City Fusion

WHICH CAR?

The Fusion has been through a facelift and this is indeed a good time to buy it. It is a comfortable car to transport four people and yes, it is easy to get in and out of. As a city car, there are few cars in India that can counter the Fusion. The only negative that we can think of is expensive routine maintenance. Buy one, take good care of it and the Fusion will be a rewarding car to live with.  Next up  We are a family of 6+1 (husband, wife, two kids, parents and a dog). I am in the army and need a new car to go to work and go around town (max 20 km per day). I need a car that is spacious, economical to run and maintain, and which has good resale value. I have a beat-up old Fiat and an Indica V2. I can't make up my mind whether to spend too much (and buy an Indigo) or too little (Maruti 800/Omni). Presently I am in Mumbai. A bigger car would mean some finance and the smaller one would mean I could fund it. I can afford both but financially and otherwise which would be preferable?

G Sinha, Mumbai

Since you need accommodation for six people, you should consider either a Toyota Innova (Rs 6.7 lakh onwards) or a Maruti Suzuki Versa (Rs 4 lakh onwards). If you think the Innova is too much car for your daily run, you should seriously consider the Versa, which is a practical city car as well as a nice enough people mover for the occasional family trip.  Filthy rich  Who buys super luxury cars like the Rolls-Royce Phantom in India?

Karthik Sankaran, via email

You will be surprised! There are close to ten Phantoms in India and are found even in places like Kolhapur. A Rs 3.5 crore car is not considered taboo by the super rich any more. Buyers are mostly industrialists (psst... beedi manufacturing is an industry too) who consider it important to tell the world that they have arrived