Maruti Alto LXi

The Alto’s interiors are cramped and there’s very little legroom at the rear. The narrow rear seats are barely wide enough to seat two abreast and the tiny boot doesn’t help either. It is one of the cheapest cars sold on Earth (before the launch of the Nano), so you shouldn’t expect much by way of quality interiors.

All the surfaces feel cheap, but plastic quality is no better or worse than the Wagon R. The controls, though finished in cheap plastic, feel hardy and the new rotary air-con controls that came with the facelift look better. There are advantages to having a small cabin. The air-con doesn’t have to work hard to cool the cabin. Equipment levels, as expected, are poor, with not even power windows offered.