[theMAG]

Judging from the development of the Indian auto market over the past 5 years, what are your opinions on how the Indian car scene will look like in 2016 ? What would be the cars /new segments then? Do you feel petrol/diesel will still be around in their current form? Do you feel the road infrastructure will be comparable to those in developed countries? etc.

Feel free to elaborate using any fertile imagination.

[Poseidon]

Vision 2016:
Energy technologies:
2006-2008 - More CNG/LPG versions
2010 - EVs, (Petrol @ Rs 100/ltr)
2015 - Fuel cells
Roads:
2008 - 'model' satellite townships with good infrastructure, roads
2010 - 'Greenfield' cities with god road, air connectivity.
2015 - Existing cityscapes rebuilt with wide roads, infrastructure

Cities as we see them today will become unlivable by 2012 due to bad roads, vehicle pollution, congestion - they will have to reinvent themselves with mass transport, congestion tax on vehicles - a la London

[sbasak]

My prediction:

Used car price will go down drastically.
Many good quality cars will be scrapped because of pollution norms.
Petrol diesel price will go only higher.
Diesel will still be cheaper than Petrol.
Parking in metro cities will attract even more premium.
Fatal accidents will rise.
Buses & lorries will continue to pollute.
Autos will continue to ply.
Like USA, at some places public transport will be more expensive than travelling by own car.
Insurance will depend on driver's characteristics.
Faulty parts will always be replaced than fixed.

[1100D]

There will be a new Improved AMBASSADOR featuring a ground-breaking new Fuel Filler cap.

[sumitkalindi]

Originally Posted by 1100D

There will be a new Improved AMBASSADOR featuring a ground-breaking new Fuel Filler cap.

How about rear disks???

[eflanker]

There will be more Traffic and less roads - due to population explosion.

[black12rr]

how about self driven , destination programmable cars

[ess_a]

I guess by 2016, Honda's hybrid cars will be selling like M800s...

[Centro-P]

Cars:

1) Will hopefull become cheaper and the crazy import duties would be reduced.
2) More "clean" cars.
3) Luxury and sports cars will be more common.
4) Autos would be hopefull gone replaced by something better .

Roads:

I think the roads in India, atleast the highways if not the city roads would become definitly better in a decade. This year India invested over $47 billion in infrastructure, and this is going to go up and a good chunk of it going to roads. And with the Urban renewal project, the city roads should improve too. Our infrastructure should be where China's is in say 2008 or 2009.

Indian auto companies

Already some of our spare parts companies are prominent. Hopefully by then M&M and TATA would be selling loads of cars in phoren des. And BAJAJ would become an international player as well.

[Ram]

For us to thrive (nay even survive) as a motoring nation in the future, we need to take a long hard look at discipline!

Without a serious increase in discipline, the proliferous growth in cars is going to mean traffic will grind to long-term halt.

We need more stringency in enforcing traffic laws
e.g. every wheeled vehicle must

• always come to a dead halt, before entering a major road from a minor road.
• always stop at a red-signal, even if no policeman be present or the streets be deserted.
• must not attempt to execute a turn, if not in the correct lane for that turn.
• must not usurp VIP status for themselves and overtake a long line of vehicles decently waiting in a queue.

How come we disciplinedly follow all these laws when driving abroad, and yet forget all that behavior on returning home?

Do we maybe, need severe traffic fines for drivers who

• stop and unload passengers (to picnic and frolic in a waterfall) on a designated expressway (like the Mumbai-Pune expwy).
• drive in bad weather without dipped beam lights
• drive in good weather with high-beams on.
• exceed a posted upper speed limit or stop or fall short of a posted lower speed limit.
• break-down in the middle of the road and obstruct the lifeline of the nation.

Singapore found that fines didn't affect their high-income citizens,
so they chose corporal punishment (whipping and caning) which has scared people into obeying the law. That country is now a safe haven of organized disciplined road behavior!

One of the problems that plague the Indian traffic is the wide heterogenuity tolerated in road users -- from pedestrians and bicycles and handcarts to contract buses and ten and fourteen wheeler trucks that enter into and park in populated suburbs, obstructing the flow of traffic.

Urban Europe or America, with many more vehicles that what we have,
don't have as much disparity in size, acceleration and braking
between the smallest and the largest vehicle on the street,
as we have back home.

Do we maybe, need to keep two and three-wheelers of all sizes off the high-speed highways?

Unless we learn traffic discipline, we are doomed to long-term gridlock.

[Mpower]

Well said Ram, but how many of us have travelled abroad and know how much better things could be if we were more disciplied.

What I am noticing today is that people who rode in bullock carts in the villages migrating to cities and are now driving second hand Hero-Hondas. How do you educate these maniacs?

[mithun]

Why should we worry about what happens in 2016 ?

Just drive sensibly & safely and be a honest & proactive citizen and try to change the political scene in India, if possible which will solve most of our problems(infrastructure & non infrastructure related).

And also try to change the typical risk averting Indian mindset. And most importantly make consumers aware of their rights.

Manufacturers will take care of the automobile scene according to the people's needs, so don't worry about what happens in 2016...

[Ram]

Isn't our country's chaltaa hai mentality famous?

Every now and then, here and there you will encounter a "responsible" Indian who will use phrases like?

• I'm not concerned with people and their accidents and their problems!
• It will never happen to me! It doesn't happen in my street!
• Forget the red traffic light. If nobody seems to be around, just drive sensibly through anyway. If the accident was miraculaously averted (by the other guy's skill), a crime didn't happen anyway!
• We'll be fine if the auto manufacturers (treat profits as secondary) and people's needs as primary.
• It's not my problem! Let the government worry about it!
• As citizens let's be aware of our rights. Duties? Who said anything about duties to society?

Why blame the government when we as a nation are hung up on take-it-easy mentality.

We do not tire of singing praises about the work ethics of the Japanese and the Europeans.

But when our own turn comes, we are miserably nonchalant and non-committal!

[dhall_gagan]

TEAM-BHP will become the most influential forum in 2016 and would have our moderators in the board of directors to decide on the new cars to be brought and made in india along with the Fuel technology .

Team- BHP rules ......

Gagan

[abdul 65 amg]

I wish that India will have its own line up of cars made , thought by Indian people , engineered by Indian engineers , India doesn't have to copy others but create its own style of cars .I hope that TATA will think of the necessity to create a sportscars brand to rival Ferrari ,Lamborghini , Pagani ,Porsche, Imagine a Indian supercars with 1500 hp powered by electrical engine and with a huge torque( 2000 Nm) which beat Ferrari next supercar .Hope there will be sombody to create or to buy a F1 team and rename it.Hope that an Indian will be World champion of F1