[vinair]

This is what the top guy at Maruti thinks about regulations around safety!

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/71057677.cms

Such a pathetic comment when the whole country is becoming more safety conscious!!

This below comment takes the cake!!

As vehicles get expensive, the inability of the two-wheeler rider to upgrade to four wheels also exposes him to greater risks on the road. “… which is riskier? A small car without airbag and ABS, or a scooter. Obviously, the scooter.”

[locusjag]

I don't know if we all should take this much umbrage at what he has said, especially with the risks faced by a family on 2 wheels versus inside a small car.

The Tata Nano was envisaged by Ratan Tata precisely when he saw a mom, dad and 2 kids perched on a scooter in an intra-city commute.

From - https://www.businesstoday.in/current...ry/239035.html

On a rainy day in November 2003, Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata noticed a family of four on a scooter - the father driving it with a young kid standing in the front, behind the handlebars and wife sitting behind him with another child on her lap.

Ratan Tata was moved by this incident and asked himself whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all weather form of transport for such a family. And after four years, Ratan Tata turned his dream into reality with the launch of Nano -People's car- in Delhi.

"Today's story started some years ago when I observed families riding on two wheelers, the father driving a scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife sitting behind him holding a baby and I asked myself whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all weather form of transport for such a family," Tata said while unveiling Nano in New Delhi.

He said, "This is been referred to as one man's dream and indeed it was."

"This singular observation sparked several provocative questions about the possibility of creating an affordable "people's car". The two-wheeler observation [with the family of four piled on the scooter] got me thinking that we needed to create a safer form of transport," Tata was quoted as saying in The Innovator's DNA - a book written by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton Christensen.

What's so wrong with stating the obvious? A 4 wheeler without airbags and ABS is anyday safer than a motorcycle for a small, urban family.

[Shreyas_H]

Originally Posted by vinair

As vehicles get expensive, the inability of the two-wheeler rider to upgrade to four wheels also exposes him to greater risks on the road. “… which is riskier? A small car without airbag and ABS, or a scooter. Obviously, the scooter.”

It's a very ignorant statement coming from such a senior person in the Industry. It shows the inability to look internally and react to market conditions and instead place the blame solely on external factors.

He also talks about executive compensation in this interview -

The Maruti chairman said an MD should be paid a maximum of 15-20 times the salary of an ordinary worker who has given the same number of years in the company.

I'd like to see him lead by example on this one.

[vinair]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I don't know if we all should take this much umbrage at what he has said, especially with the risks faced by a family on 2 wheels versus inside a small car.

The Tata Nano was envisaged by Ratan Tata precisely when he saw a mom, dad and 2 kids perched on a scooter in an intra-city commute.

From - https://www.businesstoday.in/current...ry/239035.html


What's so wrong with stating the obvious? A 4 wheeler without airbags and ABS is anyday safer than a motorcycle for a small, urban family.

There is nothing wrong, it's just a senseless argument, in my opinion. To say affordable should not equate to safety, is completely inhuman!

[alpha1]

Well he is right in a way.
Let say you know a person who has 4 members in his family, and he earns around 25,000 per month and is looking towards buying a house somewhere in the horizon.

What do you think he will buy?
A) two wheeler
b) four wheeler

Now lets go to slightly higher income level, at 50,000 what will he buy?
A) lowest variant of cheapest model
B) highest variant of cheapest model


In all the cases, everyone knows what is safer, however safety has a cost and only those who are willing to afford it pay for it.

[comfortablynumb]

Not surprising at all, he has made similar comments before.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-...tatements.html

Cheers,
Vikram

[srishiva]

I think he also said something else, Indian per capita income is 2500, China's 10,000 and Germany or developed nation upwards of 40,000 dollars or more.

In this context he was saying what Indians can buy with price increase due to new regulations. Its wrong to say theoretically but its the actual situation. People having more money can say what we want :( Should we subsidize since no safety is inhuman ? Since people cant buy, he is stating the obvious for his business.

[Sherlocked]

His statement definitely makes one thing clear that- Safety isn't in the priority list of Maruti.
I will take this and move on.

[Nazaar25]

Although comparatively, a car without any safety features will be much safer than a scooter but his logic that affordable=no safety is indeed inhuman!

[riteshritesh]

I too got really disturbed after reading what the Boss said, indirectly hinting that since we are a poor nation, we shouldn't bother about a few car related deaths. We need cheap cars, so it is ok to die using them.
How can he say that Developed nations need more safer cars than we do? Safety is required in any nation!

[fhdowntheline]

This is the old school mindset that flourished during the heydays of the M800, Alto, Wagon R etc. Hopefully these days the Indian consumer is choosing more options from the B2 and higher segments as a matter of safety conscience.

[Hells Bells]

It is MUL which made safety an optional item in Indian car industry context through its models and the latest comments just reinforce the view. Just like how they move the industry backward through cheap and inelegant implementation of technologies likes AMT (instead of pursuing affordable engineering for modern auto transmissions).

[anish5225]

But what the boss donot want to mention is that the same third world souls in India are paying much more than what the developed countries pay for the exact same model sold with all safety features as standard.

[mayjay]

Well he touched upon quite a few things and there are some points which I find myself agreeing with, for a change!
In the past year or so, there has been an increase in insurance cost, registration cost, fuel cost, airbag and safety related increases, emissions related increases, rupee depreciation, and myriad other increases in prices passed on by manufacturers.
Even the move to increase traffic fines will inadvertently add to the misery being faced by the auto sector in India, as even though it is meant to improve safety compliance, as it ends up increasing the perceived and real cost of ownership of vehicles.

In return, Indian buyers still get substandard vehicles that are far from ‘world class’, or have to pay through their noses to get global standard vehicles. This point is no longer lost on the Indian consumer, especially in a wider downturn such as the one we are currently in.

Also on the topic of GST being reduced, I agree that it will not make much of a difference at this stage. The dealer discounts are high right now and yet there is no increase in sales. Any reduction in GST will only lead to adjustment of dealer discounts, or absorption by the OEMs themselves. Even in the case it is fully passed on, the consumer may not find it sufficient to take the decision to buy, leading to a reduced impact.

Any improvement in sales will necessarily take time. As we pass through the Apr 2020 milestone, eventually sales will start increasing, though on the reduced base. China is experiencing something similar, with respect to the changes in emission standards that they have just gone through.

[jkrishnakj]

I generally read / listen to the top honchos and i keep moving. This time around though, i really felt that RCB is perhaps a little disconnected from the realities. The world has moved on to better technologies. People who grew up wanting to buy the 800 are now travelling the world and seeing better things, but we still continue to see the 800's and Omni's on the roads. The children of the people who saw the 800's during their education, are now getting better exposure and knowledge and so on and so forth, whereas, RCB seems warped in the segment of trying to create a car where the 'Difference' between a 2 wheeler and an entry level car is low. It just seems to be about market share and pushing and selling at any costs. I am surprised by myself that i am reacting to his thoughts.