i had a long argument with a friend who was into cars as well...(may his soul r.i.p )
when i was about to buy passo
well his main argument was that hatchbacks are not money's worth
you can get a local used sedan in same price
maybe i would have considered a local used honda or corolla if i wanted a manual transmission car
but my priority was auto and sedan was not part of my "requirement"
1.3 city is a flop,
1.6 gli auto corolla was way out of budget
1.3 swift is mega flop
so i ended up buying passo .....100% satisfied
in short , it depends on priorities and budget