[9thsphinx]

I'll go with option 3. Also, I've heard the skoda is coming up with the new gen octavia's sometime soon....hope it'll be worth the wait.

[harry10]

I planned to buy a Swift, vista or the coming i20 and all are within reach so no change of plans. Am sure this must have hit the sedan car planners.

[greenhorn]

A bit off topic, but my ICEing plans have been toned down by the slump....

[biju_kp]

I voted for Option 3. I am not buyig a car now.

[doctorque]

The demand for sure is lesser as compared to the same period every year.

[CBlazer]

I'm not buying a car for now. But, my decision is more influenced by the nervousness in the IT industry. Our company is already into heavy cost cutting. GOK what's round the corner.

[Surprise]

From the current hearings I would definitely stay away from investing those lakhs in car.

But certainly will not go to the extent of dumbing the existing car as my colleagues who have shifted to bikes in advance

[BurningHeart]

I have a slighltly different opinion.

I personally think that it is possibly one of the best times to buy a car, especially if you plan to do it with a sizeable downpayment. Reason: When interest rates eventually drop in the next 2-3 years, you would have "saved" at the rate of 2-4% or so, which would essentially help control the asset depreciation, to some degree. And given the general mood in the economy, the discounts in the markets happen to be sizeable, which further sweetens the deal.

Let's look at it from another angle. If you are holding cash, there are very few places for you to invest now, barring gold or other complex instruments (nope, car is not complex and it can be bought!). Incidentally, Sensex (just like everyother index in the world) is looking further South to hit 7-8k in another quarter (according to a very credible French analyst). I have just been through another industry analyst briefing which stated that the depression is going to stay on till mid 2010 or may be, beyond. If you park the money in an FD, net of taxes is only 6.5% where as you are not way off, even after the new car is bought (this is not a perfect argument, nonetheless, indeed). You could try private equity men who continue to gurantee 12% returns but imagine Lehman once promised 30% guaranteed returns. So who wants another finger burnt?

Overall, it is difficult to find safe investment routes for some time now. So might as well enjoy a chilled ride, while the turbulence around you, takes its time to lift off.

So if you have a dream car in mind, and spare cash in hand, this could be a great time to drive it home. And may be, at an abstract level, the bigger may be better this time - and why not?

BH.

p.s.: I don't work with auto manufacturers, dealers or banks. And I had something to drink 3 days back ;-)

[harry10]

Quiet an interesting perspective!
Still i feel 90% people are cautious right now as most had burning hands in some way due to the economy breakdown.
Its kinda sad to get up every morning and see stock prices go down more and someone going bankrupt or doing suicide due to the losses.

[potlaravi]

Yes that’s for sure , the slump in economy and IT industry fears made me change decision not change my car ( Verna CRDi). though am very passion about Innova. I am not even going to thinking about that at least for a year or two.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

So if you have a dream car in mind, and spare cash in hand, this could be a great time to drive it home. And may be, at an abstract level, the bigger may be better this time - and why not?

Interesting perspective, BurningHeart. But the key point for most of us is not only to delay, but to cut down on substantial expenses altogether. A new car, whether cheaper now or later, is yet a depreciating asset. And a major expense at that!

Look up this thread too.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

Overall, it is difficult to find safe investment routes for some time now. So might as well enjoy a chilled ride, while the turbulence around you, takes its time to lift off.

In such a scenario where one cannot invest with confidence, the best course of action is to HOLD your cash (or convert it to gold, as some people have preferred to do - I'm not a big believer of this), and not to spend. You typically cut down on spending at this point of time.

Buying cheap agricultural or otherwise fallow land is another good option if you have cash in hand. Land will never depreciate in the long term (apartments will follow the economic cycle of boom and bust, land is usually much more resiliant) and agriculture will be next big thing as the world has more mouths to feed and less food to find. Its time to go back to the basics & invest in agriculture - you'll be surprised at how much land you can buy for the cost of a good car. This is my personal view.

[CBlazer]

BurningHeart:

Though it may seem like a good time to buy, I don't see many people shelling down lakhs of Rupees for a car when the future is uncertain. Cars will be seen as a luxury in the time of a financial crisis. What you say maybe true for stocks or land where you are trying to buy when the prices have hit a bottom.

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by BurningHeart

I have a slighltly different opinion.

I personally think that it is possibly one of the best times to buy a car, especially if you plan to do it with a sizeable downpayment. Reason: When interest rates eventually drop in the next 2-3 years, you would have "saved" at the rate of 2-4% or so, which would essentially help control the asset depreciation, to some degree.
Overall, it is difficult to find safe investment routes for some time now. So might as well enjoy a chilled ride, while the turbulence around you, takes its time to lift off.

Cars depreciate from day 1 and this `investment' is worse off than holding cash or a lot worse than repaying your loans (if you have cash). Sizeable cash can be used to make sizeable downpayment on car or prepayment of loans. I can see a lot of better uses for idle cash or savings than spluring on a `unncessary ' (for the time being) depreciable asset. Forget stock markets, even bank FDs now give 10-11% pa, and there are much less chances of bank failures here.

[harry10]

Car prices will all but go down in future will more car launches and fierce competition and buying a luxury car at this moment is not advisable by many. better invest in Land which is still safe to an extent.