Suzuki Baleno

Price: Rs 2869000

The clutter-free dashboard and silver accents on the central console give Baleno a premium feel. It comes equipped with the company’s flagship SmartPlayinfotainment system and hosts Apple CarPlay.

Kathmandu

Gone are the days when customers were attracted by the outer shell of a vehicle. Today’s savvy consumers not only pay heed to what lies under a car’s hood, they also care about what’s going on inside. Exquisite exteriors or a powerful engine are not of much help when you may be stuck for hours in a traffic jam. As a result, comfortable interiors have become the new gold standard influencing car consumers in their purchases.

“Good interiors improve comfort and relaxation while driving. It is similar to decorating the interiors of our homes for that feel-good factor. Hence, interiors do play a major role in customers’ purchase decisions,” shared Karan Chaudhary, Managing Director of CG Motocorp, authorised distributors of Maruti Suzuki in Nepal. According to Chaudhary, the Baleno, one of their highest selling hatchbacks, is liked for its interior. He added that the Baleno, launched in 2016, has sold more than 1200 units till date. “Baleno’s premium interior is what makes it stand out. The company has paid attention to the smallest details including providing UV-cut glass, a large touchscreen display and automatic climate control air conditioning. Plus we get a lot of feedback from customers about the car’s comfortable seating,” Chaudhary said.

Automakers quick to capitalise on the demand have offered just about every feature imaginable with their newest models. Depending on the price range, some features such as heated seats and automatic headlights come with the standard model. In other cases, customers have to pay for anything above the baseline, such as leather upholstery.

“Hatchbacks account for almost 65 to 70 per cent of the total car sales in the country, and over the years, the interiors of hatchbacks have been drastically evolving,” said Rupesh Sharma Bhatta, Assistant General Manager of Laxmi Intercontinental, the authorised distributors of Hyundai vehicles in Nepal.

TATA Tiago

Price: Rs 2255000- Rs 2855000

The Tiago flaunts a dual-tone interior and is equipped with multiple storage compartments— bottle and cup holder in the front console, door pockets with bottle holders and tablet storage in the cooled glove box. It features a Connectnext infotainment system by Harman with 4 +4 speakers, turn-by-turn navigation, steering mounted audio and phone controls, segmented 2.5-inch DIS display with gear shift indicator and a door-open and key-in reminder function.

According to Pandeya, the Bolt, which was introduced in July 2015, has sold more than 700 units till date, whereas the Tiago, introduced in 2016, has sold more than 1000 units. “These hatchback models account for roughly 60 per cent of our sales today. While Bolt accounts for approximately 15 per cent of car sales in Nepal in the premium hatchback segment, Tiago accounts for about 20 per cent.”