In Indian automobile market, till now, the situation has been like where customer was preferring to spend money on fitting aftermarket accessories rather than spending money on buying a safer car.
In Indian automobile market, till now, the situation has been like where customer was preferring to spend money on fitting aftermarket accessories rather than spending money on buying a safer car. But the recent past has seen manufacturers offering safety kit as either standard offering or as an option at least. Earlier only top spec cars used to get safety features, indirectly limiting safety to people who can afford. Things started to change with rising awareness and government hinted towards building a framework to ensure safe commuting to everyone. Toyotaand Volkswagen made ABS and airbags standard across the variants long ago and recently Maruti Suzuki made it optional across all variants of almost all of its models.
We appreciate the manufacturers like Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota who made basic safety kit standard across its range. But the manufacturers who are offering it as an option, are they really delivering what they have committed? One of the hot threads at Team-BHPhas many people telling the ground reality about these ‘Optionally’ safer cars. Majority of the forum contributors are complaining about Maruti Suzukidealers deliberately diverting customers away from these ‘O’ variants. Either the customers won’t be offered with discounts or freebies, which are available on standard car, or they are made to wait for months. In majority of the cases, customer naturally opts for the standard car.
There could be two aspects to this. The situation could be like, Maruti Suzuki is trying to get fair idea of the demand for such ‘O’ variants and then decide to produce them as a routine practice. Before they get the clear picture, production of these cars might have been kept limited to ‘Made to order’ – that explains the waiting period. Regarding discounts, those are governed by stocks piled up in the inventory of a dealer or company. Usually normal variants of any car are ordered in advance and some of which are left behind in stock due to lesser demand for specific color or variant. Such cars command high discount and dealer always prefer to push them out. This explains cost benefits associated with already available regular car versus Made to Order ‘O’ cars.
On the other hand, let’s see what are the advantages associated with offering cars with such Optional safety kit equipped variant. As the government is preparing the ground for taking strong steps towards ensuring safer roads for every single car and car owner, it is expected that manufacturers will reflect the same. Taking the lead earns you extra bonus points which can be seen as quick wins in improving the brand’s image. It’s strange but it’s the fact that by making safety features optional many manufacturers suddenly start claiming that our cars are safest now. Even though the reality is that no safety feature like airbag can save you, if the structure itself is week and prone to collapsing.
We don’t intend to criticize any brand, instead we appreciate that Maruti Suzuki is not only leading on sales front but also willing to promote safety. Today almost all brands are offering every car in their portfolio with ABS and airbags, either as an option or standard fitment. Their might be several techno-commercial constraints which might be holding back some manufacturers from diving down into this completely and offer it across the range as a standard fitment itself. We appeal to every single customer out there that please understand the importance of safety and not only value your life but understand the value of other’s lives. Remember that if demand exists, supply will follow for sure. Ride safe, drive safe!
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