The Indian Market Vs The Meaning of Car Comfort

[Mad_over_Mercs]

I'm gonna tell you what you gain and what you lose when you buy a cheap car with android auto / apple carplay / bluetooth and other trendy features
So nowadays Indians seem to be very impressed when a car worth 6-10 Lakh offers these features .
Well , of course these cars come from reputed brands, have competitive price tags, you get super discounts and what not, but there is a very big curtain in front of the factor that allows companies to stretch their budgets so much to add these costly goodies.
Let me open that up to you part by part.

Have you ever realised why your car door never shuts with as much solidity as your older car used to?

Have you ever asked about the safety kit on your car to a dealer?

Most Indian Buyers Dont.

So the reality is that these Features are being added by omitting either necessary safety features or dropping the quality of metal sheets / primer and paint.
A fully loaded Hyundai Infotainment System costs 20-30 thousand Indian Rupees as compared to one Airbag which costs 50-60 thousand rupees when fitted from the company.
An approximate of 30 thousand rupees makes a marginal difference in total costs considering the number of cars with that infotainment system sold.
A simple example of the 2018 Elite i20.
This car gets every cosmetic feature enough to impress anyone buying a car. But as compared to its 4 Star Rating it got in 2015 with excellent remarks, the 2018 model gets a 3 star rating with a remark stating "unstable body structure" , but yet this car ends up impressing any indian buyer because it offers Apple Carplay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, Navigation and a lot more, even Side and Curtain Airbags and ABS, yet if the body structure is claimed unstable, it clearly highlights that the quality under the skin has faults in it which is even better cost wise for the company.

Car comfort isnt about cosmetic and infotainment features, folks, its about how comfortable you are to drive when you know how safe you are, it is saddening to see this state of the indian market

Do not buy a car for infotainment, cosmetics and design, but put your money to something which feels solid, has good crash test ratings and is a good mix of both features and safety!
Because after all only when you can stay safe in a car can you utilize its features.

 

[Akash1886]

I agree to your sentiments and suggestions. However, the big fat truth is, here in our market the percentage of buyers considering the safety aspect is minimal. At many discussions in our forum earlier as well the importance of safety features over cosmetic comfort has been highlighted by us all. To be honest, had our market been more matured towards safety, perhaps then the tin-can brand would have been kicked out of the country. Those swiftly selling hatchbacks scoring 0-2 star safety would have been junked forever if we as buyers would have put safety aspect above everything else.

In my case, presently, I have Tigor and Nexon. I am not sure of the Tigor's star rating but ya it has all safety features one can ask for (XZ opt) in the price and yes from the feel of it, certainly feels heavier compared to the most desired brand of India. Coming to Nexon, Well, it is all about safety in that C-SUV. Proud of myself to have owned the 4 star safety rated C-SUV which has now become the ONLY Indian Car to have 5 star safety rating. Yes, it has couple of rough edges like a loose plastic or sometimes a squeaking noise from steering but all this is still bearable if I consider the big picture i.e Safety!

Regards

Akash

 

[Mad_over_Mercs]

Thank you Akash for your valuable inputs, yes no one can doubt the Nexons safety, and the Tigors as well. This brings me to a point which I may have missed out in the thread!

In india there is a mentality that if the car is light to drive it is better to use in the city , whereas this is the bigger issue, lighter cars are more likely to be unstable , but the Dual Airbags they get woo them into buying it.
Nexon and Tigor are a great mix of safety and features, the i20 as i mentioned has Side and Curtain Airbags but the skin itself isnt rock solid, which makes the airbags redundant .

 

[ankathil.arjun]

The ignorance towards safety is not restricted to cars or road safety. In general we have lesser value for life in India.
Be it fire safety or construction safety any such things, showing any concern or taking decisions based on safety is often laughed upon.
Most of our houses dont have fire alarms, or even extinguishers.
I remember being taunted by staff when I had raised an issue that the fire extinguishers in office had expired.
While visiting construction sites, most people frown when they are asked to wear safety gear during the visit.
Taking all these things in mind, it comes as no surprise to see the lax attitude towards automotive safety, as unlike the other things, where its just simple regulations that have to be followed, here it is an expense.
When most drivers in India don't even care to wear seatbelts, expecting them to prioritize airbags over an ICE is too much. For the Indian buyers, the features is what they can see, touch and feel.
Unfortunately, the safety features are not the same, and they come into picture during accidents, which for some reason we think that we are immune to.
Our high road fatalities still don't count to most and they think that they can not get into an accident. With bigger highways, faster cars and the development, if the safety does not go hand in hand, we are certainly going to see the fatality rates go higher.

 

[Akash1886]

In india there is a mentality that if the car is light to drive it is better to use in the city , whereas this is the bigger issue, lighter cars are more likely to be unstable , but the Dual Airbags they get woo them into buying it.

Well ease of driving and the stability are two different things. Ease of driving depends on couple of factors like size of car, density of traffic and the experience of driver along with features like power steering. Coming to stability, well, it is not always that lighter cars are unstable. You can see Scorpio failing the crash test. A big factor to be considered here is the center of gravity. Big SUV(s) are also quite prone to being unstable if we consider the center of gravity part. I have always believed that a stable structure should be complemented by safety features. One should not just look at the safety features alone and should give equal importance to structure and built quality. Building a stable structure for a car is like building a stable structure for a house. Appropriate quality and quantity of required material should be used otherwise no amount of safety devices can be helpful.

Regards

Akash

 

[jagrover]

I have a Tata Tiago and it feels solid. Period ! Tata cars are now accepted across the industry as a VFM safe option. Good to be part of the movement.

