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| Chevrolet Beat vs Maruti Ritz - Small Change |
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| The Beat is ambitious. The Ritz is established. Will things remain the same? |
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By : Srinivas Krishnan | Published : February 27, 2010 | Photos : Aneesh Shivanekar |
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After living with the Maruti Suzuki Ritz for over six months now, I am completely taken aback with the freshness of the Chevrolet Beat. It looks like a concept car even now and the kind of effort that General Motors has put in it to make it different from the other small car lot is obvious. The freshness it brings to the segment plus its killer value proposition plus GM’s new thrust to make the ownership experience cost-effective is reason enough to go for the Beat. Besides it’s kind of unfair to compare it with another car that is sits a notch up in the marketplace. But as everyone knows, life isn’t fair. So can the Beat beat our Car Of The Year 2010?
Concept car vs conservative smart
The Beat was the name of the concept that GM showed at Detroit in 200X, and suitably the name of the production car that seems to be virtually untouched from the concept wears the same name in India. The Beat is an adventurous looking small car. It looks as if it should belong to the Transformers rather than the bumble-bee Camaro. Each section of the car is a beautifully crafted facet and its youthfulness even five years down seems guaranteed. By placing the rear handles up on the doors’ edge is something that Walter de Silva did with the Alfa Romeo 156 way back when – so it’s surprising that it took so long for mainstream cars to incorporate them. Even the Honda New Small concept had these grope handles (I call them that as you have to keep groping for them at the usual place!) and I am pretty sure it will feature in the production car.
Enough has been said about the Ritz’s appearance, but allow me my two bits. I have observed that older people like the front while younger people like the rear treatment. I am not surprised because I think there have been two sets of designers – one for the front and one for the back – and they didn’t talk to each other. What then explains the conservative, geometric front end and a dramatic, raked rear-end? The other key feature about the Ritz’s appearance is its wide, planted stance and the way the rear wheels seem to be pushed outwards as far as possible add to the effect. The Ritz, of course, looks and is bigger than the Beat – and that makes it also look like a car for the grown-ups.
DESIGN
Chevrolet Beat: 4 out of 5 stars
Maruti Suzuki Ritz: 3 out of 5 stars
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