Indian IT pros don't buy flashy cars

[quicksilver]

Originally Posted by muni

Yea..i loathe it too.

We give importanace to lots of useless things which just makes us more conservative. How on earth can somebody explain so many thousands of gods, castes, religions, customs and blah blah blah.

We need to slowly join the mainstream in our own interests to bring about some quality in the way we live life by having a pragmatic approach.

Guys, lets not divert from the topic... what does the religion/caste/custom has to do with living life... let alone buying a Flashy car ???

I have had some thoughts about this and I still believe the main reasons are

1. Society/lifestyle... we give more importance to assets that appreciate in value.

2. Income/Price ratio for cars here, which make it a costly proposition in India to buy/own cars, let alone flashy cars.

Apart from these, did anyone think of another reason... IT Companies in the metros have provided good transportation facilities (including pick-up 'n drop at places) which reduces the dependence an IT Pro has on his car.... why buy a flashy car when you'd be driving it only on sundays...

[ajmat]

Things might change once housing becomes unaffordable or very cheap - more a case of the former. People will realise that only way to distinguish themselves will be a decent set of wheels

Another aspect is the current generation have lived in a world where credit was not easy and will not get conned. The youngsters coming out into the big bad world will go for easy credit and flashy cars

Another trivial reason ...in India is that a flash car is not an automatic device to score with the women out here - (you got to deal with parents, religion, job, potential marriage prospects plus a lot more)

[naveendhyani]

i guess the main reason of IT pro's nut buying a flashy car is that most of them are rational & want VFM. most of them are first generation drivers plus there is no 'Actual' flashy cars in india (corvette, beetle, mustang).

there is no "drastic" difference between one segment & another segment once u go upwards of esteem.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by naveendhyani

there is no 'Actual' flashy cars in india (corvette, beetle, mustang).

there is no "drastic" difference between one segment & another segment once u go upwards of esteem.

I have one answer for your statement my friend-

A Yellow or Red Skoda Octavia RS

[naveendhyani]

no offence but a red or yellow skoda octavia may b good to look at but a red palio looks at par with it. what i meant was the cars in india are structurally just ny other car u find. no coupes, no sports cars, no convertibles, no RWD nothing. they are just "plane jane". 4 doors, 4 seats, always sub 200 hp engine (while average US & europe cars are 200 hp+)

[DRC]

IT pro myself, and have observed this in my fellow engrs.

They all tend to buy cars like a piece of code. If it worked elsewhere well, it will work here too. Kinda conservative,, Like copy - paste

When I joined this company, Our director had a Opel astra (for what ever reason).. soon, GM bought the same, Fin bought it, GM's wife bought it,... soon there were a lotta them, to the extent the opel dealer started giving special discounts for our company.

Then, my friend a sr Manager bought a Palio, soon there were so many palios among other engineers and managers.

Then same thing happened with Esteem, One of the software managers made a comment on that too, "The other manager made all the research and I just re-used(copy pasted) his findings" soon there were quite a few Esteems in the parking lot..

Now same thing is happening with wagon R...We already have 8 of them newly bought since last year .

Between all these, the flashy urge gets faded... No one wants to write a new code by themselves

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[sk456]

Hi All,

I think IT pro or not Wealth is a relative concept... So spending 10 L ona car might be "cheap or VFM " for one and a "Oh my God" for another... Morover it depends on pioritizing ur spending options...one has different priorities at different income levels and at diff stages of life... So i guess IT PRO or not...everyone does what one can..one man's m800 might be anothers merc.....

[paharino1]

It sure is interesting reading this thread..

OK being the leftist & communist that I am - 1stly let me try to shatter the definition of "middle class" in india - "ANYONE" who can afford a car(any car) in India - belongs 85 th percentile of income or higher in India.
Remember - From the World Development Indicators database, India's PPP per capita income was Rs 12,416 (about $285) during 2004-05, leading to a rank of 145th out of 208 countries ranked
Quote " A lot of urban families, when they refer to themselves as middle class, are plainly mis-stating the truth. There are good reasons for this. The tendency to compare one's economic standing to that of those who are better off than oneself is common. If we're not as rich as identifiable magnates (Tatas, Ambanis, Khaitans, etc.) or even rich enough to build large houses in fancy neighbourhoods, then we must not be affluent, right? Wrong.
The dissonant sense of what middle class is can also be attributed to another reason. Today's conventional idea of what a middle class lifestyle is was not first developed in India, but in the West. A middle class family in the prosperous countries is identified as being able to afford many of the modern amenities within its regular income, and also able to secure a post-retirement reserve in some way. This is what we usually mean in India too -- that 'middle class' families are ones with washing machines, scooters, maybe even a second-hand automobile; things like that. This is the middle class of a different country, not India."

Having given all this "phaltu gyan" - it is sure interesting reading of the Urban IT minds of India & their philosophy towards wealth, spending & saving...

cheers

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by sk456

I think IT pro or not Wealth is a relative concept... So spending 10 L ona car might be "cheap or VFM " for one and a "Oh my God" for another... Morover it depends on pioritizing ur spending options...one has different priorities at different income levels and at diff stages of life... So i guess IT PRO or not...everyone does what one can..one man's m800 might be anothers merc.....

Very true .. someone I know has an annual family income of 20L + .. add to that inheritance that will come his way ..
He refuses to part with his 6 year old zen , yet goes on to buy AV equipment worth 3 L ..

[DaPilot]

Originally Posted by adya33

1. Live today in such a way that you can afford to live same way tomorrow even if you don't have job.
2. Happines can not be bought or received by spending a lot of money.

Dude... very well said! I don’t know how old are you or anything else but I can tell you... you sure have a good head on your shoulder. Both points are 100% accurate, specially the second point...
***********************

I am also an IT professional working in US...

However I think both in India and US its safe to say... that it all depends on ones income (disposable) and then it all boils down to priorities, & passion.

There will always be one group that will buy cars for the "Show-sha" factor... keeping that group aside (the ones with tons of cash stashed under the pillows and god knows where), I think Passion for cars is the next big factor that would drive someone to buy a machine that is more then just 4 wheels on the road.

A lot of Indians here in US look at Cars as 4 wheels... nothing wrong in that because they are not passionate about it. Most Indians in US use a car to drive from point A to point B... and most have their own priorities. Buying a house is a big priority, it makes more practical sense for a person (without the passion for cars) to invest in an asset that will appreciate over the years, I don’t see anything wrong with that... it’s a matter or personal choice. In fact you will see those same professionals living in million $ houses.

If one has disposable income then yes buying something that makes you happy and gives you a sense of satisfaction is natural and recommended... however IMO it is not prudent to live a dream along with debt and installments (add depreciation to that mix and its totally a bad deal)!

I am not against financing... but one has to budget and calculate what’s within reach, and to me something is within reach if I can live with that "expense" without any income for at least a year.

Financing a depreciating asset is definitely not the best financial decision one has to make... only the passion or love for it would drive one to make that decision.

For me it’s a passion... but times change and priorities kick in... Priorities are priorities... passion goes on the back burner. Everyone has to deal with that… I dealt with it too... I had to sell my X5 4.8is (that I always dreamt of) for a bigger more important investment and settle for the 325i (for weekends) and Honda Civic (for point A to B commutes)... Such is life!

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by DaPilot

A lot of Indians here in US look at Cars as 4 wheels... nothing wrong in that because they are not passionate about it. Most Indians in US use a car to drive from point A to point B...

a small difference. even with this attitude, there has to be a minimum standard. an M800 can just not survive freeways in US. while india, chalti ka naam gaadi hai. take ur 4 wheels and cruise along.

[indian21r]

Comig from Hyd here ppl first look at other investments like land , gold etc before even looking at cars. Only after after the IT booom did we see a larger share of ppl bying cars. and most of these are in sub 6 lakhs segment. Further the salaries are also not as high as most ppl feel.

Leave my director out I take the costliest car to my office among 1300 guys. Well he comes in a corolla and I have a Ocatavia. And beacuse of that ppl think I am doing work for just to time pass. Well I don't give a damn about what others think anyway

can't really say that they don't buy beacuse they are beyond the capacity of most. Only if the salaries touch upper side of 20 lakhs and assuming car prices remain stable can we expect more flashy cars.

[sk456]

Further the salaries are also not as high as most ppl feel.

I agree..I dont know why people think that IT pros are loaded....they are doing OK..i agree..but nuthign that grt...definetly 95% of IT pros cant afford a 10-20L car ....unless theyare oneof the lucky few to have gotten stock options....

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by sk456

definetly 95% of IT pros cant afford a 10-20L car ....unless theyare oneof the lucky few to have gotten stock options....

I know it is completely but could not stop replying

the guys who have stock options are mostly the ones since inception or joined a little later.

also in the last few years the salaries have also stablised which meant that there are no big paypackets .

back to the topic, maintaing a octavia on my salary( well I am just a year into job ) is almost impossible

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[Ram]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

a small difference. even with this attitude, there has to be a minimum standard. an M800 can just not survive freeways in US. while india, chalti ka naam gaadi hai. take ur 4 wheels and cruise along.

vivekiny2k, I find that opinion, hard to buy! Why?

Granted that you won't find Maruti 800 on US freeways.
But even in 1985, 3 door Suzuki Swifts were sold in the USA.

Not our fat camel faced Swift,
but a Suzuki 3-cylinder Alto-sized baby with older looks, was sold in the USA rebadged as a Chevrolet Sprint and sold in Canada as the Pontiac Firefly and as Suzuki Forsa in South America.

The picture shows a Suzuki Forsa, sold in Chile (exact same car as the US 1985 Chevrolet Sprint)


In the USA, it replaced the old Chevrolet Chevette and was the forerunner of the Geo Metro.


And what do you imagine is the speed limit on the US Interstate freeways?

Maruti 800s are routinely seen at 90-110 km/hr (56-68 mph) on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

Ram