Delving closer into the Indian Car Culture

Sometimes, the things I come across, in the journals about the automotive segment makes me wonder as to what car culture we lead in India. Is there really something that we can call “The culture of Indian Automobile”? Well, I am not so sure because, for us, it has majorly been about trade-in comforts. Something that we have adapted based on our needs and purchasing power. While there is a small community that leads the best in terms of enthusiasm towards cars, there has never been a real innovation at the core of the Indian automotive industry.

Considering that the car ownership is still a piece of luxury in most households, the hunt has always been about providing the best product at an optimized value. This doesn’t imply that, the Indian automotive industry is not a big deal. Well, it does share close to 7% of our GDP! My peeve is just that the majority of the advancement has been to cut, copy and re-do stuff. Fair enough, we were on the back foot at the start. It wasn’t until 1991, when the Indian economy started trading commercially with the outside world. Till then, all we saw were nothing more than Amby(s) and Maruti(s) on Indian roads. 

Regardless, there were a lot of golden memories about how the whole culture developed and the models that contributed to it. We talk about them till this very day. And, they refuse to die in our hearts.

Our car culture is something that has been borrowed and twisted to suit the local taste. While the British did import into India, the only thing that stayed rooted was the good-old Amby (based on Morris Oxford platform). It was a real emotional moment for many of us, when Hindustan Motors shut production of the Amby in 2014 after a whopping 57 years in production. And, at 45 bhp, The Premier Padmini was literally a delight and still remains a possession to drool for.

There were also other notable examples like the Hindustan Contessa, The Rover 2000 and the 118 NE. But it did take a small, but a substantial jump from there when Maruti, in collaboration with Suzuki, launched a cheaper and fuel efficient car in 1983. We brought something that was alien to the population. We became docile to our own needs and dependency on the outside world.

 

                                                          Source: Devika Vasta

  

Now, talking about the stuff we love and look for as consumers, it has been always a dilemma.

When it comes to choosing between Power and efficiency, the majority will go with efficiency. Buying a car is always an emotional experience for most families in India. The crucial factor is about providing the two additional wheels (four wheeler) to the mobile Indian family.

A quick glance at the number would tell you what the Indian customers prefer Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai cars which control a healthy 63.2% market share. In fact, there is a well proven fact that one in four cars you see on the roads is a Maruti Suzuki. These two companies have all been about affordable, reliable, almost zero-maintenance, heavy duty and semi-comfy cars. And as long as we get that as a given, we are ready to compromise on what comes under the hood. Does a 1.8 look better 1.4? May be it does. But, not really!

“Kitna Deti Hai” is the primary determining factor here.

Now, that doesn’t mean that we are not speed lovers. The sight of a Hyundai Santro zooming past a BMW is nothing strange for us, Indians. We just don’t break a sweat about it.

With Styling, A cheap dash is good looking for us, as long as there are plenty of features packed into the car. And, a chrome grill completes the package. We like to play it safe and companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and even Honda provide us just that. You wouldn’t see anything too flashy as that doesn’t resonate well with the societal values we possess. It also doesn’t do wonders in the resale of the car.

While the VWs and Fords have tried introducing us to classy looks, power and handling, it has been restricted that fall short to make a bigger impact.

Instead, spurts of excellence is something that keeps us going. We have made international car companies run and find their fit in the Indian market. Thus excellence in our context is about providing something just right - nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunately, due to these pre-set priorities, Safety also had to take the back seat. So much that, we managed to bring fine car companies to shed safety standards to meet the dot price. 

While Tata and Mahindra strived to provide the best tuned cars to Indian market, not much was noticed beyond Indica and the Sumo. That being said, times they are changing. In a huge way!

Amongst this nostalgia, there lies a flourishing automotive industry that led to the showcase of our market and customer needs to the outside world. And the wide gap left for generations is slowly getting filled!

The real genius is that, we even contributed to products like the beloved Reva, way back before mainstream electric cars became a thing. So, there is still a lot of hope left for our market, after all. How much? Only time will tell.

For now, I can at least stop typing with a little satisfaction that, while we would still be able to fit our whole family in a Maruti Omni, there is no denying that our love for cars and the excitement that comes with it will live stronger than ever!

- Vishal Aravind S