 

[SilverEyez]

I'm gonna tell you what you gain and what you lose when you buy a cheap car with android auto / apple carplay / bluetooth and other trendy features
So nowadays Indians seem to be very impressed when a car worth 6-10 Lakh offers these features .
Well , of course these cars come from reputed brands, have competitive price tags, you get super discounts and what not, but there is a very big curtain in front of the factor that allows companies to stretch their budgets so much to add these costly goodies.
Let me open that up to you part by part.

Have you ever realised why your car door never shuts with as much solidity as your older car used to?

Have you ever asked about the safety kit on your car to a dealer?

Most Indian Buyers Dont.

So the reality is that these Features are being added by omitting either necessary safety features or dropping the quality of metal sheets / primer and paint.
A fully loaded Hyundai Infotainment System costs 20-30 thousand Indian Rupees as compared to one Airbag which costs 50-60 thousand rupees when fitted from the company.
An approximate of 30 thousand rupees makes a marginal difference in total costs considering the number of cars with that infotainment system sold.
A simple example of the 2018 Elite i20.
This car gets every cosmetic feature enough to impress anyone buying a car. But as compared to its 4 Star Rating it got in 2015 with excellent remarks, the 2018 model gets a 3 star rating with a remark stating "unstable body structure" , but yet this car ends up impressing any indian buyer because it offers Apple Carplay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, Navigation and a lot more, even Side and Curtain Airbags and ABS, yet if the body structure is claimed unstable, it clearly highlights that the quality under the skin has faults in it which is even better cost wise for the company.
View attachment 251946

Car comfort isnt about cosmetic and infotainment features, folks, its about how comfortable you are to drive when you know how safe you are, it is saddening to see this state of the indian market

Do not buy a car for infotainment, cosmetics and design, but put your money to something which feels solid, has good crash test ratings and is a good mix of both features and safety!
Because after all only when you can stay safe in a car can you utilize its features.

Agree with your point of view, but the NCAP ratings and other safety features,which was unheard of a decade ago maybe or available with only the super premium cars, are just gaining momentum in the Indian market. Slowly Indian buyers will get aware of all this and consider it before their final decision.

Do not buy a car for infotainment, cosmetics and design, but put your money to something which feels solid, has good crash test ratings and is a good mix of both features and safety!
Because after all only when you can stay safe in a car can you utilize its features.

An Alto/Kwid/Eon buyer can never consider all the above factors,solely because the manufacturer can never provide the above factors in the price range of the mentioned cars
First thing a buyer gets attracted to is the EXTERIOR LOOKS, and then the other criteria follows.
eg:
Kwid : The design just floored the buyers of ALTO, still a success
Verna : Again the design and loaded features attracting buyers
Nexon: The futuristic design just changed the fortunes of Tata Motors,similar to what Sumo did long back.

 

[vijay_968]

If majority Indians and Govt preferred "safety to convenience of traveling", there won't be these many two wheelers on Indian roads. In a Twitter poll conducted by Ford India in May 2017, 70% of the respondents did not consider safety features before buying a car . Why ?

A first time car buyer JUST wants a "convenient mode of travel with good FE", within their budget. Then "Mirchi-Nimbu-kaala thread-Prayer" Combo is understood to be doing overtime Duty. If more money is available, a variant with typical creature comforts like "Music System, AC, Power windows, Multi-info display, Audio/Phone Controls on Steering, Reverse Camera" is chosen. Mine is NOT the fully loaded top end, but just "EX version"... Even in this, whatever creature comforts one wants are mostly present; from the "auto dimming IRVM to reversing Camera to audio/Ph controls on steering to multi-info display blah blah blah". It is pretty nice to have certain features in the Car

Good news is that "all cars manufactured in India after 1st July 2019 will come equipped with airbags, seat-belt reminders, alert systems for speed beyond 80 kph, reverse parking sensors and manual override over the central locking system for emergencies". The speed alarm will activate once the car crosses 80 kph. It'll grow sharper when the speed exceeds 100 kph and will be constant after 120 kph. This will make cars costlier, but much much safer. One primarily needs to be alive to enjoy the benefits due to FE.

@SilverEyez : Your comments on the "looks department" are 100% correct. Back in Dec 2012, as my family watched the Verna arriving for TD, Verna sold itself . It was also rated 5 Stars in Australian NCAP, in 2011. Looks, Features, Power, Safety .... Ahhhhhh

 

[AbhisekVerma]

One airbag costs 50K rupees??? Never. Mostly cost of 2 airbags to the company is around 10-12K rupees. Airbags costs are now reduced so much that most of the manufacturers put it across all variants without any substantial increase in price. But more than airbag I value the build quality of the vehicle and this is where Tata has been remarkable now. The heavy bonnet, thick metal, heavy doors that shut with a thud even in Tiago inspires phenomenal confidence in us. Most of the cars below 12L have 2 airbags only which are helpful only in front impact on the grill. If the impact is directly on the A pillar airbags won't even save you. Side impact, car getting upside down no use of airbags (front). People die even when airbags are inflated in most of the major accidents. So suggest buying a car with good strong build quality. Recently I sat in my colleague's baleno and it was a scary experience. The doors felt like made of plastic, it was so damn light. The back door was rattling like it was 10yrs old, on top of them all complete black plastics look aweful. But yes people would prefer it as its a MS.

 

[Mad_over_Mercs]

Sir, my research says that one airbag fitted from the COMPANY costs 50k , and from outside around 5-10 K and yes only if the built is strong does it add to serving the purpose of a car :)