[opendro]

I have myself decided not to buy a new car at all. Reason: we (wife and I) take out our only car once in two months as we don't want to drive in the city at all. We have three motorcycles (Pulsar, Aviator and Aprilia SR 150) and 7 bicycles. We use motorcycle when we have to take kids and/or distance is a bit longer. Else, bicycle most of the time.

Two main factors for the loss of interest for me: traffic (travel time) and parking issue.

[BLACKBLADE]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Amen! I too look forward to the day when roads are exclusively used by people who -

- live to drive (enthusiasts) and
- drive to live (cabbies)

Wow !

What I comprehend from the elaborate posts above, on the topic on hand is, from being one of life’s biggest achievements ‘buying and owning a car’ has come down to becoming a annoyance in the metros. So, the predominantly younger folks who dwell in these metros no longer find it fascinating to drive around in a car. Instead they prefer to be moved around by some other means like a cab or metro. These folks are collectively responsible for the drop in car sales in these metros.

Now come to think of this. I am sure there would be none of these folks would be a petrol head or an enthusiast per se. An enthusiast is an enthusiast, irrespective of where he lives, whether in a metro or a tier II city. And an enthusiast can never live without the adrenaline rush that a driving a car gives him. He would own and drive no matter what.

Even if the drop in sales, is going to be a larger trend, it would be limited to the metros, where connectivity has improved and is still improving by leaps and bounds.

[DriverR]

I agree with most of the points stated here on why people may not want to buy a new car, such as the availability of a good alternate mode of transportation for urban people in the form of cabs (be it the Uber/Ola types or office cabs/bus).

We have 2 cars, I drive one and my wife drives the other. Now the vehicle she is driving is going to be 10 years old. We had been talking about replacing the car and even went through the options, but the plan has been put on hold. Why? Well, we realized that the costs are high, and the money spent on a new car can be put to better use for the house/family/investment. So I think current cost of living, coupled with the growing car pricing (to keep up with inflation!?) is another reason why people are postponing/cancelling plans to perchance new cars (esp since a car is, technically speaking, not a necessity in cities these days).

[abhijeet080808]

Originally Posted by BLACKBLADE

Now come to think of this. I am sure there would be none of these folks would be a petrol head or an enthusiast per se. An enthusiast is an enthusiast, irrespective of where he lives, whether in a metro or a tier II city. And an enthusiast can never live without the adrenaline rush that a driving a car gives him. He would own and drive no matter what.

I don't agree with this. I consider myself as a petrol head. I have put my money where the mouth is, repeatedly, having owned a Bajaj Pulsar 150 1st gen, Yamaha R15 1st gen, KTM 390 Duke 1st gen and currently KTM 390 Duke 2nd gen. And cars? None at the moment. The biggest reason being the state of Indian metros, including the city I currently live in - Bangalore. This is also the same reason why I no longer feel that strong itch to upgrade to a higher capacity motorcycle.

If I buy a car, it will be solely if it makes sense logistically and not because it will be expected to give me a sense of driving satisfaction, especially inside the city.

[vaasscit]

I believe this trend is here to stay (barring some short term fluctuations). Let me explain :


Gen Y (I am one among them) isn't willing to spend big bucks on yesteryears obvious to dos – Housing, Jewels, Cars etc.,

We believe in accessibility rather than the pride of ownership.

(https://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao.../#41079c6a74ab)


I own a car (decision from heart) out of my obsession for driving. If not I surely wouldn't own one now. Why ?


I prefer taking a cab every day to work. Why ? I live in Bangalore, do I need to say more ?

On usual weekend trips to hometown, I prefer train/bla bla – I fell in love with meeting new people and chit chatting.

On occasional trips with family, it fun to rent a car (You can try different cars)

So my car see very few kms every year (ca 10,000) and financially this doesn’t make sense (Insurance, Maintenance etc)
Plus the headache of parking, traffic jams etc doesn’t help.


I’m not find any joy in buying an own house though I can afford one (Decision from brain this time)


Most of my friends/colleagues don't have their own car. (Even with CTC > 20 big ones)

It is a depreciating asset in their view.

They’d spend that money on their to-do list (ex. take a nice vacation in Europe or next iPhone),


This trend is not just limited to cars, Furniture , heck even jewelries and dresses are being rented now (It’s a taboo to wear the same jewellery/dress for two functions !)

Interesting times !!

[BLACKBLADE]

Originally Posted by abhijeet080808

I don't agree with this. I consider myself as a petrol head. I have put my money where the mouth is, repeatedly, having owned a Bajaj Pulsar 150 1st gen, Yamaha R15 1st gen, KTM 390 Duke 1st gen and currently KTM 390 Duke 2nd gen. And cars? None at the moment. The biggest reason being the state of Indian metros, including the city I currently live in - Bangalore. This is also the same reason why I no longer feel that strong itch to upgrade to a higher capacity motorcycle.

If I buy a car, it will be solely if it makes sense logistically and not because it will be expected to give me a sense of driving satisfaction, especially inside the city.

Agreed. I understand the reason why you hesitate to buy a car. But I do note that you quench your adrenaline rush by riding, if not by driving A petrolhead is petrolhead, no matter if your ride is a car or a bike.

