10 Cars We Wished We Had In Singapore

Singapore’s car industry has seen some crazy flip flops. Firstly, the new vehicular emissions scheme (VES) that takes more than just carbon dioxide into account and a vehicle population growth of zero.

With such a tight noose around the car population, it is no wonder that many models never made it to Singapore, factoring in cost, emissions and sales projection. That being said, on paper alone, these cars do appear to have a fighting chance to thrive in Singapore, if only given a chance.

Of course, we would never say no to a 6.2L Dodge Challenger Hellcat with a 2.4L supercharger bolted on it - except the $7000ish annual road tax and unimaginable insurance. For this list, we’ll stick to current brands available, and models with a sense of practicality and are completely not available in Singapore. For example, we don’t get the Hyundai i20, but the Kona (which is based on the i20).

Mid-sized SUVs with tiny engines did quite well in Singapore, just look at the Nissan Qashqai and it’s even smaller 1.2L turbo engine. The Equinox has a 2.0L turbo engine option as well but the 1.6L turbo diesel is Euro 6-certified and a good 320Nm at just 2000rpm, perfect for low-speed traffic crawls. It’s also available in RHD, under the Holden badge. G’day mate.

The Fiat 124 Spider and Fiat 500 are definitely cool cars and the Tipo is probably Fiat’s most boring car. But, when priced to compete with the likes of the Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 and VW Golf, this Italian adds design flair to the boring and overcrowded market. Engines start at 1.4L and up, and it’s available in hatchback, sedan as well as wagon versions.

Frankly, we find no fault in the Honda Jazz, but a peppy 1.2L i-VTEC engine, with a five-speed manual or a 7-step CVT, isn’t going to be ignored. The Brio is also available in the sedan form, as the Amaze, and if you stretch it longer, you get the Mobilio. Once you raise the ride height, you get a BR-V. We don’t recall the Mitsubishi Space Star or Attrage ever being stretched…

Not to be confused with that Nissan - This Lafesta has a 1.4L or 1.6L turbo petrol engine with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. It has the same wheelbase as the Elantra, but it’s longer and wider. And try not to notice elements of the Kia Stinger in the design elements. A small sedan mini-Stinger is definitely not something to ignore.

Walk down Leng Kee and spot the compact sedans like the Honda City, Hyundai Accent and Toyota Vios. The Cerato is Kia's smallest sedan available here, but we think it can go well with a smaller brother. 1.4L with a five-speed manual or a tragic four-speed automatic. Should give the Hyundai Accent a good scare. Afterall, we don’t mind a nice looking compact sedan to ply our roads...

Nissan basically kicked the Juke out of USA with this. With a less shocking appearance, it has quite a dulled down engine choice of a 1.5L or 1.6L diesel or petrol. Still, it has some of the youthful Juke genes left with two-tone color schemes, quite an impressive multimedia player and more space than the Juke. Wonder what will Nissan call a sporty version? Kicks S? Heh heh, Juke’s on you Nissan…

Good news! The Not-A-Dacia Sandero is a French/Romanian subcompact with a range of engine from 0.9L Turbo to 1.5L diesels. Mocked by a popular TV motoring show, this small, reliable, but unassuming hatchback, is also offered in a crossover format as the Sandero Stepway. Bad news! The Not-A-Dacia Sandero is not available in Singapore.

The Spanish Volkswagen Up and Skoda Citigo. All three share the same dimensions, the same engine options and basically is the same car with three different badges. It has room for four Europeans (it’s still bigger than a Kei car) and some boot space to boot. City cars are definitely a welcome sight in a city-state... like Singapore.

The Suzuki Swift with a boot stuck on it has finally broken free from the model it was based on, hence the removal of the Swift from its name. Based on the Baleno, it has a 1.2L petrol or a 1.3L diesel to power it along nicely. Subcompacts have traditionally done well in Singapore, so why not give the Dzire a chance? Afterall, it is arguably still a Japanese car despite originating from India...

We argued for days because you can buy a Polo in Singapore, which this is based on, but the counter argument is: This is a 1.0L turbo sedan. The Polo Sedan has been sold in Malaysia, but the Virtus looks to be different as it is only being offered in South America. But who knows, it’s not that difficult to swap a few things around when modern cars are built to be modular, right VW?

Credits: