How Your Car Buying Habits Are Going To Change

Q.How Your Car Buying Habits Are Going To Change
291 Views Add Comment

6 Comments

Kaiserketkar | 8 years ago

I don't think there'll be any major shift to 2 wheelers. But 2 wheelers [B][I]do[/I][/B] contribute in a sizeable part to the pollution problem, and although there should, there might not be any attempt to regulate that segment because it's the poor man's mode of transport and any upgradation that will result in an additional cost will be seen as anti-poor. [USER="6"]Roshun[/USER] those are some very likely scenarios, unfortunately all because of the myopic view of the govt/courts/NGT. It's easy to demonize diesel/large cars so they do it. What one should be fighting is the amount of pollutants that a car is throwing into the atmosphere, not what the fuel is. A poorly maintained [read >10 yr old] petrol car might just as well be polluting the air more than a latest gen diesel SUV with a >2L engine. But the former is allowed to puff along, while the latter is banned. It's just plain stupid.

1

Roshun | 8 years ago

I beg to differ on the trend with bikes. Car buyers are not likely to consider a bike, at least not a large percentage of car buyers. The convenience of owning a car as an all weather, comfortable means of transport is hard to give up. The only alternative people will be willing to accept is if public transport became as convenient. Buses / metro should be easily accessible and comfortable. Last mile connectivity has to be put in place, only then will people not really be keen on owning multiple cars. The Singapore model is something everyone quotes when such arguments come up, but we really can't be a Singapore given the pace of growth here and the size of population we have to carry along.

1

Arjun | 8 years ago

[URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/profile/21"]JijoMalayil[/URL] I feel Mahindra is somewhat in the right direction with the electric verito , even though it has a long way to go. I feel this is what is needed for electric cars to succeed. 1. Practicality- The E2O was too small and Indians need a four door car which can accommodate at least 5 people(and can also overload to 6-7 on occasions) 2. Range: with the lack of infrastructure for fastcharging, the cars need to have a good range.200kms would be a decent range , even though its too much to ask for. 3. Price per km : the charging cost may be low, but replacing the battery pack entirely is a huge cost and this would keep people off from electric cars. Even though,the market won't care about the emissions , the economics of the car is very important to our fuel efficiency conscious market. The Verito,even though quite old is a more practical option compared to the E2O. A more common looking car would surely be a better fit. They have a long way to go,but they are headed in the right direction. As far as the market is concerned, with the lowering price difference between diesel and petrol and the NGT's anti diesel decisions, petrols are back in action. We can expect better sales in turbo petrols in bigger cars. Also, we are also moving towards automatics. We have seen automatics getting popular in almost every segment. With the new technologies which give us the convenience of automatics without giving up on fuel efficiency, many people are choosing them over the manual transmission cars.

2

Jijo | 8 years ago

[URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/profile/40"]Praveen[/URL] The fact that the both the Govt and Courts turning a blind eye to pollution caused by bikes is disturbing. Bikes should eventually be included in this scheme of things. Hope the National Scrap Policy is sensible and makes it easier and desirable for people to swap old vehicles for brand new ones. In my opinion, until imposed by the Govt, India as a country will never willingly jump into the hybrid-electric bandwagon.

3

Praveen | 8 years ago

[USER="6"]Roshun[/USER] Considering the fact that the two-wheeler industry is mostly untouched by these restrictions, I feel there will be a considerable surge in the sales of two wheelers, especially in the scooter segment. The sales of Activa proves that people prefer convenient modes of transportation if taking the car seems to be too cumbersome. At least those who are prioritizing practicality and do not want to go through the hassle of using the public transportation will consider a scooter. Also, from what I have observed, I feel the current Indian automotive industry is kind of shaped by government rulings rather than people's preferences.

1

Roshun | 8 years ago

If you are in the market for a new car at this point in time in India, you may have to rethink some of your decisions. There are so many external influences that you need to consider – such as the arbit rulings from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) or changes in fuel pricing policy, or new taxation structures that will affect your finances. Just look at the effect the proposed [URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/posts/10758-ngt-bans-diesel-vehicles-over-10-years-old-and-new-diesel-vehicles-above-2000cc-in-kerala"]ban on diesel vehicles more than 10 years old in some states[/URL] has had. And the [URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/posts/7331-supreme-court-extends-ban-on-diesel-vehicles-with-engines-over-2000cc"]ban on diesel vehicles over 2000cc[/URL]. Carmakers are reconsidering the model line ups they have. Buyers are all clamouring for petrol vehicles instead of diesels. Resale value of diesel vehicles has plummeted. The thing is you have to accept this change and your buying behaviour will also change, as will the kind of products that are on offer. Remember the sub-4 metre rule? That ruling in 2008 of lower excise duty for small cars (defined as diesels with less than 1.5 litre engine capacity, petrols with less than 1.2 litres engine capacity and length less than 4 metres), changed the entire landscape of cars on offer. Everyone wanted to offer a car less than 4 metres in length. Or an SUV. Or a sedan. Or an MUV. Some of these were hideous creations – the less said the better. All these legislations are being made with [URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/posts/1745-air-pollution-the-sad-state-of-delhi"]good intentions considering the environment[/URL], but the execution is plain shoddy and haphazard. (See below) [ATTACH=CONFIG]n15074[/ATTACH] So here’s my take on what’s definitely going to happen in the foreseeable future: * Slowly, but surely, more private car buyers will shift to petrol and/or hybrids * There will be a demand for petrol SUVs at least in the luxury segment * The gap between petrol and diesel will narrow further * [URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/posts/14498-convert-your-old-petrol-or-diesel-car-to-an-electric-hybrid-legally"]Electric cars and petrol-hybrids[/URL] will become more common * Some states may soon bring out a rule of not selling new diesel vehicles at all to curb the demand for diesel * Euro 6 is not going to happen anytime soon. The 2020 deadline will be missed as refiners and automakers try to buy more time * Vehicles over 15 years of age – both petrol and diesel – will not be allowed to ply in certain states. Else there will be an annual charge levied on these vehicles. * A vehicle scrapping policy may see the light of day, but it will only be limited to certain excise duty rebates, which would not amount to much. The proposed Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh per vehicle suggestion is not likely to happen, unless the private sector steps in. * Second car ownership – or registering another car in the same buyers name – will be more expensive, as states are proposing more taxes for a second car * Public transport will remain as chaotic as ever * Taxi aggregators and ride-sharing services will flourish * Hybrid conversion kits for old cars will become as rampant as CNG conversion kits * Pollution checks will become more stringent (and may also lead to more corruption) * Car parking charges will increase dramatically There is a much longer list of things that will happen. Please do add to this thread on what you think the future of car buying will be like. Would love to hear your thoughts too.

10

View More Comments

Add your Comment

Submit Comment