Indian IT pros don't buy flashy cars

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

WRT hierarchy, again depends on the culture of the company also and i truly dont believe any supre senior guy (in his right frame of mind) will question a person who buys a better car than him if they can afford the same, though its the stupid indian mentality of "maska chaska" "nazar na lage" very unprofessional approach i say, which created this guilt scenario for some falling in my original category of mamu's 2

Gotta disagree with you there. I have seen the exact scenerio. A newly promoted VP turned up in a S-series merc. That day his boss came to work in his Lincoln Towncar, he sees the S-series in the parking lot designated for the new VP. The new VP got the shakedown of his life. Two days later S-series was exchanged for a lowly Cadillac. BTW, no stupid indian mentality was involved, both were whites.

[Jaggu]

yup point agreed..he he its EGO then.

twisted indian mind of mine says.. if the new VP got the shake down, and fell for it too then... may be he aint really worth spending the VP money on him by the boss in first place

[adya33]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Adya, I never said they should. I asked why they don't.

Not everyone who is rich is an automobile enthusiasts or perhaps they have bigger things to take care of first.

Indian IT professionals have more exposure to the world at large, than professionals in other fields.

Please don't generalize.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by adya33

Please don't generalize.

Don't you think it's true? Almost all the business visas to the US are taken by techies. A lions share of foreign investment into India is into IT/telecom.

[adya33]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Don't you think it's true? Almost all the business visas to the US are taken by techies. A lions share of foreign investment into India is into IT/telecom.

Personally I don't think its true. But this isn't topic of this thread. So lets not discuss it in this thread.

[hell_rider]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Gotta disagree with you there. I have seen the exact scenerio. A newly promoted VP turned up in a S-series merc. That day his boss came to work in his Lincoln Towncar, he sees the S-series in the parking lot designated for the new VP. The new VP got the shakedown of his life. Two days later S-series was exchanged for a lowly Cadillac. BTW, no stupid indian mentality was involved, both were whites.

thats really pathetic.

and i don't contribute to this "stupid indian mentality" or "cheap indian mentality" either. I don't think these mentalities are specific to countries. If you are a cheapo you are a cheapo.

I think we indians are too self-deprecating. Fact of the matter is people of other countries too, first world developed countries too have outstanding cheapskate specimens as well.

I have personally had this experience when abroad, where this group of Americans come in to the restaurant, spend a couple of hours, guzzle down beer and order lots of food. And then they weaseled out of the bill by claiming the food and drink was too overpriced. and guess what ??? they got away with it ??? and guess what ??? it was an indian restaurant. You think the restaurant would have let indians get away with that ???

[sreenivass]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

The difference is, unlike these guys, IT pros pay their taxes. So they don't have to hide from the taxman.

Please read carefully. I have posted that this thread is about those who CAN afford those cars but don't buy them. And in case you think IT spending power is overhyped, please visit BLR. This city is BUILT on IT. And on real estate, but that in turn is built on IT.

Come to think of it, a flashy car needn't be 10-15 lakhs. You could have a Zen with a Baleno engine and 15" rims, for the price of a Santro. But would someone buy it?

I think I got the point w.r.t guys in IT that can buy. Our definition of flashy cars seem different. So would you mind elaborating what you mean by flashy car ?

I know sufficiently about Bangalore and I my self fall in to that senior category of IT fellows. I still believe the purchase power of IT guys is overhyped (it does not matter for the point of discussion anyways now).

What you probably mean is the IT folks can afford jazzing up their cars but do not so. I think it is a matter of taste.

[vid6639]

My company's VP has a Qualis and a Santro AT whereas my project manager has a Scorpio SLx, enfield thunderbird and now a cedia.

heck sometimes I bring the lancer to office and park it next to the VP's Santro or Qualis.

Guess it's based on the individual who prefers to be superior in every way.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by sreenivass

I think I got the point w.r.t guys in IT that can buy. Our definition of flashy cars seem different. So would you mind elaborating what you mean by flashy car ?

