The Indian auto market sees a huge number of sales every month. While bikes have always sold in good numbers, cars too are selling well. In case of cars, what sells the most? Something that is fuel efficient, compact, reliable and offers good service. Simple. There is no other explanation needed to show why mass-market cars from Maruti and Hyundai sell so much. Since the market is maturing, manufacturers are introducing more and more niche products in India. Sports cars and electric vehicles too have been introduced by many companies.
Apart from those luxurious sports cars launched by international marques like Lamborghini and Ferrari, our desi companies too want their share of pie in the niche market. Result? The DC Avanti! The vehicle was spotted by our reader Jaymin Acharay in Bharuch. The first sports car to be developed in India by an Indian manufacturer, the Avanti will be hitting the roads very soon. While it will remain an exclusive product, would people be ready to spend so much on a new product when they can get products from top German manufacturers at the same price? Sports cars also have a far lesser practicality factor when we compare them to regular sedans and SUVs.
Let us consider electric vehicles now. Again, a desi company Mahindra launched the e2o in India. The test vehicle was spotted by our reader Piyush Chhapadia in Bangalore. This EV costs as much as a Hyundai i20 but still it is the latter which sells in huge numbers. Why? Simply because the i20 offers much more features, space and practicality than the e20 which is light and compact. Buyers also have a lingering fear about products that don’t sell in good numbers, “What if it is a bad product?”. So, even though electric cars maybe environmental friendly, they do not appeal to buyers as much as regular cars do.
The cost factor is another important thing that matters here. People are not just willing to shell out huge amounts for something that wouldn’t offer them good practicality. Apart from this, electric and sports cars come in eye-catching shapes most of the times and hence their owners get a lot of good and bad attention wherever they go.
We conclude by saying that yes sports cars and electric cars do sell in India but the numbers are very very small when compared to sales of regular cars. The country has a lot of wealth and with so many buyers of premium vehicles, it wouldn’t hurt to see more of these vehicles on the road, right? The market is slowly maturing but we are still not at a stage where we can accept sports cars and electric vehicles with full heart. Hence, we feel that electric and sports cars still cater to only a niche segment in India.