[amoghchaphalkar]

I am not surprised by this trend! Anyone tracking rise of used car sales in Metros? There might be a correlation. I, for one, have hesitated from buying a new car for over 3 years now. Reasons being:

1. After spending more than 25 big ones, do I have the roads and infrastructure that allow me to enjoy the purchase? The accidents and safety thread are making me drive more like a grandpa!
2. Insurance and maintenance costs are only increasing
3. Higher you go, harder you fall (Depreciation)
4. Opportunity cost! When investments can generate 18-20% per annum, the opportunity cost becomes huge

I am still stuck with my hatchback. Yes, I do get frustrated at times driving the same car for years, but I do not want to buy a new car of the same size and a new bigger car does not feel it's worth. Pre-owned is probably the way to go! (Or maybe pick up a well maintained Linea at a throwaway price and import a 1.6 engine to plonk into it )

[Orange GTX]

Hello Folks,

As everybody stated, too much traffic and congestion in metros, parking issues, deteriorating civic sense, patience in general (read road rage) are the most common reasons for this steep fall.
Upcoming Metro rails, electric buses and betterment of existing rail and bus routes will further add to this trend.
But I genuinely feel that the government needs to actively persue people to use public transport more and more. A very recent and wrong example of government's decision is the flop fully AC local train in Mumbai. It was suppposedly started to convert car going public to regular railway commuters. Be it lack of public awareness or simple public apathy or as they say old habits die hard, there was little response from the car owners.
If Government promotes and people accept then a further fall in car sales looks imminent.

[Shumi_21]

I believe that the biggest hindrance to buying a new car in Mumbai is the paucity of parking spaces. Subsequently, a lot of car owners are forced to park their cars on lanes/streets, which leave them open to scratches, dings, dents and other forms of vandalism. Imagine the heartache if your new car got dinged/scratched by some careless person! This pushes a lot of drivers to go for second hand cars.

Secondly there are a few private parking spaces available, but their costs are very high. In my locality of Juhu, you could be paying anywhere between 3000-5000 rupees per month depending on the type of your car as parking charges alone! A good number of people I know have decided against buying a new car for this reason. The various hindrances that have been mentioned by other T-BHPians in the previous posts are valid too, I do not have anything else to add to them.

To conclude, if the availability of parking spaces will improve in Mumbai, the sale of new cars will see a proportional increase.

[desiaztec]

Originally Posted by vaasscit

I believe this trend is here to .....

Most of my friends/colleagues don't have their own car. (Even with CTC > 20 big ones)

It is a depreciating asset in their view.

They’d spend that money on their to-do list (ex. take a nice vacation in Europe or next iPhone),


Interesting times !!

And an iPhone is NOT a depreciating asset?

Few aspire to own cars and affordable phones (I do), while a few in the junta aspire to own attrociously expensive phones and no cars. To each it's own.

I also feel that it's only a matter of time when ola/uber stops giving discounts. The other day my wife paid Rs. 350 for a 9 Km in New Delhi, no discounts. In such a scenario, people advocating uber/ola would certainly switch back to their own vehicles is my opinion.

Ashish

[FrozeninTime]

Originally Posted by desiaztec

And an iPhone is NOT a depreciating asset?


I also feel that it's only a matter of time when ola/uber stops giving discounts. The other day my wife paid Rs. 350 for a 9 Km in New Delhi, no discounts.

Ashish

Yes any high end smartphone is depreciating asset however you don't pay road tax, space for parking , maintenance cost.

The constant bullying by Govt. and court backed environmental brigade has made owning a car a dreadful experience in last couple of years. I for postponed buying new vehicles for seven years and decided to have only a single hatchback in future in house.No two car home for me.


Off Topic
I feel number of two wheeler should also come done. They are second most polluting after cars and trucks and we seriously need to have high tax for bikes.

[dark.knight]

While numerically, there is a drop in sales.. the actual reasons may be different and rightly so in my books.. for there cannot be a constant sales improvement month on month for cars globally, leave alone a nation with tiny roads and a huge population such as India and more specifically metro cities where the density is ridiculously high.

Lets assume that the population of the metros are as follows :

Delhi - 2.5 crores (1.9 in 2012)
Bangalore - 1.25 crores (90 lakhs in 2012)
Chennai - 90 lakhs (70 in 2011)
Kolkata - 60 lakhs (45 in 2011)
Mumbai - 2.2 crores (1.85 in 2011)

Of these the only rapidly growing cities in terms of population are Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, but still the rate cannot be constant as population keeps shifting between these 3 mega-cities (they can be called the triumvirate of international businesses in India) as well as towards other cities and nearby satellite towns.

While most here have this attachment towards an animated though non-sentient objects such as cars.. today they are seen as disposable, need-based possessions. Cars are becoming more reliable than ever and to most, their usage life per owner is about 5 years at a minimum though 7-8 is easily workable if a slight budget re-allocation is done (we as a family averaged 7 years per car ownership), this and the increasing tolerance towards buying used cars in major cities for their value and pocket friendliness (in terms of initial acquisition price) can very easily dent new car sales. Also going back to the people numbers, growth of a mega-city cannot be constantly averaging the same year on year, thus if at the point of greatest growth of sales, if companies were expecting the same numbers then it was nothing more than a hallucination, a scary one.. for cars occupy much more space on this earth than they ideally should, this leads to undue congestion and hassle for motorists.

The real question is, what is being done and what WILL BE done to all cars that are over 15 years old today and in due course? A responsible and efficient scrap management and recycling solution is the only way that cars can remain sustainable both in sales and in existence in the future. Growing up in the late 80's, I remember a different life.. one that was free of worries and where transport was a breeze with none of the hullaballoo of the effects of pollution, noise and safety.

Everyone has the right to a car, its how responsibly you drive today, how responsibly you choose the model that's right for you and your home and how you view it holistically that will define the future of automobility.