[Motard_Blr]

Here's what's :

Terrible road accident numbers so Govt. mandates air bags, ABS, etc.

Manufacturers add mandatory safety equipment.

Govt. charges excise on the full amount with no rebates for the safety equipment that it mandated.

State govts. charge higher road tax on new higher price. Everyone knows that road tax is not a tax on consumption of resources (road space, weight, fuel, etc.). It's basically a local sales tax in addition to VAT.

Finally, higher insurance premium is charged on the increased value of the car. Again no rebates on equipment that could help avoid accidents or reduce the injuries/loss in case of one.

I wonder what the appropriate emotion for this situation should be.

[saket77]

If Maruti can have those hideous special editions, why not bring another 'safety edition' or a variant on similar lines with optional Airbags & ABS for all variants? But they won't do it because it will kill the sales of their top variants. So, that is it which is stopping them, nothing else. If manufacturers believe that the 'over-sensitive' Indian market will be turned off by including airbags & ABS in all variants, then provide an optional variant and prove us wrong or prove yourself right.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The only manufacturer to buck that trend is VW who have made it standard across their entire portfolio of cars.

The one reason my respect for VW has grown greatly in recent times. At least they are keen on demonstrating a commitment to safety loud and clear, setting a shining example for the others to follow.

[SoumenD]

Even if government tries to make addition of safety features to every variant a mandatory thing, there will be a strong opposition from manufacturers as we are already seeing the sentiment. And they aren't entirely wrong in stating the sales figure would go down as that's how this market behaves. Safety feature awareness is still a far-cry here to the larger audience.

I believe only if manufacturers offer it as option atleast most of us would be happy. Dont make it standard atleast keep it optional in every variant. Like Swift Lxi/LDi & Swift Lxi Option pack/Swift Vdi Option pack. Keep the price differential to 40/50 grands, let the customer choose. That I believe would be a win-win situation.

I am in market looking for a used car for a year. So going by market behavior Swift was the first car I could think of. Called up True Value and the reply I received was : Very few people buy top model as safety features are not necessary in our country. So we have only VXi.

[amitk26]

Mandate from government and enforcing as per the law is only solution.
After all it is government's duty to enforce laws for larger public good.

All business ( with few notable exceptions ) run with intent of maximising the profits and regulation helps them to see what is in the interest of society.

[Altocumulus]

Its utter rubbish that people cannot afford a 30k price premium. Most of the people nowadays take finance to buy their cars generally 5 years. A difference of 30k will add maybe Rs. 500 to the EMIs. If people donot stop buying cars despite the rising price of fuel, I dont think a difference of Rs 500 will actually alter their decision.

Secondly, like someone mentioned OEM costs are much lesser than buying spare parts of the shelf. Maybe half actually. Also if all cars start having ABS and Airbags the prices would go down due to the sheer volume and demand.

[ani_meher]

^^^ Correction. 500Rs per month for 5 years equals 500 x 12 x 5 =30,000. So effectively loan in hand will be additional 15-20k only, not 30k. Realistic figure for 30k additional loan will be near 1000 additional EMI.

Also, Toyota gives airbags in all versions of Liva and Etios, so it is not only VW or Honda Jazz.

[wildsdi5530]

I think that this airbag business is just a marketing gimmick.
Offering only driver airbag or driver plus passenger airbag is not safety. If at all there should be atleast 6-8 airbags.
Cars don't even offer a proper head restraint which is much more important safety feature to prevent whiplash injuries.
There are exposed seat frames which can hurt a rear passenger.
Poor quality windshield wipers which can make driving in the rain dangerous.
The nano had an exposed battery below the driver seat
How many cars have fire retardant fabric on the seats?

IMHO a chest injury which may occur at very high speed (>100kmph) only when I'm wearing a seat belt and am fortunate enough to be full frontal impact with no spin, which is the only scenario where a single airbag is going to protect me.
My chance of a whiplash injury are much higher - traffic jam, hit from behind at 20kmph.

It is definitely an expensive and tech laden safety feature. And thus easily acceptable by the buyer and keeps the govt. happy. But just something to boast about.
I remember my college days when we used to describe our PC as P4 with 60GB. Back then we paid a premium for those words. Now we pay for ABS and Airbags. The real issue is something else. We just take the easiest solution of throwing some money.

[ILTDrive]

Originally Posted by shady_lawyer

In my opinion, the manufacturers, should offer the safety pack as optional, for fitment on any version, thus I might prefer to buy the lowest version+safety pack.
.

I could not have said it any better. Let the customer chose what they want based on their buying power, but the least the manufacturers can do is make the options available.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

What if I want a basic Elite i20 with ABS and airbags at close to 7L. Well sorry you have to get the Asta which is 8L on road in Bangalore if you want airbags and ABS.

The exact issue I had when buying a Dzire VDI. I wanted one with ABS and Airbags, but that was ONLY available in ZXI, which was costing over Rs.1L than VDI and I could not stretch my budget anymore than I already had. If Maruti had provided an optional safety pack for VDI, without any of the gizmos from the ZXI, I am sure I would have been able to manage, but unfortunately nothing of that sort exits.

