Outside the extreme top end, two-door cars don’t have many buyers in India. At least that’s what conventional wisdom says. The highly practical, no-nonsense Indian buyer wants maximum bang for its buck – a bigger engine, bigger boot, louder music system and more and more bells and whistles. Cars with four doors are a given and getting rid of two would be a curse. Correct?
Well, surveys have found that the rear seat and boot are rarely used – more than 70% of the time, only two people travel in a car in India.
In this context, Morris Garages launched its first micro car Comet in the country. About three meters long, it is the smallest car in India by some distance. It only has two doors and no boot, but its tall design offers good space with ample headroom even in the rear seat. Oh, and it’s electric.
But 7.98 lakh, the Comet undercuts Tata’s Tiago EV 71,000, though it has two fewer doors and a smaller battery. But as an EV built from scratch – unlike the Tiago, which adopted the design of its internal combustion engine (ICE) cousin – the Comet has a few other things going for it. It has more tech, better layout and better fit and finish than the Tiago. But this is not where the game will be won or lost. Everything will depend on whether the urban Indian consumer is ready for a quirky looking two-door car for their daily commute.
It is not the first practical two-door car to be launched in India. There was the Standard Herald in the 1970s, the San Storm in the mid-1990s, limited-edition two-door versions of the Maruti Zen (named Carbon and Steel) and the imported VW Polo GTI. In fact, India’s first electric car – the Reva – was a small two-door car. But none of these set a sales record – far from it.
But in the EV era, micro-cars may find more takers for a number of reasons. They are lightweight, built primarily for city use, meaning short trips, and thus can do with a smaller battery pack. Considering batteries account for 40% of the cost of the typical EV, this could prove decisive. The Comet packs a 17.3 kWh battery, which is good enough to last for 200 km on a full charge. It’s clearly not meant for weekend getaways or the primary car for a family.
There will be more such experiments in future, some even more bizarre than this. The era of micro-mobility raises the prospect of niche vehicles for specific uses, such as two-seater taxis or even three-wheelers for last-mile connectivity.
A lot depends on how the Comet fares. MG aims to sell 3,000 units every month. As a two-door car, it could draw confidence from the success of the Mahindra Thar, which showed that Indian customers can start looking beyond traditional formats if given the right design.
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