Year 2019, month January. What we witnessed was the launch of a beast, built by an indian company, the TATA HARRIER. The Harrier was based on Land Rover platform D8, a legendary platform used to build cars like Range Rover Evoque, Discovery Sport, and Jaguar E-Pace, and came at a really affordable price ranging from 13 to 20 lakhs approx. And we also saw what was expected, a huge demand of the Beast. But we also saw what was seriously unexpected, a sharp fall in its sales.
Now comes Morris Garages into play. Owned by a chinese car maker, it brought its first product in june, the MG HECTOR. It was a totally new brand and it was expected that people will hesitate to buy from a new-comer. And we were wrong. It quickly outshined the Beast, and other already in the market like Jeep Compass or XUV 500. Reason- it's a human thing. The car came with lots of connectivity features like turning on or off AC, switching on or off the engine from your smart phone, advanced AI enabled voice control, a huge touch screen infotainment system, and the biggest highlight being its panoramic sunroof which opens up completely from the start to the end of the car roof. It was selling three times the Harrier.
But the biggest surprise was yet to come. It was a korean company- Kia Motors and the first car was- the badass KIA SELTOS. The car was truly a badass whether in terms of the offerings or the sales it procured. From one car only, Kia Motors took care of customers with budget ariund 11 lakhs and also with the budget 20 lakhs. This car also had connected app features and a sunroof. But the features didn't stop there. It offered lots of electronic gizmos like ventillated seats from luxury cars or ambient mood lighting or a sunroof or a huge touch screen infotainment system. The car was sling around 10 to 12 times Harrier was selling.
So now the real question arises- do we actually need these electronic gadgets in a machine which is supposed to provide the driving experience of the greatest form. Well this might not be important for the rest of the passengers, but here is the thing, if we used cars or bikes just to go from point A to B, then there would have been no need to build an 8 or 12 cylinder car. Instead we would have a 1000cc engine with a sunroof and a huge touch screen infotainment system. Now i agree that connected app feature is good for security, but there is a reason why the German car-makers, famous for building safest cars, are not using this tech, for a risk of getting hacked.
Cars are mechanical machines (atleast before we have electric ones). And some electronics do help in enhancing its function like ESP modes or tyre pressure monitor or reverse parking sensors and camera, these are some components that help in enhancing your driving pleasure, while they cannot just replace mechanical components, for example giving a front wheel drive SUV with esp modes will not make it a 4×4 SUV.
What Harrier faced was something it shouldn't. A great car with the Range Rover pedigree, being defeated by cars with electronic gizmos, shows what the customers desire. They can compromise with awesome driving pleasure for a sunroof, choosing ignorance over practicality. All of this worries me a lot, and brings me to a very sad and disappointing conclusion that in India a car without engine but with a sunroof can sell, and that too in huge numbers.
Now comes Morris Garages into play. Owned by a chinese car maker, it brought its first product in june, the MG HECTOR. It was a totally new brand and it was expected that people will hesitate to buy from a new-comer. And we were wrong. It quickly outshined the Beast, and other already in the market like Jeep Compass or XUV 500. Reason- it's a human thing. The car came with lots of connectivity features like turning on or off AC, switching on or off the engine from your smart phone, advanced AI enabled voice control, a huge touch screen infotainment system, and the biggest highlight being its panoramic sunroof which opens up completely from the start to the end of the car roof. It was selling three times the Harrier.
But the biggest surprise was yet to come. It was a korean company- Kia Motors and the first car was- the badass KIA SELTOS. The car was truly a badass whether in terms of the offerings or the sales it procured. From one car only, Kia Motors took care of customers with budget ariund 11 lakhs and also with the budget 20 lakhs. This car also had connected app features and a sunroof. But the features didn't stop there. It offered lots of electronic gizmos like ventillated seats from luxury cars or ambient mood lighting or a sunroof or a huge touch screen infotainment system. The car was sling around 10 to 12 times Harrier was selling.
So now the real question arises- do we actually need these electronic gadgets in a machine which is supposed to provide the driving experience of the greatest form. Well this might not be important for the rest of the passengers, but here is the thing, if we used cars or bikes just to go from point A to B, then there would have been no need to build an 8 or 12 cylinder car. Instead we would have a 1000cc engine with a sunroof and a huge touch screen infotainment system. Now i agree that connected app feature is good for security, but there is a reason why the German car-makers, famous for building safest cars, are not using this tech, for a risk of getting hacked.
Cars are mechanical machines (atleast before we have electric ones). And some electronics do help in enhancing its function like ESP modes or tyre pressure monitor or reverse parking sensors and camera, these are some components that help in enhancing your driving pleasure, while they cannot just replace mechanical components, for example giving a front wheel drive SUV with esp modes will not make it a 4×4 SUV.
What Harrier faced was something it shouldn't. A great car with the Range Rover pedigree, being defeated by cars with electronic gizmos, shows what the customers desire. They can compromise with awesome driving pleasure for a sunroof, choosing ignorance over practicality. All of this worries me a lot, and brings me to a very sad and disappointing conclusion that in India a car without engine but with a sunroof can sell, and that too in huge numbers.
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