Big Bang Theory

Amitabh Bachchan wore those long big trousers; Abhishek brought it to the tight and fit jeans category; now the old bells are doing the rounds again. The fully covered attire gained popularity among women in the 80’s. A decade later, lesser the better became the mantra. Now, high waist and long frocks seems to be doing great. Take the case of food. People never bothered really about their diet and about getting fit and slim. Eat well, stay happy. Then we started to adopt the nutritional diet philosophy. So that the men can boast of their packs and the ladies can flaunt their curves. Well show-off hasn’t come down but they eat properly these days. They just do more exercise now to compensate. So clearly the cycle has come to the starting point again.

Tata Sierra : India's first SUV/MUV. No its not Safari and Sumo

Unless you happen to be a historian, the chances of you thinking about a car beyond 1950 are less. So the first car that set India rolling is the Ambassador. It’s big, comfortable and can seat five people easily. The first name that comes to mind when we mention Indian automobile company would be TATA Motors. And guess what. The first car that they offered: Tata Sierra – a big and bold vehicle.  This happened in the early 90’s. Then a certain Maruti 800 came over and the Indian market has since been the Mecca of small cars. For almost two decades now, the small and compact ruled the R&D minds.

Well, all that’s now past tense. The fact that in Sep-Oct only one small car was launched as against half a dozen SUV’s/MUV’s stand testimony to this fact. There are a lot more utility vehicles available now than what one would have predicted two years back. Lot of experts said that the launches at the Auto Expo were just a hype to show that the manufacturers have joined the band wagon. Well that certainly ain’t true now is it? M&M has its share from scorpio, bolero, xylo, quanto, XUV 500 and Tata from Sumo, Safari, Aria. Then the outsiders had their shot too with Duster, Koleos, Yeti, Innova, Ertiga, Fortuner, and Endeavour. Every manufacturer in the country seems to be in the hunt to get their share of some utility pie. They do realise the potential that’s at stake and the profit that will follow not just because it a little expensive than the smaller cars, but they also sell in big number. Something that’s really set the industrialists, even the manufacturers themselves confused.

Its all show off; but a very worthy contender

So what is it that made the Indian minds ponder on their tried and tested small car purchase ideology?  One. It ll make you look powerful and rich (stop frowning, that is the first reason). Two. It’s a diesel. 90% of all the SUV’s sold here are diesel and that obviously translates to reduced fuel and maintenance cost. Three. It can carry an XL sized family between cities easily without you hiring a Travera or Innova cab. Even Sedans can do that efficiently?? Please goto Point One. And this does not hint at the end of small car market in India. It is just that the disparity in petrol and diesel prices has gone up and there are not too many options in the entry level segment offering a diesel engine. So until you can afford a Figo/Swift/i20/Fabia, you were left with little choice if you wanted to avoid petrol. But experts say once the petrol prices stabilises and diesel prices starts to rise, people will move back to small petrol vehicles.

Big and heavy at an affordable price

Pretty good; but Duster + 10L? hmmm

I personally feel the future of big wheels is converging to the 7-11 Lakh range. And the more features per car per rupee per fuel that a company can offer, the more they are bound to get back.  Tata have a decent contender with the Safari/Aria. But these do not seem to be covering grounds. They need something more contemporary and SUV-ish. The ruggedness of Safari with the upmarket goodies of the Aria. Scale it down to the compact SUV league and it should do well, coz pricing has not really been a problem for Tata and M&M. M&M itself has the biggest backyard with the most offerings in here. The Bolero and scorpio that’s been there for a long time now while Xylo and Quanto for the MUV lovers. But M&M’s real hero has to be the XUV 500. That to me is the near perfect mix of how to make your buyers happy. The Renault Duster is another great deal at offer for consumers. The biggest setback for Renault would be how on earth they would intend to boost the sales of Koleos when customers can get pretty much everything they need in a Duster. Honestly I am looking forward to that one vehicle from Toyota. A Toyota Ginua (Yes, I made up that name). A compact SUV, diesel engine, and good looks. The low end Toyota cars offered here are just mediocre in the appeal factor. But when it comes to SUVs, they do have a legacy that they can boast off (Read Land Cruiser, Fortuner). At around 10L, you get a brawn friendly body with the reliability of a Toyota. Hope the Japanese sense the need of the hour.

India is just a part of the revolution. This change has been happening everywhere. The best-selling Porsche car in history is the Cayenne SUV. Yes it is sad that one of the greatest sport car manufacturers have the top spot reserved for an SUV (an ugly one at that). But the fact remains that if you need Euros to go in smoothly, you need a vehicle that will sell in numbers. And being cheaper and utilitarian than its sporty siblings it was easy to see the sales dept’s smile when you tell them the math and numbers that the Cayenne will bring in. In fact the Cayenne has sort of set the rules among the big league names entering SUV segment. Following its super success, fellow iconic brands, Bentley and Maserati have already started investing big on their own SUV. Hell even Lambo have set foot in this territory. Yeah, we do know none of these may even bother to challenge the capabilities of the old school granddaddy of SUVs, but even the Land Rover would love some competition.

We are now witnessing the biggest transformation in Indian car market. 2012 will be the year not when the world ends, but the year when a new life begins. A new chapter with a lot of offerings is now part of the history book. Let’s wait and see how the story unfolds. Will the big and strong hero survive the test of time or will he perish in the aftermath of all the hype that surrounds him. Only time will tell. Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai have a point to prove. Can these two small car superpowers challenge the strength and might of the SUVs? If you can’t beat them, join them. Maruti Suzuki already seemed to have got the hang of it.