Friday, August 3, 2012

Are Automatic Cars The Future of Auto Industry in India


The auto industry is a swiftly advancing industry with new changes and improvements brought in daily with high investments from all ends. Each country has its unique perspective towards its auto industry and their history contributes a great deal in the kind of outlook a citizen has before buying a car. The Indian population is primarily built up by the rural population who almost have negligible part in the auto industry’s sales. The auto industry in India is nurtured and supported by the upper class, upper middle class and the emerging middle class who now seem to fancy themselves into unknown territories.
The primary investment a customer makes for a manual car in India would cost him/her Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 70,000 less, compared to an automatic car. This difference in initial price itself gives automatic cars a heavy leg as Indians are well known to be very conscious about their investments and ready to settle for anything priced lower. The next major concern on their minds is fuel efficiency of the car. On the not-so-well-known Indian roads, troubled by potholes it is impossible for any car to perform decently to be highly fuel efficient. The lag is always evident, however if manual cars are maintained and handled well, they prove to be more fuel efficient than automatic cars on highways as drivers have the full authority to push the car to its performance limits with control over the gears and the clutch.
Automatic cars spend most of its power on handling the gears and clutch while the driver just has to handle the breaks or accelerator. This consumption of power by the car to operate takes a toll on its fuel efficiency, although systemized controlling of the parts ensure long term functioning of those parts without any trouble. On a busy Indian street you’ll have to give up on fuel efficiency as both these types of cars fail to out match each other. Automatic cars provide a comfort and convenience option as the driver need not manage the gear, clutch and break at the same time on a busy road, as the car takes up these responsibilities with you just having to decide what speed to accelerate or break onto.
An interesting shift to witness is how many young Indians are trying to seek this convenience factor while driving as this eases up their responsibility and ensures a smooth ride through the city. Even the elderly in India have started to fancy automatic cars for the comfort it provides. Certain studies by Frost and Sullivan suggest that Indians are now gradually preparing themselves to shed the extra cash for comfort and like the rest of the world, will support manufacturing of more automatic cars in the future.

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