Living Life Mid-Size

If you’re looking for a mid-sized sedan, you should really look no further than the new Hyundai Verna.

- Kushan Mitra

IN 1999, MY STEPFATHER BECAME ONE OF THE EARLY OWNERS OF A HYUNDAI ACCENT. Back then, that was as good a sedan as you could possibly get in India (the Korean company claimed that they had spent a billion dollars developing the car). You really did not have much of a choice when it came to sedans in that price-bracket, either - there was the Maruti Esteem (which was dated even then) and the Daewoo Cielo, which was not bad at all, given the other products on offer, but Daewoo’s internal issues were already hurting sales.

There was also a generation-old Ford Escort, which consumers skipped, and the Honda City had just entered the market. The last named car in this list was far and away the best thing to have happened to Indian roads back then, but it was relatively expensive, because the late ‘90s and early 2000s were a time when a lakh of rupees was still a lot of money (apartments in Gurgaon cost ‘just’ Rs 20 lakhs). So, the Hyundai Accent, with its modern looks, comfortable seats and staid driving performance, was not a bad car if you wanted to potter around the city.