[safari_lover]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Why am I typing all this? lol!!!
Guys! Our country is filled with many similar families and kids. One lifetime may pass thru but they won't get a chance to sit in a car. So, there's nothing to feel bad about if your's or my car looks like a taxi. I would be happy instead of being sad. Let people ask you for a ride. And if you're happy and feel secure to offer them a lift, do so!
Don't judge a car to be a bad imaged one due to the taxi factor in our minds. Ain't it time to dispose it off from our heads?

It won't be long before many elite imaged cars turn into taxis here. Thanks to the IT and other developments in our country, we've started to see Corolla, City, Fiesta etc.. growing up to become taxi cabs.

Fantastic message there Speedzak!

I believe very few people in India would worry about the Taxi image of an car rather than the value part of it. The poll proves just that here!

And regarding approaching Indicas for a ride, believe me, during my short stay at Mumbai, I used to approach every car that stopped near L & T, Powaii for a ride back home and so did everyone at that place. This way, I got into a Innova, Ikon, Corolla and a Camry too . It used to cost me just 10 Rs for the ride :-)

[harry10]

Speedzak - Agree whole heartedly with you. Guess time has come for some perceptions to be changed and hopefully Vista will create awareness regarding this

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Regarding the taxi image, I have to go thru a correction here..... growing up to become taxi cabs.

Wonderfully written post. On the other hand, I do understand the reason for people looking at status while buying a car. In a country like India, a car is still a status symbol.

[sridhga]

The car that I drive is the most popular taxi in this country and I love the car. Warren Buffett drove a car for 33 years and that car is the most popular taxi in the United States.

And here's one more for those of you obsessed with 'Taxi image': The last time I took a ride in a New York taxi was a Mercedes S class. I could never imagine that until the car arrived.

[great_guns]

Top post that, Speedzak,

I sure wish more people in India gave/asked for lifts. I remember having a very gruelling 1KM walk in the sun to and back from college everyday and I asked for lifts. It was actually insulting to see people ignore you completely like you are actually begging. It is so unfortunate. MY friend said he hitch hiked all around Isle of Man with his two friends three months ago. I never needed to ask for a lift during my travels in Europe but I know its a very common mode of transport everywhere around the world and people will apologetically refuse or wave if they cannot offer you a ride instead of showing you a condescending attitude as if you are begging for money from them.

That said, I've often given lifts to kids, gentlemen, old folk on my bike and looked at people asking for lifts as a good way to make conversation on a lonely ride to work. I once had a great conversation with a guy who asked for a lift late in the night upto the next bus stop because he had missed the bus. We realised he was going to the same place as I was and so I offered to drop him till his destination. We spoke about many things and he was impressed by my following of traffic rules when all around me were breaking signals and cutting lanes etc. After he got off at his destination, he duly thanked me and told me that he was a cop and that I could contact him in the future if I had any trouble.

[aseem]

Guys, there is something called denial and mine is better than yours.... I see a lot of the forummers have taken my comments on Indica's taxi image personally. It was not meant to be like that, however there is no point defending something thats true. Indica does suffer from Taxi image problem and its not like who cares. People do care... anyone who thinks otherwise is a minority or an exception. Popular belief and brand image has a lot to play for when buying a car. Companies spend millions and millions to establish a brand image for their cars. So to say it dont matter as long as the car is useful is a far cry. Why dont ppl in Metros buy Vikram or Bolero, instead of Scorpio? Image. Even if Bolero had the same engine as Scorpio, more space than Scorpio, more VFM than Scorpio, folks would still not buy Bolero. Period!

[tez]

i agree aseem that people do mind the image of the car. This is because car is still a status symbol in india. This image thing is subjective. If i find the indica as per my requirements and i am not perturbed by taxi image, i buy it else not. To say that such percentage is low would be incorrect else we would not be having so many private indica owners.

[bottle]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Don't judge a car to be a bad imaged one due to the taxi factor in our minds. Ain't it time to dispose it off from our heads?

More food for thought

[METISWHG]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Regarding the taxi image, I have to go thru a correction here.

Nice post there speedzak.
Still a lot of people relate car to a status symbol. I remember for a meeting with an Indian automobile company officials, a colleague booked a cab (wagon R) and the boss from delhi didnt like it and wanted a sedan at least, though ended up going in yellow-black Fiat taxi finally.

