Recently, I was going through some posts about "underpowered" cars like punto, i20, fabia (1.2 litre) saying that seeing the specs on paper is a deal breaker (one post on VGT V/s FGT engine on punto diesel), some people saying that small engines are fuel efficient but not on big heavy cars, etc etc.
now the big question-what the hell do we people want in a car?
bigger or smaller engine?
brand or product?
country of origin or country of value based (straight H v/s tilted H)
power or mileage?
comfort or safety?
style or image?
price or after sales service?
resale value or depreciation benefits?
etc etc..
i think this writeup will clear some myths that still prevail in us.
fact one: the car's mechanicals:
we were all damn excited when the finance minister Mr. P. Chidambaram announced a tax cut for cars with petrol engines < 1.2L, diesel < 1.5L and <4 m in size. it sent manufacturers into a tizzy and they scratched their heads in wondering whether that is till possible or not.
yes, we think that FM had fault in this but remember one thing: the future is only smaller engines in big cars with DI and turbocharging. One reason-meeting of strict emission norms and increasing mileage.
Do NOT go by what is written in the brochure about an engine capacity, power and torque and cribbing about underpowered 1.2 engines in big hatches. Remember in Europe, this is a common practice as these cars are volume sellers. The people in R&D are not fools that they can do anything they want. They design cars for a global environment, ours included and depending upon the requirements of the country, determine the engine size.
Our country is more of a mileage conscious country, not power. Where the hell are going to we race small hatchbacks? In chocked cities or highways full of trucks?
Now comes the question of diesel engines, FGT V/S VGT.
cars like-palio, ritz, swift, punto, 500 and vista are small, agile city hatches which are not meant to be raced. And if Swift DDIS owners are happy with the car's performance with an FGT, why the hell do we criticize the punto for being second grade? just because is it a FIAT product? Or just because are we expecting too much from them?
Work in an R&D team and then you will come to know how difficult it is to really tune the car for our market.
The fact is engine size alone on paper does not determine whether the car is worthy of buying or not. It is determined by how a car behaves on pressing the throttle and how is it easy to drive on city streets, which a majority of car buyers want. If you want to race a small hatch, then look elsewhere.
Now comes the question of fuel efficiency.
We need to educate people something called as driving etiquettes. The fact is actually all cars are reasonably fuel efficient but it depends upon our driving style, which majority of we Indians are not aware of.
The big cause-contaminated fuel, poor roads and infrastructure, poor traffic rules and laws, poor pedastrian safety measures etc.
we often criticise cars with low clearence due to our roads but fail to understand that we have to fault, not the car manufacturer.
Remember that cars with high ground clearence are less stable at high speeds as compared to cars with high GC. What we need is top class roads to enjoy cars with same global level spec as people in other countries enjoy it.
Now comes-price. we often cry that some cars are overpeiced, features not offered etc but are you aware of the term "bhedchaal"? majority of the people only buy cars just for the sake of brands without really digging deep into the goodness of the product.
I mean what the hell will you gain if you buy an accord over a sonata? status?
people say it is embarassing for us to go in a big car with a tilted H rather than a straight H or the car with a fiat badge rather than go with a toyota/ honda badge.
it is not a shame about what brand of cars do you purchase.It is about whether are you really enjoying the car as a whole or not.
take a proper test drive and decide that what best value you can get out of your vehicle rather than just blind-foldedly going for "brand" factor for the sake of avoiding "embarrasement".
There are lots of options out there than restricting ourselves to just a few brands.
Question of safety:
We cry that manufacturers are not providing us with ABS/ airbags.
the big question is- HOW many of us really do end up purchasing up cars with safety options?
all we care is about-price, price, discount, discount, resale value etc.. and not the product that you enjoy.
No salespersons are even aware of the functions of ABS/ airbags in mass market cars, all they care is maximum sale at the cost of safety. It is for this reason that old outdated models like:
maruti 800
omni
alto
zen estilo
wagonR
versa
santro
accent
getZ
old indica
octavia
lancer
cedia
tavera
ikon
and many more are existing confusing customers (two or more generations of the same model sold side by side).
why can't we be at the same level as other countries?
another big question-poor sales staff at all dealerships whether it is maruti or audi/bmw/merc many persons, I do not know how the hell are they recruited and without even basic knowledge of the product, working in the showrooms and misleading customers.
resale value- why do we ask this question when an average person drives the car for 5 years? This means that he is buying the car just for formality and not to enjoy the product.
After sales service-this is a debatable topic that even I cannot comment on, as opinions may differ. But yes, can we give a chance to the Koreans and Tata/ Fiat?
Unfortunately, Many of we people are not exactly maintenance savvy and when a major problem crops up, blame the manufacturer on the component design.
how many of us thoroughly read and go through the owners manual 2-3 times after delivery? most of us have never even opened it except to find the numbers of dealers.
It is cheaper to maintain a Hyundai premium car than a Honda, isnt it? So why can't some people try and enjoy sonata and tucson?
Unfortunately we Indians are not even aware at the basic level of car knowledge (general car buying people) and even I feel that Team-bhp has to try even harder to campaign and educate Indian car buying public the importance of products and safety.
I don't know whether I have written an appropriate article, some may call it biased, some may like it or not but I personally feel that Indian car market is the most difficult to crack it on earth. Just because we expect again and again without going deeper into the product.
(Disclaimer: This write up is not meant to offend any existing or prospective car buyers/ sellers/ owners/ dealers/ salespersons etc, but just my opinion and truth that I have seen).
I would like you members to contribute with your humble opinions and how we can as a forum of 41,000 and growing members can help manufacturers and encourage them to come up with the same spec cars as abroad.
MODS: If my way of writing has errors, kindly correct them.