Maybe... hereâs my thought process before buying and the current situation
Background:
Our company offered a replacement for 1.5 turbo which was now Rs4.4m against the previous one bought in 2016 for Rs 3m. There wasnât any improvement in specs other than rim size, rear spoiler, boot insulation, black seats and some badges. Didnât like the upgrades and the cars which we tried to sell with less than 50k mileage were selling at 5-6lac deficit on cost.
Factors leading to decision
The Sportage was local assembled with Kia Lucky investing in plant so seemed to have an indication of staying.
The warranty covered risks of production and assembly.
Local dealership network helped assure after-sales service and parts availability.
Price differential from Civic Turbo was 6lacs for me so considering the features it was a no-brainer.
Another factor reluctance in buying an imported car as it puts more pressure on our currency and local industry suffers. Mock me if you may but I would rather buy PKDM car if itâs good enough.
After purchase:
The market prices of only 2 cars were at a premium the new Alto and Sportage. The âownâ as people call it was around 2lacs on the revised price so it seems the market appreciates the quality difference and trusts KLM to stay.
The other options were limited so I couldâve opted for a body-on-frame Fortuner with a longer lease term and adding money from my pocket for something (petrol version) which has even worse power to weight ratio and no sunroof which weâve become used to.
In my view not everything in life is an investment. Cars are depreciable assets meant to be used if you can afford them.
If youâre willing to compromise on ride quality then better to opt for cheapest PKDM vehicle youâre comfortable with and invest the rest in whatever commodity supports speculation be it gold, USD or land. Iâm personally abhorrent of the latter practice which pulled investors into buying cars for own too.
Best of luck in deciding.