So called Taxi image is all about VFM and easy maintainance in a way, which is deciding factor for taxi models across countries.

[METISWHG]

Originally Posted by aseem

Companies spend millions and millions to establish a brand image for their cars. So to say it dont matter as long as the car is useful is a far cry. Why dont ppl in Metros buy Vikram or Bolero, instead of Scorpio? Image. Even if Bolero had the same engine as Scorpio, more space than Scorpio, more VFM than Scorpio, folks would still not buy Bolero. Period!

the last line is interesting. if the price of bolero still was less than scorpio, i guess the inverse of what you say would be true.
companines do spend building image via media communication, but I doubt people buy car on just that image. those millions just add the model/brand to consideration set and register a claim which a buyer always verifies before buying. ad appeal and image factor is always secondary in so called high involvement and high value purchases.
and for image part, cars are left in parking lot before one goes to meet people, there it is just oneself.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by great_guns

Top post that, Speedzak,

I sure wish more people in India gave/asked for lifts.

While it is quite commendable to have this attitude, it is rather unsafe really these days (esp in metros) to give lifts to total strangers (even to the ones who look like students or old). Who knows, that person might bring trouble. Thats why lots of people dont prefer to offer "lifts" to hitchhikers.
Although I do know that probably 99% of them are genuine people. Only maybe 1% might be the wrong set, but then you dont want to be victim of this 1%! Actually the govt and the police also warns against offering lifts to strangers.

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by joslicx

While it is quite commendable to have this attitude, it is rather unsafe really these days (esp in metros) to give lifts to total strangers (even to the ones who look like students or old). Who knows, that person might bring trouble. Thats why lots of people dont prefer to offer "lifts" to hitchhikers.
Although I do know that probably 99% of them are genuine people. Only maybe 1% might be the wrong set, but then you dont want to be victim of this 1%! Actually the govt and the police also warns against offering lifts to strangers.

That's quite true. While it's not really required we go out of our way to give a stranger a ride, it wouldn't be too harmful or unsafe to give a lift/ride to acquaintances or friends..

When in Chennai and my dad was still in service, I used to drop my dad at the airport every morning when I could [he worked there], and we also offered to ride an acquaintance who lived across the street in a flat diagonal to ours. We were not too close with him or anything of that sort, but his FIL stayed in our flat and we knew it wouldn't be unsafe to give him a ride, since his destination was on way to the airport.

similarly, if we can give a ride to people who we think might not be a risk, it isn't wrong to do so.

Buutt, after seeing the hindi movie 'Road', I do agree that giving lifts to strangers on lonely streets and during late night 'could' be a risky affair.. We need to exert caution depending on the situation..

[rajdoll]

Originally Posted by aseem

Guys, there is something called denial and mine is better than yours.... I see a lot of the forummers have taken my comments on Indica's taxi image personally. It was not meant to be like that, however there is no point defending something thats true. Indica does suffer from Taxi image problem and its not like who cares. People do care... anyone who thinks otherwise is a minority or an exception. Popular belief and brand image has a lot to play for when buying a car.

Image is somehting what others think about you or about your car or about your something else, it is not what you think about all these yourself. So if it is someone else thinking about, why do you care , you try to change their thinking by doing something which pleases them. If that is the way you live your life, that is very hard way of living it. You will never be happy in life, as you will always try to make balance between what you think and what others think about whatever you do in life. I'm saying, why a Car, people may have created bad image of yours because of your real physical image, they don't like your color, they don't like your nature, they don't like the way you walk/talk/whatever. This whole image thing is for those, who are living in the artificial world, thinking that they are able to please everybody at the cost of their own pleasure/likes/dislikes. And I agree with you, this image thing does exist, and that is why companys spend millions on that to attract those simpletons who fall in this trap. I'm sure, as people mature, become more knowledgable they start focussing on the core value than the image.
And let me clarify, Image has got various meanings, here my thoughts are more on the "Status" image rather than the perception.

[greenhorn]

but there are a lot of car buyers for whom the image itself is the end rather than the means, and that it is a means of transportation is usually secondary

[harry10]

See we cannot change the thinking of the people. People will find a fault no matter if the car is a Vista or a ANHC (like people will say it does not have climate control,alloys and so on).
So its always good to clear up whats your priority while buying a car or anything else rather than thinking what will people think. In the end its you who will deal with that car on daily basis and not the others.