Hatchbacks capped under the popular '4 Lacs' Tag

The world is moving towards smaller and compact technologies and so is the preferences of people. The same fact is reflected in the world of Cars with more and more companies launching compact and hatchback cars. With the families going nuclear and majority of buyers being from the service class segment, the preferences are shifting towards low range hatchbacks. Be it Tata Nano, Maruti Alto, Maruti Wagon R, Chevrolet Spark, Hyundai Santro, Maruti Zen or Hyundai i10, the most selling cars in the automobile industry today are small hatchbacks. Lets have a look at the leaders of the most popular and exciting segment in India; the hatchbacks priced below 4 Lacs.

Tata Nano, the smallest and the cheapest car in India had one of the most happening launches ever as it was the the cheapest car in the Indian arena. Launched in 2009, the car has been doing great for itself even after certain reports of Nanos catching fire. Nano comes in five variants, all of which share the same engine capacity, differing only in their features. Tata Nano having a steel body, provides a strong passenger compartment with many safety features which includes crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass is attached to the body of the car. The base variant of Tata Nano is available in the range of Rs 1.19 to Rs 1.26 lakh. The promised mileage by the company is 19kmpl in city areas and the car has been able to achieve the same with time.

Maruti Suzuki, the industry leader and the producer of some of the best-selling cars in India, gave a gift to the Indian buyers in the form of Maruti Alto. The largest selling car in India, recently got a newer version due to the introduction of BS IV norms and has been offering a spectacular mileage of 19.73kmpl. Maruti Alto is equipped with 796cc, 3-cylinder, and 4 valves per cylinder MPFI, FC engine with 32 Bit ECM that generates a maximum power of 47 PS at 6200 rpm and 62 NM torque at 3000 rpm which makes it able to touch the mark of 0-100 km/h in just 20 seconds and break the barrier of 130 km/h. Alto is like a 'Little Wonder' and a perfect package of features and performance. Maruti Alto is considered to be the best bet for any buyer who is investing his money for the first time and wants a safe investment.

Shah-Rukh Khan, is what comes to the mind of any Indian when mentioned about Hyundai Santro Xing. A stupendous branding, great on-road performance, interesting features is what made this car contend for one of the most selling cars in India. Hyundai Santro Xing powered by a 'active intelligence' technology empowers the engine to think and operate at its best under usage condition, delivering maximum power and mileage. Hyundai seems to have paid great attention to the detailing of the car as the features encapsulated are simply world class, like the McPherson Strut Suspension with a stabilizer bar in the front and a torsion beam axle with 3-link offset coil springs and hydraulic dampers in the rear.

A combination of jellybean and tallboy designs, Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo comes in four variants priced between Rs 3,20,201 and Rs 4,06,997.Roomier than the original Zen, the car is powered by a 1,061cc, four-cylinder engine and five-speed gearbox combo that gives a peak power of 68bhp at 6,200 rpm and maximum torque of 90Nm at 3,500 rpm. Superior air conditioning, greater boot space makes this car ideal to drive in Indian conditioning. There are enough reasons for the car to be loved by Lacs of Indians across different cities.

World's largest car maker General Motors came up with in the year 2007, in order to capture the small car market, then dominated by Maruti Alto, Maruti Wagon R and Hyundai Santro. The car offered great looks, good on road performance and power-packed features that gave it the requisite credentials to stand apart in the league. The car claims a mileage of 16.9kpl with a top speed of 156Km/hr. Launched in five exciting variants priced in the range of Rs 3.19 to Rs 4.24 lacs, the car's performance is optimized with many technological innovations like Sequential MPFI (Multi Point Fuel Injection), Dual Distributor Less Ignition (DDLI) System, Motorized Throttle Intake System (MTIS) and Advanced Optical Sensors.

Maruti Wagon R, the second highest selling car in India, got a facelift early this year that enhanced its looks to a more classy and elegant genre. The new Maruti WagonR is packed with the same K series K10B engine that is already been used in Maruti Suzuki A-Star, the fresh 998cc three cylinder engine has got the potential to offer the amazing fuel economy of 18.9 kmpl. Popularly called the "Blue eyed boy", the car is powered by the 1.0L, 998cc, KB-series petrol engine that produces a maximum power of power of 68PS at 6200 rpm with the maximum torque of 90Nm at 3200rpm. Modern technology when clubbed with classy style, produces a magnamopus, and that is what Maruti turned Wagin R into.

Following its own footsteps after the success of Hyundai Santro, the company launched Hyundai i10 in the same segment but with newer, better offerings. Equipped with standard features Hyundai i10 proves to be high class car, some standard features are also available on the instrumental panel also some of these include tachometer, electronic trip meter, electronic odometer, low fuel warning lamp, digital clock etc. The two variants (D-lite and Era) of Hyundai i10 are equipped with 1.1L, 1086cc, IRDE (Intelligent Responsive Drive Engine) petrol engine with manual transmission gearbox. There seems to be a great contribution of innovation when the designing and developing of Hyundai i10 is talked about.

The hunger for better and superior seems to be on its zenith in the current automobile scenario as both the Companies and the buyers are ready for experiments, innovations and perfection. The times couldn't have been better as the segment of Compact cars is blooming and blossoming with each passing day.