CARMAKERS – the century that went by

The only other things which wow men apart from beautiful women are cars. And why not! The latest models boast of power, speed and are curvy, attractive and elegant too.

But how were they when they came into existence way back in the 19th century?












Invention of automobile is largely credited to Carl Benz and of production to Henry Ford. The snapshot of development of the cars along the lines of the century can be depicted as follows:
1899: FIAT formed
1902: Mercedes registered
1906: Alpha Romeo was born under the name SIAD
1908: GM was formed in USA when when William C. (Billy) Durant brought Oldsmobile and Buick together to form General Motors Company. A year later, Cadillac and Oakland (which became Pontiac in 1932) marques joined General Motors
1909: Bugatti built his first car
1913: Aston Martin found under name Bamford and Martin
1919: Bentley found
1922: Jaguar found under name of Swallow Sidecar Company
1925: Chrysler founded
1931: Bentley taken over by Rolls Royce
1937: Volkswagen formed to develop German People’s Car
1948: Porsche’s first car rolled out
1955: Suzuki’s first car rolled out
1965: VW bought Audi
1969: Ferrari joined FIAT group
1993: Maserati bought by FIAT group
1998: Bentley bought by VW
1998: Bugatti name bought by VW
2002: Bentley became fully VW and Rolls Royce become BMW

With the Audis, Mercs, RRs, Porsches filling in the automobile market, the old Ford models soon became things of stone-age and basic purpose of a car changed from “a means of transport” to “a mean power machine used for transport, race with elements of style, sexiness and power embedded in it”.

CAR PURCHASE DILEMMA

Are you thinking of buying a new car? If yes, then probably you are suffering from this dilemma. After all, as experts say, a car purchase is the 2nd most emotional investment after a house deal in a person's life. In spite of the dilemma that exists behind this emotional purchase, a lot of logical reasoning also exists.

Let's see if we can simplify the dilemma a bit by gauging the parameters that usually impact the purchase decision:
1. Price
Tentatively fix your budget. It can be 5-6 lacs or 8-9 lacs. Otherwise you will likely be confused with the plethora of features & offers that are presently making rounds in the market. More importantly, fix the initial down payment that you can afford and the monthly EMI that can be borne by you.

2. Schemes & Offers
DON'T GET HITCHED BY ANY SPECIFIC SCHEME OR OFFER FROM ANY COMPANY.
This is because the schemes run throughout the year with minor variation between the peak season and off-peak season. So don't let your purchase decision get influenced by a temporary scheme. After all, it's a long term investment and don't let a few thousands of savings in short term sway your decision. An example:

3. Brand
This is quite an important element of the purchase decision. Who would like to buy a brand that has minimal presence in the market? Unless obviously you work in that company or you are supremely confident of the product. This factor basically helps you give importance to an emotional attachment / perception about a particular company / brand during the car purchase.

4. Product
This should be the most important element of the purchase decision. Everything else comes after this. Product means- car specifications, engine specifications, performance & mileage. Some of the major points to look within this are:
a. Power (@ which rpm is important; 87bhp@6000 rpm is not better than 87bhp@4000 rpm coz usually we do not drive at more than 4000 rpm)--> This gives an indication to the car's speed
b. Torque --> This gives an indication to the car's pulling power and hence the pickup effect
c. Physical dimensions --> Make a comparative study of all vehicles in your consideration set regarding the physical dimensions. This will give an overview of the space inside the cabin, ground clearance, road grip (from tyre size)
d. Weight --> Though kerb weight is not very important but heavier vehicles are definitely more safer ones on the road and give better ride comfort at higher speeds (e.g. the FIAT's. TATA's & SKODA's)
e. Mileage --> Make it a point to check the SIAM Fuel Economy Certificate and don't go by the words of the Sales Executive

5. Service Network
Believe me, this is important. If a city boasts of 1-2 service centers, then it is definitely not a great thing unless the center is right next to your home / office. You might go out of town for work or pleasure; you might even change cities. What is important then is the network of service centers across the country.

6. Car Features
Car features are important. Gone are the days when u used to get only the bland car without even a music system. Features have gone high tech these days with ABS, Airbags, ESP's, steering mounted controls, tiltable steering, adjustable seats, follow me home lamps, blue & me technology, etc etc.

7. Aesthetics
If you have a lady around you during the purchase decision, you will realize the importance of this point. From color to looks, everything that cannot be explained on paper, falls under this category.

That's it!

Don't go what you friend suggests. Think yourself. After all, it's your bloody hard earned money. Take a knowledgeable decision. All the Best!

Novelty factor or Brand Pull ruling Indian Car Market?

Toyota Etios launch saw an overwhelming booking response from India. So did Maruti Swift (2011), Volkswagen Vento, Tata Indica Vista (2011). Does this phenomenon hint at something big!

Yes, its the brand pull and novelty factor. These vehicles are good but so are scores of others that are their in the market and that also in the same segment. Why aren't people going for those? Gone are the days when a brand will run successfully for more than a decade and still hold its novelty factor. These days, a model / brand becomes old / jaded only after 6 months - 1 year of successful running. This is a disturbing trend indeed. Companies will then look to recover the costs in shorter period, thus hitting the price accelerator a bit hard. Old car market will revive though and contribute a lot more to the annual car sales market. Its not a fancy world as you can comfortably find 2010 models in the used car domain now in the 3rd quarter of 2011. Its good for people who need a vehicle but cannot afford a brand new vehicle. According to industry estimates, the used car market, which is currently around 18 lakh units a year, is expected to clock anywhere between 20% and 25% growth in the next five years, vrooming beyond the 40-lakh mark by 2015. Of this, the organized sector is likely to clock a 35-40% growth. This exposes one thing for the auto manufacturers - bring new models into the market as fast as possible. Else they will stay behind.

Its a situation like this that challenges the brand pull of a company. Maruti Suzuki, by virtue of a string of successful products in the past, still manages to maintain that pull in the market. New 2011 Swift, even though its not hugely different from the previous one, managed to garner some much-needed support from public. Whereas Mahindra Verito made huge waves in the market but the final response was pretty lacklustre. Technical reliability and service support are two main things that go towards building a brand. Foreign companies coming into India have high brand pull but thats entirely based on the technical reliability. Once their service support also gears up, perhaps these companies will then be a force to reckon with. Till that time, the Indian companies have opportunity to strengthen their service network and technical reliability.

So i have a feeling that the Indian Car Industry will see a new models / variant every month going forward. And the Indian companies will look to expand their network base to strengthen their foothold in this country.