Another thing I keep thinking, When a newer version/Update is launched and if that comes with some safety pack (New swift VDI with ABS), is it not prudent on the manufacturers to offer it to the old customers as well?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

I think that this airbag business is just a marketing gimmick.
Offering only driver airbag or driver plus passenger airbag is not safety. If at all there should be atleast 6-8 airbags.
Cars don't even offer a proper head restraint which is much more important safety feature to prevent whiplash injuries. ------The real issue is something else. We just take the easiest solution of throwing some money.

I wouldn't call and agree with the airbags being termed as marketing gimmick. Of course, the more the better, but if presence of just 2 airbags can increase the rating from 0 to 4 stars in NCAP crash tests (for VW Polo), I don't have many reasons to doubts the efficacy of even 2 airbags.

Agree with the chances of whiplash injuries in case of improper use to head restraints. I have seen people removing them saying that they are useless as 'head-rests'. Of course they are, because they are not 'head-rests' in first place

In my opinion, if one uses his seatbelts, head restraints and drives a car with good structural integrity with airbags; then he/she is reasonably safe on roads. Must not be confused with having elixir of life!

[Altocumulus]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

^^^ Correction. 500Rs per month for 5 years equals 500 x 12 x 5 =30,000. So effectively loan in hand will be additional 15-20k only, not 30k. Realistic figure for 30k additional loan will be near 1000 additional EMI.

Also, Toyota gives airbags in all versions of Liva and Etios, so it is not only VW or Honda Jazz.

Its around 650rs actually because its reducing interest. Also like I said OEM costs are much cheaper. A friend of mine who did his Automobile designing from Italy and currently employed with Honda, said that a top end Brio which costs 6L to us, if assembled by you by buying every spare part from the market would actually cost you a whopping 14L. So the effect of addition of safety features wont be more than 500rs effectively to consumers.

Manufacturers donot profit much from sales of cars but from their service and sale of spare parts. That's the reason why everyone bothers for market share. More the market share, more the long term revenue. With Maruti and Hyundai introducing safety features in their cars and increasing their price will bring them very close to the premium brands like VW and the price difference will be negligible. People will still buy cars, its just that their loyalty may not remain with Maruti since at the same price range there will be much more options.

[sourav9385]

So many threads, so many posts, so many views, it's getting a bit too much if you ask me.

So, IMHO, here are a few points and views from my end. Feel free to disagree if you feel like.

1. Most Indians DO NOT care about safety in a car. To them, a metal shell with glass all around is as safe as it can get.

2. Most Indians don't care about ABS, Airbags, EBD, structural rigidity of the shell during a crash, as long as it is easy on the pockets and A.S.S is minimal.

3. Most manufacturers DO NOT care about adding any safety features to the base & mid variants. Simple reason - price increase, which in turn will lead to lower sales.

4. Complete and utter lack of information and awareness among most Indians about vehicular safety.

5. Reluctance of the Indian government to implement safety related laws and policies.

6. Increased purchasing power of the middle class, coupled with lack of awareness about safety, means manufacturers can continue to sell outdated designs with cosmetic upgrades at a premium price.

I think these reasons are enough to justify why safety is not considered when it comes to buying/selling an automobile in India.

The way I see it, there are only two options to counter the safety issue:

A) Increased Awareness among the Indian public. If they know about safety, they might just ask for it.

B) Laws. Laws. Laws. Make it a law that a manufacturer cannot sell a car without basic safety features, or without adhering to a certain specific standard, like Euro NCAP, or an India specific crash test standard.

Oh, and the real cost of adding safety? I don't think it is much. Trouble is, to maximize returns and increase profits, manufacturers will not go through the trouble of adding any safety features to basic stuff since it makes up their bread & butter. After all, as has been quoted multiple times on this forum, there is very little demand for top end stuff in India.

[anuragn]

Very good analysis shady_lawyer.
Taking the example of Swift (in the first post), Maruti is charging Rs 1.58 lakh extra for safety feature + some extras, namely (1) Front and Rear Headrests (2) Rear defogger & (3) rear wiper.
Lets assume cost of above extras to be appx 20K (5K + 5K +5K + overheads). So in effect, we are paying Rs. 1.38 lakhs extra just for safety features!
Now which businessman in his sane mind would fore-go this milking of customers by providing the same safety equipment in the base model for just another 40-50K?

[TheLizardKing]

I completely agree with sourav9385. We've discussed automobile safety to death (pun intended) in the last few weeks.

It is pretty clear to most Team BHPians here what the situation in India today is like - the manufacturers are shameless, the average customer is clueless, and the government seems to be spineless.

We also know what needs to change. But like Buffett said about investing, it is "simple but not easy".

Now all we can do is wait and watch. Someone has to blink. Till then, may God keep us petrolheads safe on Indian streets.

[negativeH]

But for a Manufacturer, providing a car with feature (safety or otherwise) isn't just about buying them na.

- The production chain changes
- Possibly more labour would be needed, or atleast the current ones would require further training
- production time increases
- Quality testing gets more complex
- Increased inventory, more management.

Sourcing, training, installing, testing, if all variants come with these features, would significantly boost up the costs for the Manufacturer.

These guys certainly over-charge for the safer variants, but the diff wouldn't be this acute.