The luxury question

At the end of the day, what is luxury in a car?

A rash of small hatchbacks and sedans have been launched recently that claim that they are “luxurious” or “exude luxury.” The fact is that the term “luxury” has been grossly misused by brands and their marketers across the world and you really have not met a marketing person until you have met a car marketing person. Because, well, you have to speak to one to find out. The simple fact is that, you will not get luxury for cheap. And while most modern cars are extremely comfortable, economical and practical, using the “luxury” moniker for any of them is abusing the term. Just because some features previously present only in luxury cars are now in more affordable or practical cars does not make them in any way luxurious.

Take for example electric seats. Now, I must admit I do like seats that can be adjusted by levers and cogs, but I also hate it when my seat settings are changed. It might be the wife who had to take the car or the hotel valet, but getting a car back with the seats and mirror settings all changed can be quite distressing. It is nice to know that I can get my own settings back at the press of a button. As for touchscreen infotainment systems, here is the funny thing. Several actual luxury carmakers don’t have those, but most of them do have very good audio systems. And here again, the power of the brand comes in, you know what a luxury audio brand is, and the fact is that you don’t get those in affordable cars.

Luxury is not easily definable though, we can look at brands such as the Germans, but even they are trying to make luxury more “affordable.” Look at Mercedes’ A-Class or Audi’s possible launch of the Q2 in India. These might be defined as “entry-level” luxury, but often when you go for one of these cars you realise that their feature set does not match up to a six-lakh Maruti or Hyundai. When the first generation BMW X1 came about, you got a badge with the base-model, not much else really, no bluetooth telephony for example. But about this there is no doubt, badge matters when you take a car out. Particularly in the head of the owner.

Recently, I drove two SUVs in the same size category, both with permanent four-wheel drive systems and with more or less similar features. There was the Volkswagen Tiguan Highline, which is priced a smidgen below 31 lakhs and the Hyundai Tucson 4x4 which costs just above 25 lakhs. Personally, I love the sharp looks of the Tiguan and I have not been a huge fan of Hyundai’s current SUV design language. But these cars are both largish five-seaters, and in terms of dimensions are very similar.

They both have two-litre diesels, although the Tiguan gets the lowest state of tune on the group’s familiar engine producing 141 horsepower, while the Hyundai makes 180 horsepower. In terms of fuel economy, the Volkswagen did deliver a bit better mileage thanks to its lower power output, but not by much. But the Tiguan has by far and away the better gearbox, and one could argue that the “4Motion” permanent all-wheel drive system on the Tiguan is better as are the brilliant headlights and the fact that the Tiguan has a panoramic sunroof? The Tiguan’s interiors are sharper, much like its exteriors and it feels like a better place to be in, but in normal city driving you possibly would be more comfortable in the back seat of the Tucson.

So is the Hyundai better because it has more power and is cheaper? Or would you go in for a Tiguan because of its sharper looks and slightly superior looks. Is that worth the six lakh rupees extra cost? Frankly, if space is what you need you should just buy a Toyota Innova. But the problem for the Tiguan, and to an extent the Tucson, is that luxury question. Would you rather buy a BMW X1 or Mercedes GLA or even the now quite dated Audi Q3?

None of the SUVs from the German luxury brands is as large as either the Hyundai or Volkswagen. And while the base models are close to the prices of these cars, if you really want a decent feature set, you would need to spend a lot more, quite a lot in fact. At least five lakhs more than the Tiguan, looking at diesel-power. Here is the thing, most people probably choose the brand over the practicality of the car. A car, in that sense is like a watch you wear, a projection of your personality and economic success. Same with a mobile phone. Why would you carry an Apple iPhone if all you want is a device to make calls and use basic apps? Which is why, despite the Tiguan and Tucson being two fine pieces of motoring metal, if I had the money, and I must clarify that I don’t, I would buy a Mini Convertible with all the goodies.