Cheap Cars Excuse: Upgrade To 2-wheelers? Hogwash.


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I have seen posters on Indian forums and statement released by Maruti after recent Swift safety fiasco saying that a cheap car offer added safety to 2-wheeler owners.

Majority of bikes sold in India are 100cc, costing less than INR 50,000. If a 2-wheeler owner can extend his budget to 3-4 Lakhs for a cheap car like Datsun Go, Hyundai Eon, Alto. Surely he can spend Rs. 30,000 more.

In a nutshell everyone is saying Rs. 50000 -> Rs. 3,00,000 is worth it because if offers somewhat added safety. But 3,00,000 -> 3,30,000 will make cars out of reach for masses.

This is non-sense and I am surprised educated people are falling in trap.

It's even more ridiculous when you see the gulf in pricing of a 100c motorcycle and a premium hatchback Swift VDi which costs 14x more and offers no safety or structural rigidity found in European models.
 
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Re: Cheap cars excuse, upgrade to 2-wheelers? Hogwash.

CarCar said:
I have seen posters on Indian forums and statement released by Maruti after recent Swift safety fiasco saying that a cheap car offer added safety to 2-wheeler owners.
I would rather rent a car from ZoomCar in case I have to take more than 2 people. Else they should bring their own transport. AND IF conditions mandate that I HAVE to get a four wheeler, I would rather deposit the money at a high interest rate, and buy a car after 2-3 years and manage the meantime with ZoomCar or taxis. I pity my mother's brother's family for their miserable choice of Swift dZire VXi. But hey, if you crash at a speed of even 30 km/h on a two wheeler (assuming you have helmet on), there is a high probability that you will have some fractures. But if you crash a Swift at 30 km/h (assuming you have seat-belts on), the car self-destructs. But at the most you will have a sprained neck. What's better?
 
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I have seen many people regard ABS and Airbag as just an added feature and not a mandatory life saving system. Even the sales people were promoting them as an "EXTRA" feature rather than a "MINIMUM SAFETY" requirement.

Unless there is a rule making them mandatory for cars to sell, people will still regard them as just a feature.
 
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It may be strange but sometimes 2 wheelers can be safer with 170 degree field of vision and weight shifting to turn. 2 wheelers also have less braking distance.
 
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CarCar said:
"More safety features in cars will mean less road safety", says Maruti chief R C Bhargava.

Read Full Article - Source

A silly person.
Half-right. How many times have you seen people drive rashly saying "Arrey, this car has airbags! Don't worry."? And people who ride 5-6 people on a bike? But the other half (which is wrong) is simply wrong, there's no denying that. I would [gun] him on the spot.

P.S. 40,000 means people who really need a car would cancel plans, while those who need cars will curse the government and pay additional loan installments at the most. This is pure crap [frustration]. But, keeping in mind that it's us enthusiasts who are discussing this, to poorer people, 40k means a lot. They would rather drive a car sanely than shell out 40k IMO.
 

Akash1886

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Reply to the excerpts from Interview:

RC Bhargava, chairman of the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, has cautioned the government against falling for any global body’s assertion that safety measures like airbags or disc brakes be made mandatory for all cars, even entry-level ones.
Why can't it be made mandatory? Hasn't Toyota taken this step for Etios Twins and mind you, Toyota is far superior and expensive in all terms than Maruti Suzuki.

He said that if carmakers incorporate such features in even entry-level cars, obviously the price would go up, which would lead consumers to opt for two-wheelers, which would be more unsafe.
A statement like this shows how easy it becomes for reputed brands to hide their cost-cutting tricks in the name price rise. As it is a person who can't have resources to own a car won't look for it anyways whether it has airbags, ABS or not. He will go in for a 2 wheeler only.

Moreover, Haven't the car companies till now increased prices on their own? Maruti yet again is planning to increase it prices in near future.

He said that such findings by global autonomous bodies did not take into account Indian conditions
If Indian conditions were accounted then would a Swift without airbags et al got a 5 star rating?Does Indian traffic condition permit a car without any safety feature? Is a car without any safety, best for Indian condition?

If you only take cars, that results in just 3-4% improvement. But this may also do damage somewhere else, because the risk factor of a person driving a two-wheeler is far higher than those driving even old Fiat cars,”
Old Fiat and Maruti have no comparison in safety and strength. Risk is always there in driving on roads be it 2 wheeler or a car but that should not be the criteria of implementing safety features in cars at own will.

The person who graduates to a car from a two-wheeler is a very marginal guy, a little bit of price increase and he will push the purchase away for the next year. We saw that when the petrol prices went up, these guys could not afford cars,”
What's the definition of "little bit increase"? Even when fuel prices went up Maruti made fairly good sales. Did Maruti shut its production during price rise in fuel? Did it not sell single car during that time?

Going by current cost estimates, adding two front airbags to an entry-level and the country’s top-selling car like the Alto 800 would add about R30,000 to the starting price of R2.4 lakh. Further, adding an anti-lock braking system, which reduces braking distances especially in wet conditions, will further push the price up by about R10,000.
Why has Economics become so important all of a sudden? When earlier car prices were increased by Maruti Suzuki, It did not elaborate on the reasons like now.