Well, if I were to buy a car for around 10 lakhs, I'd probably buy a Lancer Cedia and spend some money on mods, or an Elantra CRDi and a Pete's box. A regular IT guy, I assume, would buy a Corolla, or splurge on a Civic. I assume, because I see tonnes of these around. For 15 lakhs or so, IT guy would buy a CRV or an Accord. I would buy a Forester, or a used Skyline/Supra. I don't like the word flashy. I prefer driver's car.

But I guess it's true, not everyone lives eats breathes dreams cars.

[sbasak]

I somewhere read that the owner of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, among world's top 20 riches person, still drives a 10 year old Volvo car!

Anyway, back to the topic, if Indian IT pros are not buying flashy cars, they are probably investing the money in better places - which is a good sign

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by sbasak

I somewhere read that the owner of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, among world's top 20 riches person, still drives a 10 year old Volvo car!

Yeah, he has an old 240 GL, which is a station wagon.

[ggkg]

IT guys are somewhat ahead of the curve in terms of higher than average salary. After all they have been enjoying this for years now. They also get more overseas opps. whether short term or permanent. This explains their tendency to be more conservative.

Other professionals are joining the party, recently. Lawyers, CA and others even ordinary civil/mech engineering grads are getting huge pay packets/increases. They would be spending on big cars most likely because it is new money.

If I were a senior exec at Mercedes or BMW I would be sad to see my company's car on our streets. Unless you wipe it at every traffic light the whole body is usually covered in soot, under the body/wheels you see layers of caked mud and the usual dinks and knocks even on new cars.

[sreenivass]

Originally Posted by vid6639

My company's VP has a Qualis and a Santro AT whereas my project manager has a Scorpio SLx, enfield thunderbird and now a cedia.

heck sometimes I bring the lancer to office and park it next to the VP's Santro or Qualis.

Guess it's based on the individual who prefers to be superior in every way.

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Well, if I were to buy a car for around 10 lakhs, I'd probably buy a Lancer Cedia and spend some money on mods, or an Elantra CRDi and a Pete's box. A regular IT guy, I assume, would buy a Corolla, or splurge on a Civic. I assume, because I see tonnes of these around. For 15 lakhs or so, IT guy would buy a CRV or an Accord. I would buy a Forester, or a used Skyline/Supra. I don't like the word flashy. I prefer driver's car.

But I guess it's true, not everyone lives eats breathes dreams cars.

In the company I used to work for a few months ago one director had a very old M800, another director Wagon R and the third one had an OHC. But the V.P used to drive skoda, Tuscon and Skodas. In the present org the V.P has a CRV I guess where as some managers and engineers have NHCs, Ikons. So it may be safe to assume most of the folks interacting and dealing with westerners may like to have bigger/ better cars (or) one has to be level conscious in executive cadres !!!

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Gotta disagree with you there. I have seen the exact scenerio. A newly promoted VP turned up in a S-series merc. That day his boss came to work in his Lincoln Towncar, he sees the S-series in the parking lot designated for the new VP. The new VP got the shakedown of his life. Two days later S-series was exchanged for a lowly Cadillac. BTW, no stupid indian mentality was involved, both were whites.

I guess this is the case in big companies & higher posts. Small companies are focussed on priorities other than maintaining hierarchy.

[Jaggu]

not really, bigger companies in India are much better off that way i feel, those guys have been there done that and now in these big company (most of them atleast) and they care a damn about all this

see again we all are generalizing here, the company i work for and the companies i know of where my friends work in bangalore or abroad for that matter, as far as i know there is no such as unwritten hierarchical thingie in buying car, unless you want to now term the various eligibility applicable to different cadre of people as this.

so i cant really agree to this, then again these are all case to case and if someone wants to make a case, then they can.

did they conduct a proper survey while arriving at this conclusion and article? or did they just interview few?

loads of questions but a very entertaining thread, so i shall wait and watch