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-   -   Affordability at the cost of safety - RC Bhargava's mantra! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/213082-affordability-cost-safety-rc-bhargavas-mantra-4.html)

Before we launch a crusade against this Maruti boss, lets look at our country`s state.

According to Wikipedia China has 179 cars per 1000 people, Iraq - 105, India - 22.

Affordability = Safety , very different from the title of this thread.

With all due respects, many of the people who are criticising the statements of Mr.Bhargava are themselves driving 'so called unsafe cars' as I see from the garage section. Enough said.

This is an endless debate between two camps with nothing new being said, and it probably serves no purpose. Juat like some of our TV debates :D

His statements are an insight to why Maruti has been doing so well. He understands the people eventhough his words sound inhuman.

Firstly, we can easily conclude Indians dont care about safety. Most of the 2 wheelers dont care about wearing helmets. These people are probably least interested in buying a car with ABS & airbags. Yes Maruti caters to these people. On the same lines, you can make cars out of paper rather than sheet metal. This will cost less, give better FE at the expense of safety. I bet most people would like that idea.

Secondly when we talk about safety, pedestrian safety is what we need to look out for. That is where having an ABS is more crucial. We as Indians probably care the least about it. Lot of cars running with bull bars is your proof. Anyway, since Maruti caters to customer needs, it will happily omit these safety features.

So while he is right, it should be the duty of the govt to make sure, we do not allow unsafe cars to run in the country. If it costs a bit more, so be it.

The only thing that gets my goat is his thinking that we don't deserve to have the best crash norms in the world because our per capita income is less. I mean, since when did per capita income dictate the value of life!
Other things he says regarding cars getting costlier & the middle/upcoming middle class being unable to afford them, is true, no offence in that.

Government if revises the minimum safety requirements, manufacturers will be forced to roll out safer cars. Such comments will surface until there is demand for cheap unsafe cars. I believe it should come from the government.

This is a thread that misrepresents what the man meant.
I mean it is a no brainer that 3 people in a small car without airbags etc are most certainly safer than three people sitting on a scooter or in an auto rickshaw.
Hence all the fuss on this thread is a mere storm in a tea cup.

What is the option for a middle class family? Wife and 2 kids on a bike without any helmets or all inside a M800?
I bet more die in bike crashes than in car crashes inside cities. I would welcome 2 different class of permits - one for pure city driving and the other for high way; just like we have different taxes for 4m and above.
Countries with stringent car safety norms either have fantastic road infrastructure or primary people movement happens on public transport. In India we have none.
Most on this forum won't agree with me but Mr Bhargava is right. People's perception of safety is relative. Those who want safety will pay for it and that is why there in an Arena and a Nexa.

I agree with shankar.balan
Though we group members can afford and are using cars of aspirational values & equipped with enough safety gadgets, we should not forget we have a majority of our brothers/sisters who aren’t proficient in English enough to qualify for TeamBHP membership.
These people travel on two wheelers without a basic helmet.
They would certainly be safer in a Maruti 800 of 90s.

Our GDP per capita maybe low, but adjusted for PPP, it is much higher than the $2,200 figure quoted. BTW, why doesn't he talk about the greed of manufacturers? We've to realize that everybody owning a car should not be the aim of the society- in the tropical countries, two-wheelers and 4-wheelers will co-exist. We don't have good public transportation and space to build more roads. Luckily, there are no adverse weather elements like snow except in certain parts of the country.

The Indian people must be divided into 2 sections- 97% are the poor, and 3% are the middle class and ultra rich. Unfortunate as this opulence is, the 3% have access to great highways some of which have speed limits in excess if 100 kmph. So, it is justified that people get good cars to use.

With leadership comes responsibility. It may offend some people but I think MS to some extent is responsible for the lack of safer cars at affordable price point in india and thus a general lack of safety consciousness. The argument that always comes to my mind is if they are selling an Ertiga (Not saying its unsafe) for 10 lac why would a Toyota sell a Innova for the same price (toyota once did sell qualis cheaper). The argument I am trying to make is cars meant MS for most of the country once upon a time. MS should have taken a leadership position and should have incrementally added safety to their cars and not after some arm twisting by authorities or after the competition started giving it.

We now know that airbags, pretensioners, ABS can be added to cars with a little bump up in price. Alas, it was not them who started it. And because they have succeeded in their business model, manufacturer after manufacturer keeps trying to replicate it.

Although there also have been changes in consumer perception about safety and as a result the quality of offerings by the manufacturers but I don't think MS brought about that change which they should have.

Yeah. Those statements flashed back in my mind when Baleno was launched with such low kerb weight. I decided to stay away from MSL and I advised friends too.

There is nothing surprising or new in his remarks; to be fair to Maruti Suzuki, their cars on road are examples of the fact that they upheld the company’s and its chairman’s philosophy to the core.
And I think he has made similar comments in the past as well.

Did we all miss the joke here? For the first time Maruti guys have spoken about safety lol:

Like really? Why don't you leave the poor man who can't afford a car alone for once and compare the build quality of your cars to those of VW or even Tata in today's date? Obviously, a car is safer than a two-wheeler. That's what happens when you compare apples to oranges. Now, why don't you compare a car to a car at the same price and boast about how many cars does Maruti beat when it comes to build quality?

I love this whole way manufacturers cheat the public, when you can't beat someone better than you, you start demeaning someone worse than you to show you are still superior to at least SOMETHING built on this Earth. This is purely my opinion. By the way, let me leave an interesting picture below for your viewing pleasure. The impact level sure may have been different, but a completely bent chassis is never a good thing.

Here's the leaked draft of RC Bhargava's next statement:

''Government should ban selling of high kerb weight European cars in India, because in case of a collision, they make our fragile cars more unsafe''

Attached, a pic of heavily deformed Baleno

We as Indians consider safety and health as our last priority. Haven't we seen enough cases of 2 wheelers riding without helmets and riding with 4 on board, people risking life while taking selfies, risk standing on footboard while traveling in a train; eat junk food, tobaccos and alcohol for years.
We didn't even bother to wear seatbelts or helmets for years together until the government forced us to wear one. Seatbelts were already available in cars since last two decades.

Mr. Bhargava have only stated the obvious.

My point here is Mr. Bhargava is running a business entity and they won't care a dime about safety. They were selling their cars using affordability as an USP.
With government forcing to increase safety standards, Suzuki cars are becoming increasingly expensive. Yes, their cars are expensive with added safety features but still remains a tin can within.

This is were cars from manufacturers such as Hyundai, Tata, Mahindra, Ford and Volkswagen comes into picture. These cars were never value for money to begin with because they were always built well. Now Suzuki is reaching the price point where they need to compete with such manufacturers who have already established safety as one of their USP.
People don't associate Suzuki with safety. Also most of the current cars sold from all the manufacturers are reliable. So people are looking elsewhere and exploring options which is hurting Suzuki's bottomline.
They just need to look at Bajaj. They were highly unreliable to begin with but slowly started incorporating newer technologies from their JV partners and are currently making bikes which are reliable and affordable.
Suzuki just needs to call up their JV partner Toyota.

Even bike manufacturers were forced to switch to BS4, add ABS and automatic headlights on features. They didn't crib for the same but just took it in their stride sportingly. Mr. Bhargava also needs to do the same.

Hope we as Indians take our health and safety seriously and force the manufacturers to toe a line instead of government interventions.

Cheers and Regards.