Logan among best cars not sold in US

Mahindra & Mahindra's (M&M) entry-level sedan Logan, which hit the Indian roads some six months back, may not have set sales registers soaring exactly, but it has been named among the 16 best cars not sold in America by a leading US magazine.

In the list of 'The Best Cars Not Sold in America', compiled by BusinessWeek in its latest edition, Logan is the only Indian car alongside 15 others being sold in the non-American markets.

"The car (Logan) itself is not that interesting by the standards of US consumers "� for starters, it is right-hand drive and the base engine is only 75 hp "� but its heritage shows how the world is shrinking," BusinessWeek said about the car.

Pointing out that Logan is originally a model from Romanian automaker Dacia, the magazine noted, "Mahindra and Mahindra would probably love to export cars to this country (US) some day, but that day is probably several years away."

Dacia is part of Renault which was bailed out of the American market way back in 1986.

Most of the other cars named in the list are from Europe and Japan, such as Opel Zafira, Peugeot 308, Renault Scenic, Citroen C3 Pluriel, Alfa Romeo Spider, Ford Focus, Smart for Two and Mercedes-Benz A Class.

The list also includes a Chinese car Cherry QQ, Nissan Pino (Japan), Holden VE (Australia), Citroen C-Crosser, SEAT Altea Freetrack and Alfa Romeo 8C.

The magazine said that "the bulk of cars in Europe, Japan, and developing automotive markets such as India and mainland China tend to be smaller, less powerful, and more multipurpose. They are also far more likely to be diesel-powered, since diesel engines get about 30 per cent more miles per gallon than the same size gasoline engine."

While Logan is priced at about $12,000 dollars (domestic price), some other cars mentioned in the list are even cheaper, such as Japan's Nissan Pino is priced at $7,428 and Smart for Two, a small car made by a company named Smart is being sold at $11,590.

While the price of China's Cherry QQ is not known, more expensive cars include Peugeot 308 ($ 13,365), Citreon C3 Pluriel ($ 19,150), Renault Scenic ($ 21,695), Open Vectra ($ 25,942), Alfa Romeo Spider ($ 39,690) and Alfa Rome 8C (over $ 90,000).

M&M started manufacturing Logan in May in collaboration with French auto major Renault. Its base model is priced at around Rs 4.4 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The company sold a total 2,185 units in September against 2,252 units sold in the previous month. But then car sales in this month are weak as the 'shrraadh' season, which is considered an inauspicious period for any new purchase, falls in September.

The company has sold a total of 12,494 units of the car in the first six months of this fiscal (April-September), representing about 14 per cent of its total vehicle sales.