Benchmarking

BENCHMARKING

Benchmarking is a technical term for comparing cars and its components within same brand and especially with other car makers which are already rolling out their products in the market. Basically, a car maker would compare with different cars and analyze what others are providing and from that they can decide, what they can provide more and what actually consumers need. Later on, they can start designing a new product with all the features and aesthetics which will stand out their product when it comes into real life.

Here, I have made a report on selection of a convenient car for Mr. Pughazhyendhii. As he has a family of 5 that includes old parents and a kid, I have kept safety as priority. He has a good budget that can give him some good premium cars and like every Indian guy, he is fond of big cars but lives in Bangalore and we all know how crowded the city is. So, keeping all this in mind, I have decided to go with the Sub-4m compact SUVs. We are aware of the trend of these cars in Indian market and the rapid growth of this segment. This will give Mr. Pughazhyendhii a feel of a big car, as they are actually a compact version of big SUVs, bigger than hatchbacks, premium and fuel efficient.

I have listed 4 cars that comes under the budget, that are pretty well equipped and rated 4 stars and above in Global NCAP crash test. They are

• Mahindra XUV300 W4 Petrol
• Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza LXI
• Nissan Magnite Turbo XV
• Tata Nexon XM

The detailed comparison is shown in the tables below and the differences within them, are highlighted (with yellow) for better understanding.

As we can see, these four cars with specific variants are under the budget of 10 lakhs. Brezza will cost you the least around 9 lakhs and Nexon is the highest of all at 9.84 lakhs. All of them, aesthetically look premium.

Talking about the engine under the hood, Magnite, XUV300 and Nexon comes with turbocharged engines, but Brezza with a naturally aspirated one. With 1.0L engine, Magnite produces 160 nm of torque and 98.63 bhp which is the lowest of four, whereas Nexon with 1.2 L engine, produces 170nm of orque and 118.36 bhp which the highest in all. On the other hand, being with 1.5 L engine and 4 cylinders, Brezza cannot step up much in horse power and produces the least torque, while XUV300 produces a good amount of both as shown. Although, in daily city use, a person would never feel any lag in any of these four.

All four come with a manual transmission and front wheel drive. XUV300 and Nexon, comes with 6 speed transmission, which makes the drive smoother than other two that comes with 5 speed transmission system.

All four are petrol variants of their kind with latest BS VI norms. The fuel tank capacity is not much a big point here, but mileage is. Magnite, with less power, on the other hand gives us a great mileage, whereas XUV300 and Brazza gives least.

The respective suspension system in all four and the power/electric steering type, makes the ride comfortable, sharp and enjoyable for all. XUV300 provides collapsible type steering column, whereas other three give tilt. They all have front disc brakes and just XUV comes with disc at rear too, while other have drum brakes. Also the tyre size of XUV is fat and big, that leads it into this section. All of them have tubeless and radial tyres. Here, we can see the turning radius of Magnite is the smallest that can help our customer very much in a crowded place like Bangalore.

Lets talk about the dimensions. All are sub-4m compacts and have almost similar length. XUV300 leads in width and wheel base and Brezza in height, but when you really enter into tha cabin, you don't feel any much difference. All four provides good cabin space, with adequate leg room and head space too. What actually matters is ground clearance and boot space, in which Nexon clearly wins and Magnite is following it with little margin. As we know about the Indian roads, the unwanted speed-breakers and pot-holes, a car with good ground clearance is a boon and Nexon and Magnite are the same. Also, the boot carrying capacity these two are providing will help Mr. Pughazhyendhii alot, when he travels to Madurai every month. On the other hand, XUV300 is a troublemaker in this section and Brazza is decent but not that good.

When it comes to buying anything, we see how convenient the product actually is and as you can see in the table, Magnite has earned all tick-marks on its side. In this modern time, everyone wants better facilities and features, which this car is providing. Name it and Magnite has it. Call it an auto climate control, rear seat headrests, centre arm rest, adjustable seat belts, functional steering wheel or engine push button start/stop, everything.

The features all four have in common are power steering and windows, adjustable headrests at front, some storage space at front and parking sensors at rear. But Magnite truely leads in terms of features.

And here the reign continues of Nissan Magnite. The small small things that Nissan is providing in its Magnite is commendable. There are some common things among all, as shown above in the table, but things like fog lamps, rear window viper and defogger are really and really helpful in bad weather. No one can deny how hard it is to drive with a bad rear glass. Also, Magnite comes with height adjustable driver seat that is helpful to people with short height and a set of alloy wheels that adds premiumness to the car.

In the safety terms, XUV300 and Nexon are rated 5 stars in Gobal NCAP crash test, whereas Brezza and Magnite are 4 stars rated. So, we can say, safety-wise we are not compromising with any. But the extra safety features are better only, right? As shown, some common features are ABS, child safety locks, 2 front airbags, rear seat belts and warining, EBD and Isofix child seat mount. Other than these, Magnite and Nexon shares some features like brake assist, traction control and hill assist. Brezza and Magnite provides anti-theft alarm system and dimming IRVM which is helpful in night. Impact sensing auto door unlock is provided in XUV300 and Magnite too. Some other useful features like follow me headlamps is in Nexon and vehicle stability control and Rear camera for parking comes in Magnite.

Nissan Magnite comes with a massive 8 inches TFT panel and supports Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, bluetooth and wifi connectivity. Whereas, Brezza and Nexon just supports bluetooth connectivity and XUV300 misses everything in terms of entertainment.

There was a time, when Brezza was rulling this segment but after BS-VI rules and price hikes, now we don't have any of its variant under 10 lakhs that is reliable. Nexon and XUV300 are also great cars with 5 stars ratings but as we are limited with budget, we are not able to get what Magnite is already providing in this range and is a great car with stability and comfort in riding and loads of features that are actually increasing the sales numbers and making buyers considering Nissan cars in the list again. Also, the after sales service of this brand is nice.

So, I would suggest Mr. Pughazhyendhhi to consider Nissan Magnite Turbo XV as a suitable car for him and his family. He will surely love this car and will never regret for the selection done.

Some pictures of Nissan Magnite