India's Original Premium Hatchback Everyone's Forgotten About: A Closer Look On Video
The automotive segment has always had strong trends and winning formulae when it comes to body styles. India has kept its preferences limited to just hatchbacks, sedans, MPVs, and SUVs. Over the years, we saw consumer preferences shifting from hatchbacks to premium hatchbacks, and then to sedans. Now, SUVs are the hot sellers here.
In 2000s, we had some great models in the premium hatchback space. One of them was the Chevrolet Optra SR-V. It is tough to find well-kept units today. A recent video shared on the channel Namaste Car gives us a quick tour of this forgotten premium hatchvack.
The car seen in this video seems to belong to a used car dealer and wears ‘HR’ registration plates. Chevrolet launched the SR-V in India in mid-2006. It came in two variants- Standard and Option. The former had an ex-showroom price of Rs 6.90 lakh at launch, while the Option variant used to cost 7.5 lakh, ex-showroom.
The host gives a detailed tour of the SRV. It shows the front fascia, headlights, front bumper, side profile, wheels, and even the rear. The SRV was one of the few cars to feature twin rear spoilers back in its day. It is still one of the best looking hatchbacks ever launched in our country.
This example seems to be well-kept. You get to see the car’s age in certain areas. But overall, the hatchback is in good shape.
Later in the video, the host shows the interior and features. In one frame, you can see some amount of rust on the sill. Some elements inside have faded and show their age. The video shows the door pads, seat uphostery and roof liner in detail. The SR-V offered almost as much cabin room as its sedan counterpart- the Optra Magnum used to. The rear seats here seem spacious and comfortable.
Unlike modern cars, this hatchback doesn’t have an abundance of features or gizmos. Since it is the Standard variant, the feature list is fairly basic. You can see manual air-conditioning controls, rear defogger, electrically adjustable mirrors and a 2DIN music system inside.
The instrument cluster has a speedometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge and a tachometer- all analog units. A tiny digital display has the likes of an odometer and trip meters on offer. The hatchback doesn’t have a sunroof. It, however, offers power windows for all doors with an auto-down function for the driver.
The Optra has been an important model for Chevrolet and General Motors (GM). Over the years, various forms of it were sold in multiple markets, including India. The SRV is the hatchback and Magnum the sedan.
It used to have a station wagon on sale abroad, which never made it to India. Various sub-brands of GM sold it (or iterations of it) under different names in different markets- Daewoo Lacetti, Baojun 630, and Holden Viva were all essentially the same car.
The original Lacetti (Optra) J200 debuted in 2002. In India, it was manufactured at the carmaker’s Halol plant. The sedan form- Optra Magnum had good number of takers in India. It was later succeeded by the Chevrolet Cruze, which rose to stellar acceptance due to its strong diesel engine and great value proposition.
Circling back, the SRV in the video here comes with a 1.6L inline-four VGIS petrol engine with sequential multi-port fuel injection. It used to produce 99 hp and 144 Nm of torque.
The premium hatchback scene in India has had a mature evolution. It started at a time when people used to associate hatchbacks with ‘budget cars’ and sedans with ‘ the next step after budget cars’. Most Indian buyers did not have a mid-point between these.
The Fiat Palio is one of the earliest examples of premium hatchbacks in India. Hyundai entered the space with the Getz, Skoda had the Fabia, and Chevy had the SRV. Ford had the Fusion on sale here, which was in fact, a crossover, and not a premium hatchback.
Even though many dismissed considering premium hatches due to their value propositions, the space gradually gained traction. Models like the Hyundai i20 and Honda Jazz sold well.
Seeing the shifting market winds, Indian auto-giant Tata Motors tried to have a presence in the premium hatch segment with the Indica Vista and its successor Bolt. Before announcing its India exit, GM brought the Sail U-VA as the SRV’s spiritual successor. It, however, failed to become a commercial success.
In the years that followed, we saw i20 taking the lead, spawning new engine options and variants. Tata introduced the Altroz as the Bolt’s successor, and the Maruti Suzuki Baleno started driving good monthly volumes.
The market winds then shifted to sedans and SUVs, and premium hatchbacks started to die out. Today, this space has just a handful of players in it. You have the Baleno/ Glanza, Altroz, and the i20. The sub-four-meter SUV segment often sells better than premium hatchbacks.