The agency conducts side impact test, where another car hits the target vehicle at 40 kmph, and a frontal offset test at 64 kmph.
It is the average road speed in India. Where in India can we drive beyond 60-65 km/h for a long stretch without any obstruction.

One point is that in the EU, 50% of the road fatalities are inside cars, but in India it is 16%. This is because two-wheelers and pedestrians are far higher,”
So, in Europe well equipped cars are not safe? In India an unsafe car is better than safe one? How does higher number of 2 wheeler/ pedestrians make a unsafe car safer?

He said that a “commercial angle” is always present in pushing such technologies. “Somebody wants to sell an airbag, what does he do? He pushes the safety angle. Nobody has yet proved that unsafe cars are the reason for higher road fatalities,” he said, adding that most companies now offer airbags in the top variants of all car models, so if buyers drive on highways at higher speeds, they can buy that version.
A person may earn money from technology so whats the harm? Are car brands not charging money for the technology itself? If unsafe cars are good then why even give airbags and all to higher variants as well?

Highway driving is not a regular phenomena. A person living in city, commuting to office/home needs equal safety in car as an highway racer may want in the car.

Incidentally, Global NCAP chairman Max Mosley has also written a letter to Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn asking the company to withdraw the “substandard” Datsun Go model from India and other markets because its body shell is so unstable that even adding airbags would be pointless.
I would say, Nissan is at fault for sure no doubts but why has Maruti been left out? A respectable agency like NCAP should have refused to take crash test of Swift in the first place when it knew that it was lacking basic safety devices. Giving a Zero to Swift was a mere formality.

Man!! It took me by sheer surprise that such a well known and reputed brand's representative gave unconventional statements.

Regards

Akash
 
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Thanks CarCar for the link. I quote Mr.Bhargava, "Going by current cost estimates, adding two front airbags to an entry-level and the country’s top-selling car like the Alto 800 would add about R30,000 to the starting price of R2.4 lakh. Further, adding an anti-lock braking system, which reduces braking distances especially in wet conditions, will further push the price up by about R10,000".

That's funny. Back in the year 2000, Maruti 800 AC model cost was about R2.40 Lakhs in UP. Now with purchasing power of people having gone up, an increase of R10,000/- (compared to THAT price) would not pinch people for an Alto-800 with AirBags plus ABS. All the Salesmen have to say is, "Sirji, these Air Bags will save your child when a bigger car hits you"; Not the other way as in "when you hit another car". For ABS, it is "With ABS, you can manoeuvre away to avoid a collision". That's more than enough for the Home Minister to node her head affirmatively and R2,50,000/- priced Alto-800 with two STANDARD Air Bags and ABS is SOLD.

I quote once again, "The person who graduates to a car from a two-wheeler is a very marginal guy, a little bit of price increase and he will push the purchase away ..." That is like saying:

"The increased study load in higher class will prevent children from clearing Exams".
"The increased responsibility of being a spouse will reduce the number of marriages".
"The increased Taxes will make people earn Less".
"a little bit of increase in work load, and I will not continue as Maruti Chairman".
"The increased power of an CM/PM will prevent MLA/MP from becoming a CM/PM".

Talk Mr.Bhargava, talk. Till the pricing of M-800 was discussed threadbare in Parliament, many many years back, your Co was looting your Loyal Customer. In spite of delivering ONLY THREE good looking cars (Zen, Swift and Kizashi) in 30+ years, your Co is the Runaway leader in India. Lucky for your Co, when Fiat Uno and Tata Nano were launched, they ran into Labour or Local unrest situation. Lucky for your Co, when M/s GM wanted to take-over the defunct Daewoo factory in Noida, they could not do so, as Banks and Customs fought over who should get the Money first. Lucky for your Co, Fiat made the 1.3L MultiJet Diesel Engine. Lucky for your Co, your copied features sell more than the original. Lucky for you, the Loyal Customer still believes in your Co. And more importantly, lucky for your Co, Xiaomi isn't manufacturing Cars, yet.

In my college days, a friend of mine who found Field Theory difficult to understand jokingly said "the book is written badly". Talk Mr.Bhargava, talk.
 
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Comparing a car and a two wheeler is plain stupidity. Most of these cheap cars will be used by the owners on the highway at least once in a blue moon,there lies the danger the car's frame will be subjected to speed above 80 kmph and an impact will almost surely kill all the passengers inside.

A bike when taken into the open highway will usually be driven by a seasoned rider who knows how unforgiving indian highways are,even if the rider is a novice he can ride within his limits by keeping to the left most lane. In city traffic if the bike rider is alert ,changes his lanes only after checking over his shoulder and has proper emergency breaking skills and wears his gear then he is safe within the urban jungle.

A car in the highway without structural stability and a driver bag is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen.As a planter who has travelled almost everywhere in south India I have seen many accidents where people could have been saved if their cars had these devices.

These car companies are nothing but swindlers who give us inferior quality products while their plants here churn out export models which have all the safety devices and structural stability.The Indian govt turn a blind eye to this issue and people are largely unaware of this aspect of motoring.
 

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