New Trend in India For Purchasing Cars


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I have seen a different trend from last 2 years on the factors that are considered while buying a new Car.

Some of the usual questions those were asked say 5-6 years back:

1. Mileage (Kitna deti hai?)
2. Power
3. Ride quality
4. Acceleration
5. Build quality
6. Handling
7. Design
8. Features (limiting to power windows/power steering/AC)

Now almost a reverse trend is seen:

1. Mileage (kitna deti hai?) Boss, this is India [;)]
2. Features (all gizmos)
3. Design
and then other parameters follows.

What surprises me is the basic DNA of the car (handling, ride quality , performance) is given lesser weightage than the looks & feature list.

There are some exceptions as always, but mostly the above trend!

What does a TAIger think? Do you observe similar trend?
 
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Re: New trend while purchasing Cars

^^ Yes I do,because for some people, look and fancy features is brag-worthy.

Scenario 1 :
Let's take a scenario from 2 non-automobile savvy.

Guy1 : Hey my car have BT Audio, Keyless Entry and ACC etc(bragging)
Guy 2 : Wow, it looks good inside and there are lot of options 2.

Scenario 2 :
Let's take a scenario from 1 non-automobile savvy + 1 automobile savvy.

Savvy Guy : My car has 2.0L engine with 200+bhp. 0-100 at 8secs
Non-Savvy Guy : But no ACC, Keyless entry? My so-and-so car, which cost less than this have this.
Savvy Guy : :facepalm:

For certain people, appearance talks louder than what's under the hood and those people can't be changed. People know a thing or two about cars will get the best at the budget whereas the other guys will get what satisfies them. Simple.
 
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Re: New trend while purchasing Cars

What surprises me is the basic DNA of the car (handling, ride quality , performance) is given lesser weightage than the looks & feature list.
I agree looks and features were given importance but couldn't agree on the 1st statement. Be it the manufacturers or the consumers give equal importance for the performance and dynamics too.

I don't see any OEM designing / manufacturing / selling a car that is inferior in the performance & dynamics part when compared with their earlier model.
 
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Re: New trend while purchasing Cars

People now-a-days are more concerned about the performance than 5~6 years ago.
Performance:
We could easily give examples of cars with a 3 digit (and close to it) power figures now compared with cars of yester-years.
Build:
Japanese and Koreans were ruling the Indian roads few years ago and they were never 'solid build' (comparatively) Now we have a lot of Europeans.
Ride & Handling:
Do compare the R&H performance of Linea / Vento / Rapid with the cars that were available in those period to understand better.
OR
Current City vs City ZX
Fluidic Verna vs Old Verna
should tell you the truth
Features
It isn't the fact that those days people don't want much features. Some features available today were also present on those days but they cost a head and hand which wasn't affordable. Today the cost of those features were brought affordable for the middle class. Not to forget about the safety features that are available as standard in many cars today
 
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There is never a car which has all the features. If it has, then well its out of budget hence the synonym "the dream car". Today the trend out there is to give equal weightage to looks/perfomance/geeks and features it comes with.
A person with hatchback looking for sedan and person with sedan is looking for an SUV and so on. These days Evolution is the concept rather than revolution( be it any gadget or an automobile).
 
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For an average buyer, mileage, space and looks of a car stands at the top three of the list.

In addition to this the current trend shows the customers are looking for the safety features like ABS & (at least one) Airbag. Even most of the current hatches (which will be hardly driven in insane speeds) are coming with ABS & Airbags and manufacturers are slowly making it a compulsory feature in all versions of their sedan models.
 
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Now any least cost car are capable of doing 100 KMPH on the road. So people are looking for extra gizmo which they can showoff. Very less percentage of people go with the spec of drive quality,handling etc. Most people goes with herd mentality.
 
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Re: New trend while purchasing Cars

I agree looks and features were given importance but couldn't agree on the 1st statement. Be it the manufacturers or the consumers give equal importance for the performance and dynamics too.

I don't see any OEM designing / manufacturing / selling a car that is inferior in the performance & dynamics part when compared with their earlier model.
I have mentioned it from the buyers perspective and not from manufacturers perspective.
Auto enthusiasts like us always first check the performance and drivability while buying a new car, but our count is hardly noticeable (though increasing). Normal buyers many times tend to incline towards features & design (& space) than performance. I hope , you got my point!

