Replacement for Ford Ikon 1.6 ZXI NXT – What NEXT?

Hi All! Here is my turn to get some 'What car' advice :) I recently sold off my Ford Ikon, and now in need to get a new drive when I visit India in Jan / Feb 2012. The association with Ford India started in 2003 December, and the journey so far had been pretty good. All good things need to end eventually, and in this case my BIL had a liking to the aging Ikon (only done close to 50K kms), and offered a decent deal for the car. So now the car is still very much in the family albeit in another city! Even though I get to drive the car only once in a while (maybe for 2-3 weeks in every 6-8 months), I would like my next car to fulfill some of the key parameters I am looking for: Safety: Should have all possible safety features available in its class – good structural integrity, ABS, airbags, and all those possible acronyms. Drive: Should be good to drive, and a reasonably communicative steering – need something to match (or better) the sweet steering of the Ikon 1.6. 0-100 figures is not so important, but the car should not feel too under-powered. Ride Quaility: Should have a reasonable backseat – prime commuters will be my parents, and hence a comfortable backseat (for 2) with not much of tossing around will really help. Dealership/AS&S: A dealer with good attitude – this is an important parameter, and the Ford guys in my town get a 5-star rating in this aspect. They might have gone wrong a couple of times in past 7 years, but it was really a breeze dealing with them. Always do reminder calls for service, and if there are issues, they pick up the car from our place, and drop it back (even for an eight year old car). Only point I did not like was, they have a tendency to fabricate a bit on insurance claims. Ownership experience: And finally, the most important aspect – should be easy to live with. I prefer my car to run on stock form. Adding up leather seats is ok, but it will be better if I don't need to look for tyre change, audio setup change and so on, soon after the delivery.

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