Truth Be Revealed : Maruti Suzuki Alto vs Hyundai Eon Comparison

The Korean car maker Hyundai is known for sculpting beautiful shapes out of raw metal. But with launch of its new baby hatchback Eon, Hyundai has set a new benchmark in low cost car design. Now with the presence of Hyundai Eon in the Indian entry level car segment the other budget hatchbacks like Maruti Suzuki Alto, Alto k10, Maruti 800, Chevy Spark, Tata Nano etc suddenly seems to look boring and ancient in comparison. But does that mean all these cars will lose their market share overnight just because a smart looking car has been launched?

It is wake up time. In the Indian car market scene looks of a car is an important factor in its success but the deciding factors have always been: KKH- Kitne Ki Hai (Price), KDH – Kitna Deti Hai (Fuel economy/efficiency), product reliability plus ease and cost of maintenance and service. So no doubt Hyundai’s Eon can win fashion contests but can it crack the code of our unique small car space is yet to be seen.

Lots of reviewers are giving over importance to looks of new Eon as if it’s all that’s required. But as they say ‘looks don’t win battles’, here we will try and look at comparison between the ageless Maruti Suzuki Alto/Alto K10 versus new fluidic Hyundai Eon from a more practical, real life point of view.

Fuel Economy Comparison: Eon vs Alto: Kitna Deti Hai?

Mileage Comparison	Local (kmpl)	Highway (kmpl)	Overall (kmpl)	Fuel Tank (litre)
Hyundai Eon	15.6	24.3	17.7	32
Maruti Alto K10	16.3	26.3	18.8	35

All seem to be talking about how fuel efficient Hyundai Eon is, considering the official ARAI mileage figure of 21.1kmpl and Suzuki Alto K10’s 20.2kmpl. But as we all know ARAI gives only the ideal test condition figures and not the real world fuel efficiency numbers. So to know what average fuel consumption we can expect in our day to day driving, guys at Overdrive tested and found some actual figures which differs a lot from ARAI published mileage of Eon and Alto. Considering these figures (mentioned in above table) we note Alto has superior fuel efficiency over Eon in local as well as highway drive. Now taking into account the overall (local + highway) fuel economy and fuel tank size of both the cars we can get a usable result. In one tank full of petrol Eon can be driven 566.4 kilometers whereas Alto will keep running for 658 kilometers i.e. almost 91 km more that Eon.

Speed Test: Eon vs Alto: Who’s faster?

Performance Comparison	0-100 kmph (sec)	Top Speed (kmph)
Hyundai Eon	19.08	131
Maruti Suzuki Alto K10	15.2	153

Alto’s higher fuel efficiency has not been achieved by compromising on performance. In Overdrive’s 0 to 100 acceleration test Eon reached ton in a lazy 19.08 seconds whereas Alto reached 100 in just 15.2 seconds. Plus on an open highway run Hyundai’s small fluidic gives up on touching 131 kmph whereas Maruti’s old workhorse keep galloping till 153 kmph. In short Alto is more like a pocket rocket- small and fast.

Engine Comparison: Eon vs Alto: Who’s powerful?

Powertrain Comparison	Engine (CC)	Power (PS)	Torque (Nm)
Hyundai Eon	814	56	76.5
Maruti Suzuki Alto K10	998	68	90

Engine is said to be the soul of an automobile. Japanese have always been great at making amazing engines and Suzuki is no different. If you drive Eon and Alto back to back you’ll notice two prominent things immediately. One- Alto has way more powerful and refined engine and second- due to Eon’s narrower power-band you need change gears much more frequently than in Alto. Moreover in Alto you feel very less engine/transmission vibrations on control levers like accelerator, gear shift etc. than Eon. K10’s 998cc, 68bhp twin-cam engine is one of the best in this segment and goes on to show just how good a three-cylinder can be. Along with a precise-shifting gearbox it makes Alto an ideal car for people who love to drive.

Design and Ergonomics Comparison: Eon vs Alto.
Alto has been designed keeping in mind the practical needs and requirements for its user’s comfort whereas Eon’s shape has been crafted to make a style statement. Due to its rising shoulder line Eon has a small glass area at rear and thus limiting the amount of light coming in from the sides and making it claustrophobic. Further, the thick A-pillar decreases the overall frontal visibility. Also due to longer back seat base your legs may hit against the B-pillar while getting in and out of Eon. In contrast, Alto has much better all-round visibility with large window area, slimmer pillars and more ergonomic ingress & egress.

Price Comparison: Eon vs Alto: Kitne Ki Hai?

Price Comparison (KKH)	Price (ex-showroom, Delhi)
Maruti Suzuki Alto	2,32,000
Hyundai Eon	2,70,000
Maruti Suzuki Alto K10	3,04,000

Hyundai Eon starts from base price of 2.7 lakhs and goes upto 3.75 lakhs whereas Alto can be bought for 2.32 lakhs and Alto K10 for 3.04 lakhs. So you need to cough up atleast 38,000 rupees more to buy Eon base over Alto base. Also since Alto is not a new launch so you can expect to get some discounts at dealer level as well. In contrast Hyundai has already announced that it’s going to increase car prices in a months’ time thereby further diluting Eon’s value for money image.

Sales Comparison: Eon vs Alto: Who sells more?

Car Sales Comparison	Sept. 2011	Oct. 2011	Nov. 2011
Hyundai Eon	7188	6315	7418
Maruti Suzuki Alto	21198	15197	24422

A new car garners maximum sales in first 2-3 months of its launch after which the number of units being sold comes down to a comparatively lower but stable figure. Being a recent launch Hyundai has been managing to sell on average about 7000 units of Eon for the past three months which by any standard is a very health number till you compare it with Alto who has been getting 25,000 new customers month on month for past many years. Recent downfall in Alto’s sale has nothing to do with Eon but with production shutdowns and labour issues at Maruti’s factory for the past many months and it has been resolved now. Rather than making a dent in Maruti Alto’s market share, Eon has been eating into sales number of its elder sibling Santro Xing.

Another reason for Alto’s superstar performance all these year has been low cost of maintenance and service provided by Maruti throughout India. Even though Hyundai has been building a decent pan India dealer network but it pales in comparison to Maruti Suzuki's network. Also the average cost incurred on maintaining and servicing a Hyundai product in comparison to Maruti has always been higher.

Maruti Suzuki Alto/Alto K10 has been ruling the Indian automobile market for almost 11 years now and it’s no mean task to fulfill needs and meet expectations of generations of Indian masses. Ask Tata (‘Nano’) how difficult it is to earn trust of people no matter how good your product is. So it will never be easy for a new ‘fluidic’ boy to dethrone the King of Indian small car market in a hurry.

Disclaimer: This comparative analysis is done to remind and highlight the true positive aspects of Alto which seem to have be been ignored by one and all since the launch of Eon. It does not in any way intend to undermine the qualities and potential of Eon being a wonderful hatchback.