Just yesterday I was at Maruti dealer for my vehicle servicing and while I was there I saw two guys (buyers) near Ciaz (display vehicle) discussing with SA. I too went there to see Ciaz and observe the discussions.
Those guys were interested to see how big Ciaz is and the features. They wanted the touch screen ICE and after learning from SA that ZDI+ 'O' which will have this feature will only be available in next year, they left (in Fortuner) saying they will come back next year. Those guys were from a town but were rich and they had the cash ready at home to purchase the car right away if available. Important point is, they were least interested in knowing the performance , ride, handling of Ciaz [surprise]
 
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Re: New trend while purchasing Cars

I have mentioned it from the buyers perspective and not from manufacturers perspective.
Manufacturers don't make something which the customer don't want. To be simple, OEMs manufacture cars with better performance now-a-days only because the customer (market) is more concerned about it.

When the performance improvement is already available / adopted by default, buyers start browsing for the list of available features and start comparing the cars based on the same.
 
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Re: New trend while purchasing Cars

Manufacturers don't make something which the customer don't want. To be simple, OEMs manufacture cars with better performance now-a-days only because the customer (market) is more concerned about it.

When the performance improvement is already available / adopted by default, buyers start browsing for the list of available features and start comparing the cars based on the same.
Well, its not about the improvement in performance over these years by manufacturers. It will improve any way , thanks to the new technologies. The point here is how much weightage is given by buyers to the design & features instead of performance, now a days?
If a Car that handles well but lacks features (or design) is not considered by many buyers today. While even if a car handles averagely but if feature-rich & designed well, that sells. Let me give you two different examples here:

Hyundai Verna: This car is a looker & loaded with all gizmos, but we all know about the poor ride quality it has due to soft suspensions combined with poor steering feedback. But , Verna was a huge hit dethroning the City, Vento and others, topped sales chart for more than 2 years (till 2014 City recaptured it).

Ford Fiesta (not classic): This car is for enthusiasts with superb handling and ride quality. This is loaded with features but design is not to the taste of everybody, specially the rear end design is tacky. People did not feel this as a premium car due to its looks. The 2014 update did not gather volumes despite the redesign & re-pricing.

Again, the point here is about the change in priories and not sidelining the main factors for many new buyers (normal) if not for all!
 
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Re: New trend while purchasing Cars

Hyundai Verna: This car is a looker & loaded with all gizmos, but we all know about the poor ride quality it has due to soft suspensions combined with poor steering feedback. But , Verna was a huge hit dethroning the City, Vento and others, topped sales chart for more than 2 years
If the same spec Verna was produced by VW or Fiat, do you think the sales volume will go sky rocketing? On the other hand, if Maruti / Hyundai sells a Vento, it will. People are still biased to the brands.

Ford Fiesta (not classic): People did not feel this as a premium car due to its looks
Looks matter a lot, atleast that is the first impression we get. Thats the same reason why Ritz didn't do well when Swift tops the list.
 
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With lot of way to get information now-a-days, people are up to date and know what they want. Look over handling/performance. Obviously I would like to show off my car by flaunting exterior look than showing them the performance in this dungeon city roads.
 
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With lot of way to get information now-a-days, people are up to date and know what they want. Look over handling/performance. Obviously I would like to show off my car by flaunting exterior look than showing them the performance in this dungeon city roads.
Very well said. This is also one of the main reason why buyers looks at design & features more, now a days.

If the same spec Verna was produced by VW or Fiat, do you think the sales volume will go sky rocketing? On the other hand, if Maruti / Hyundai sells a Vento, it will. People are still biased to the brands.
I agree on this point of brand preference but that is different topic, we can start another thread to discuss the same.
 
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Obviously I would like to show off my car by flaunting exterior look than showing them the performance in this dungeon city roads.
That's the same reason why Hyundai's have been very successful. Design given priority over Perfomance / Dynamics.

While I'll agree that some like to show off thier cars, I am on the other side. I prefer cars with good performance & dynamics. I don't care about design much. The cars I currently drive (Brio/Rapid) aren't great to look at, but they offer very good performance, dynamics, both these cars have very good engine's.
 
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That's the same reason why Hyundai's have been very successful. Design given priority over Perfomance / Dynamics.

While I'll agree that some like to show off thier cars, I am on the other side. I prefer cars with good performance & dynamics. I don't care about design much. The cars I currently drive (Brio/Rapid) aren't great to look at, but they offer very good performance, dynamics, both these cars have very good engine's.
Yes. we are on other other side. I never wanted a car which I don't like to drive and same time it should tick all other boxes too. So I chose Xcent Petrol over Diesel, as diesel lacks everything when it comes to ride/handling.

So it is like 50/50(just an assumption). Simple observation is, I can see a lot of Xcent/Verna as much as Polo/Vento. It means some do care about appearance but other do prefer performance and dynamics.
 

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