Benchmarking
Benchmarking in the automotive industry is the study of comparision between available products in the market, on some dimensions of performance which could be the decisive factors which are relevant to the customer.
The case here suggests that the choice of car should be
1. Spacious since it has to carry 5 members, and also should have enough leg room and luggage space.
2. As it is a family car, safety is must and hence it should be having good safety features and rating.
3. To be used as a commuter, it should offer good city and highway milage.
4. The budget has to be between 8-10 lakhs, and for obtaining better milage, it should be a diesel variant.
The following is comparision made between Diesel SUVs between 8-10 lakhs in the Indian market
| Tata nexon XM Diesel | Mahindra bolero B6 | Mahindra XUV 300 W4 diesel | Mahindra bolero Neo N4 | |||||
| Length (mm) |
3993 |
3995 |
3995 |
3995 |
||||
| Width (mm) |
1811 |
1745 |
1821 |
1795 |
||||
| Height (mm) |
1606 |
1880 |
1627 |
1817 |
||||
| Ground Clearance Unladen (mm) |
209 |
- |
180 |
180 |
||||
| Wheel Base (mm) |
2498 |
2680 |
2600 |
2680 |
||||
| Grossweight (kg) |
- |
- |
- |
2215 |
||||
| Seating Capacity |
5 |
7 |
5 |
7 |
||||
| Boot Space (Litres) |
350 |
- |
259 |
384 |
||||
| No. of Doors |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
||||
| Fuel Type |
Diesel |
Diesel |
Diesel |
Diesel |
||||
| Mileage (City) |
17.0 kmpl |
15.64 kmpl |
17.0 kmpl |
12.08 kmpl |
||||
| Mileage (ARAI) |
|
|
|
|
||||
| Fuel Tank Capacity |
44.0 (Litres) |
60.0 (Litres) |
42.0 (Litres) |
50.0 (Litres) |
||||
| Emission Norm Compliance |
BS VI |
BS VI |
BS VI |
BS VI |
||||
| Advance Safety Features |
Roll-over Mitigation, Hydraulic Brake Assist, Electric Brake Pre-fill, Multi-drive Modes: ECO / CITY / SPORT, Umbrella Holder in Front Doors, Puncture repair kit |
Co-Driver Occupant Detection System,New Flip Key |
Corner Braking Control, Seat Belt Reminder for Co-driver, High Mounted Stop Lamp, Passenger Airbag Deactivation Switch, Tyre-position Display |
Corner braking control |
||||
| Turning Radius (Metres) |
5.1 |
- |
5.3 m |
5.35 |
||||
| Global NCAP Crash test ratings (Adult safety rating) | 5 star | N/A | 5 star | N/A | ||||
| Global NCAP Crash test ratings (Child occupancy safety rating) | 3 star | N/A | 4 star | N/A | ||||
| Price (Ex-showroom) |
9.90 Lakh* |
10.00 lakh | 9.60 Lakh | 9.48 lakh |
From this comparision, it can be seen that the Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV 300 would be safe to recommend. Now from these two we can narrow down the final choice
1. Fuel efficiency : Both the Nexon and XUV 300 have same city milage, but highway milage of Nexon is more
2. Crash Test ratings : Both the cars have same adult safety protection, but XUV 300 has better child safety rating
3. Turning radius : Considering a city like banglore, a tight turning radius would be better, which is of Nexon at 5.1m as compared to 5.3m of the XUV
4. Dimensions and cabin space : Both the cars have identical dimensions, but its the Nexon which offers a bigger boot space.
5. Price : The XUV 300 costs 30 thousand less than the tata Nexon for the starting Diesel variant.
Considering all the aspects, its safe to recommend Tata Nexon, but XUV 300 won't make a bad choice either.