The Indian costumer is today at the top of the ladder with the entire world eyeing for his pocket and they are here to please. But, the Indian manufacturers aren't lagging behind either. Old players like Mahindra have slowly grown out of the shell of manufacturing rugged jeeps to manufacturing comfortable SUVs. They now stare at world leaders such as Toyota in the eye and are able to comfortable play their cards.
The past year has seen major launches like the Honda civic, Maruti swift, Ford fiesta and so on. These products show the surge that has taken place in the mind of the international automakers that the Indian car market is in fact quite big. Today, the Mercedes S class that once graced the garages of only those who could afford to import one is available ready from the showroom. Audi and BMW are here with the latest generation of their machines incorporating all the technologies that count.
The current trend among auto makers though has primarily been towards incorporation of technologies such as Common rail direct injection, seen as CRDi, CRDe, DICOr, TDCi among various other brand names. Another paradigm shift is the incorporation of fuel injection and the complete elimination of the carburetor. Although these which were initially aimed at making the car more eco friendly have eventually ended up making the car much more reliable, responsive and also economic.
The other major breakthrough has come in the form of safety measures, which once restricted to just seat belts have now been extended to not just passive safety devices like collapsible steering columns but also active ones like the Anti lock braking systems, electronic brake force distribution, Sustained release air bags etc. These are now available on basic models such as the Wagon R and the Santro Xing also.
The level of expertise and immense talent available in India has led to another new way for the car industry to grow, outsourcing! Yes, today the Toyota Innova gearboxes for cars around the world are in fact manufactured at the Toyota facility in Bidadi. Same is the case for Hyundai which exports its cars from India to Brazil. Tata which has struck deals with companies in Europe was able to market the Indica as the City rover in the UK.
The car industry in the US is definitely on a meltdown, but the reason is simply the fact that far more sensible ways of manufacturing are available worldwide. Another reason for the same is the economy and environment consciousness that has erupted among the current generation, favoring the purchase of small efficient Japanese cars against big American V8s.
One area in which the Indian car industry does lack much though is in the area of alternate fuels. Although CNG and LPG do find their way into the car as aftermarket add on equipment or as is the case with the Wagon R and the Optra CNG, company fitted. There still isn’t a car that has substituted the use of non renewable fuels. This might well be where India should concentrate its R and D effort if it must step up to being the next big car manufacturer of the world ....
Courtsey: CarsinIndia.com
