Hi,

A friend of mine who is an avid blogger just showed me the blogs he has been writing. He has been receiving some awesome responses on the blogs he has written. I went through some of his blogs and I must admit they were pretty well composed. So I thought even I’ll give this a try. So it is Hello Blog World! I’ll write about the topic I am most passionate about – ‘Cars’.

I am from India. Though the past two decades have totally transformed the Indian automotive industry. What was a seed has now become a plant ongoing to become a tree. I distinctly remember that when my father wanted to purchase a new car some 20 years back, we had just 2 cars to choose from (a Maruti 800 and a Fiat). I will hardly call it a choice, so would you! After 20 years now it’s time again to buy our 4th car. But this time the dilemma is which one to go in for. The market is flooded with so many options.

First venture was Hindustan Motors with their hercules models Ambassador and Contessa. Then came the Italians with Fiat in collaboration with an Indian firm. Then came the mighty Japanese, then the Americans and now the whole world is trying to tap into the potential of this market. You have Honda’s, Toyota’s and Suzuki’s competing with Chevy’s, Ford’s, Fiat’s, Hyundai’s. Still you can see those gaps with brands like Citroen, Mazda, Nissan and the likes shying away.

One of the things I rue is that the cars are so damn expensive in this part of the world. I don’t know why the government is not paying heed to the Indian who wants to own an equally good set of wheels as his counterpart anywhere else. If you earn well, it will get you to spend your 1-2 years salary in full to buy a decent set of wheels. Compare it with the situation where the same car is available at 5-10 times lower price elsewhere in the world. How would you feel after dogging the whole day at work just like anybody else, paying humongous amounts as taxes, and then driving back in a rotten old box of steel. As if the pun didn’t end here the government comes forward to play its role. It has made the taxation system of India one of the most brutal than anywhere else in the world. And with each passing year it is topping the charts as the back-breaker of a normal man.

I consider people in developed nations lucky. They have so many brands, and yet so many models to choose from. In fact I consider myself unlucky that I have not even seen half of the major brands here in India. Indians don’t realize this but we are missing on all the action that is happening upfront. Automotive sports are so much a reality which Indians have not fully woken up to yet. Americans have invented drag racing, the Japs invented drift racing. And it ends up boosting the economy of the country. The more viewership you have, the more likeminded people get together, the more sponsors gather. Can an average Indian think of buying a car and using it for this? Do I need to answer this?

But things are about to take a 180 degree angle from now onwards with all the major brands now starting to make themselves available. The used cars market is pumped with all sorts of cars at a low price. There were days when as a kid I used to dream when I would be able to see a two door model vrooming past in front of me. It was considered an exotica! And now it was yesterday only when I saw someone driving past me in a Mercedes Benz SLK. The plans are coming up for construction of a world class F1 circuit being built near the capital. The winds are changing and there’s light showing at the other end of this dark hollow. Till then it remains the ‘Indian Dream‘.

- An Indian who is keeping his fingers crossed.

PS: I’d like to hear comments from like-minded Indians.