mumbai when honda motor first launched the jazz hatchback in india over half a decade ago pundits were almost unanimous with their verdict great car but you could buy a sedan at its price the first generation of the jazz in india didnt do well in the market despite the company slashing the cars price it was considered expensive but when honda relaunched the brand this year an all new hatchbackstill priced similar to or higher than several sedans in the market the reception was different more than 9000 units are on the roads within a month and a half of it retailing the model what has changed in between is the mindset of the indian buyer for thousands who started motoring with an entrylevel hatchback graduating to sedans was considered a sign of growing up in life when they had a couple more lakhs to spare they preferred a threebox model than a hatchback that attitude is changing and the young and increasingly affluent buyers are willing to pay rs 810 lakh for a goodlooking featurepacked premium hatchback like the elite i20 and the new jazz not to be left behind indias car market leader maruti suzuki is set to launch a premium hatchback it will spot the name of its discontinued sedan baleno hyundai motors elite i20 has already sold more than 12 lakh units in less than a year the share of hatchbacks priced between rs 55 lakh and rs 10 lakh in the indian car market has more than doubled to 63 percent in 2015 from 24 percent in 2014 rakesh srivastava senior vicepresident of sales and marketing at hyundai motor india said there are two kinds of buyers for these upper premium hatchbacks the ones who are young in the age group of 2235 and want a stylish featurepacked vehicle and those who are affluent and already have premium vehicles in the family but want a smaller car that offers similar comfort style and status the premium compact hatchbacks are lifestyle products it mirrors a lot of peoples personality it mirrors their life he said according to hyundai the average age of the elite i20 user is 2235 and almost 85 percent of them previously owned small compact cars the kind of buyers who previously upgraded to a sedan and not a higherpriced hatchback honda says the average jazz buyer is the youngest among its customers almost 65 percent of jazz enquiries are from people aged below 34 years more than 65 percent of the jazz sold so far have been the higherend variants costing over rs 8 lakh these cars offer stylish exterior and interior ample spacemore than other compact hatchbacks and better fuel economy than sedans they also come with options such as gearless transmission touch screens split seats and paddle shifts traditionally sedan was considered a better status symbol than hatchback but no more said jnaneswar sen senior vicepresident of sales and marketing at honda cars india read also honda jazz