Exactly! The cons of relaunching older model vehicles heavily outweigh the pros, and even then the pros of it (like cheaper cost, easier assembling etc etc.) are mitigated by inflation. In the end, it’s just not worth it and it’s way better and cheaper to just launch and sell newer models.

As far as my opinion, these vehicles but good for their time, but now the ship has long sailed. My number one requirement from any vehicle is a spacious interior. Now the tiny kei hatchback eighth generation Alto has greater cabin space than most of these vehicles. In Margalla’s front seat a 6′ tall person cannot stretch their legs all the way to the front without hitting the firewall (this is the same cabin as Cultus 2000-2017) but in the newer eighth generation Alto this is possible despite the exterior dimensions still being so small. Moreover despite the front seat at rearmost setting, the rear passengers still have lots of room left.

Most of these older cars had pathetic A/c because of 2-valve per cylinder design the low-RPM power was low enough and the older design A/c compressors had awful drag on the engine.

These older designs will never be able to perform in modern crash testing.

These older engines also have terrible fuel economy compared to today’s designs.

Newer cars have a higher seating position which makes them more suitable vis-a-vis the headlight height of other newer and older vehicles. The higher seating position is also favourable for older people to enter/exit the vehicle, since older people have less muscular strength.

The rear doors of these older vehicles open only 60-65° but for newer designs they open properly upto 85-90°, a bit challenging to hold a heavy runaway door when parked on a slope but a lot better for easy ingress/egress or when you want to place something on the seat.

Older vehicles used to come with conventional fresnel refractor headlight or the crystal headlights with plain tungsten filament bulb or halogen bulb as a light source. One of the reasons people choose “lightmarish” aftermarket HIDs is that the factory-fitted lighting setup is pathetic and didn’t provide enough illumination. Newer cars come with full projection lens setup with LED light source or with LED matrix system.

Brake light of these cars was also powered by a conventional tungsten filament bulb whereas the newer ones come with LED brake lights and taillights, which means faster on-off resulting in better road safety.

These cars came with tiny wheels and narrow tyres, not good for grip. Newer cars come with wider, larger wheels and still provide better fuel economy.

Some of these vehicles can possibly perform well but not without technical upgrades, but under-the-hood upgrades can’t make the cabin bigger.

I think the best solution is if we get budget friendly models launched from these companies. Daihatsu, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, and Toyota all have so many models available internationally and in Indonesian/Thailand markets. Mitsubishi has the Mirage and Attrage which could be great competitors to cars like the Suzuki Swift/Kia Picanto. Daihatsu has the Mira, Toyota has the Passo, etc etc.

But then… the chances of that happening are as scarce as seeing snowfall in Karachi during the month of June/July. 🙃