With the advent of French competition in the name of the Renault Duster and Renault Koleos SUVs onto the Indian soil, it would become sort of hard for other established players in India like Tata and Skoda. Well, the Skoda for its Yeti and Tata for its Aria. The Skoda Yeti debuted before the Tata Aria at various shows however it was the latter which was first launched on Indian soil. Not that it had many takers for it and neither does the Yeti have many people going gaga over it. Well actually speaking there is no comparison between the two due to the very fact that the Yeti is a compact SUV whereas the Aria is a 7 seater people mover or rather crossover. But the only factor that binds them, as you guessed from the title, is their price tag. Its very rare that I actually speak about the price of a car early on in an article however I can’t think of any other factor for the cars on test here. But then since they fall in the same price bracket and are sort of off roaders, its not criminal to put them in the same ball park. So here comes the comparison of the Skoda Yeti in India as also the Tata Aria in India.

On the looks front none of the cars here would walk down a Donna Cavalli ramp but then since a winner has to be purely picked up, then it would be the Skoda Yeti. Those boxy looks coupled to a small greenhouse do indeed seem favorable in front of the Tata Aria. While the Yeti is all about boxiness, the Aria is more of metal poise. It looks hewn from a single slab of metal. It carries the Tata family face as also the stance of the Tata Indigo Manza. It more or less mimics the Toyota Innova in the rest of its body structure. The Yeti in the meanwhile doesn’t resemble any other car in the Indian market. The Skoda grille upfront looks similar to the one found on the Laura and the Superb. While the Aria has got beefy 17 inch tyres, the Skoda Yeti makes do with 16 inch tyres. On the road though, it is the Aria which gets lots of road presence whereas the Yeti with its quirky looks would guarantee second glances. So overall, it is the Yeti whose design would age well with time whereas the Aria would fade into oblivion.