether. For example, Suzuki already has a slightly tarted up Swift 4x4 that it sells in some Scandinavian countries, which can easily be converted into a Swift Cross for India. On a more personal note though, we think the Tata Bolt with its already stubby and edgy design would be a great platform for a cross hatchback concept car. As we mentioned, the cross segment looks to be the flavour of the day for a lot of manufacturers and although they aren’t looked upon with too much interest today, we expect that to change in the next two years or so.