Cruise Control

Says Sulajja Firodia Motwani, joint managing director, Kinetic Motor Company, 8220;We were pretty hesitant about launching an expensive lifestyle motorcycle, but gauging the response, we think we could have sold well over a thousand.8221;

The Aquila8217;s case, a bike costing as much as a Maruti 800, is very much niche, but in a sense, it8217;s also an indicator of urban India8217;s growing preoccupation with automobiles.

Take another example of a company called 3M. Even five years back, you8217;d have been considered slightly kinky if you told somebody that you8217;ve just given your car for an 8216;interior enrichment8217; programme. But this is just one among the company8217;s car beautification, anti-ageing packages available at its over 100 centres. 8220;The response has been pretty good and it8217;s not just from the luxury buyers. We will soon launch our boutiques in all the metros,8221; says Mumbai head Deepak Patkar.

While experts don8217;t tire of pointing out the sheer choices available and changes in the sector, the corollaries of better awareness and low finance rates are making a boom time even better.

Says Mohan J Mariwala, managing director of Auto Hangar, which has Mercedes-Benz and Honda dealerships, 8220;People are upgrading much faster these days, especially in the upper end of the market. Earlier, it was 4-7 years but now, it8217;s no more than three.8221;

And it8217;s not just restricted to the luxury rides. According to a Maruti official, 8220;The EMI per lakh on a seven-year loan is just Rs 1,700. And after our tie-ups with nationalised banks, most of our customers were those who would otherwise have opted for a bike.8221;

If faster upgrades are on the upswing, so is the rapid filling of niches, the latest among them being sport utility vehicles or SUVs, with a sprinkling of multi-utility vehicles thrown in. The next year and a half could see as many as six being launched. 8220;There is a lot more activity after the success of the Mahindra Scorpio,8221; says Hormazd Sorabjee, editor, Autocar India.

Also, says Vinay Piparsania, director, corporate affairs, Ford India, which recently launched its Endeavour SUV, 8220;There8217;s an increasing number of luxury car buyers opting for an SUV.8221; Like Mumbai-based Anita Shirodkar, 42, who went in for the recently-launched Hyundai Terracan. 8220;We basically needed a big spacious car for the family, which would be driven around mainly in the city,8221; says Shirodkar, who shares the car with her husband. Another visible trend, say observers, is of special lifestyle editions or models with a limited production run, much like the Kinetic Aquila. Two-door cars such as Maruti8217;s Zen Carbon and Steel models, aimed squarely at single men and women, are all sold out.

And lifestyle products needn8217;t be too expensive. The Yamaha Enticer, which sold some 5,000 units a month on launch around a year back and still boasts decent figures, is priced around Rs 50,000. This is notwithstanding experts who will tell you that the Enticer, with its leather add-ons, easy-rider attitude etc, is more show than go. 8220;The initial demand, some 5,000 a month, for the Enticer was entirely unexpected,8221; says Lokesh Malhotra, chief manager, marketing, Yamaha Motor India.

Automakers are also finding a significant shift in colour preferences, fuelled by younger buyers, and other social fads that have their say in the choice of colour. The once-taboo black now accounts for 10 per cent of Honda8217;s and over 30 per cent of Ford India8217;s upper-end and luxury car sales. 8220;Our buyers are mostly young and we even celebrate the colour in our ads,8221; says Piparsania.

According to a Hyundai Motor India spokesperson, there8217;s this openness towards newer colours like the recently launched bright green 8216;Forest Dew8217;. 8220;The Forest Dew Santro Xing met with a great initial response, but our buyers8217; all-time favourite across the range is silver, apparently due to its Feng Shui friendliness. Forty per cent of our cars are sold in this colour,8221; he says. A Maruti official adds that metallic colours are favourites these days as one moves up the range. While half the 800s and Omnis sold are still in white, Maruti8217;s other cars such as the Wagon R etc, are preferred in metallic shades, the most popular among them again being silver.

The desire to experiment extends to the interiors as even mid-range car buyers are getting into the game of outfitting their cars with all-leather upholstery, mini-refrigerators, LCD monitors, and DVD and MP3 players.

According to an official at Nippon Audiotronix, which markets Kenwood car music systems and Nippon security systems, 8220;Our top-end CD system, costing about Rs 44,000, is among the best-sellers. We8217;ve been experiencing double digit growth for quite some time.8221;

Says Puneet Sehra, who runs Sherling Skins in Delhi, 8220;We import leather for brands like Volvo, BMW and Pajero to further do up the interiors. And we8217;re also seeing an increasing number of Honda City, Mitsubishi Lancer customers opting for the same.8221; All-leather interior furbishings, says Sehra, start at Rs 22,000 and can go all the way up to a lakh.

And since most of these services are only available in the grey market, manufacturers like Tata Motors are taking it on themselves to launch fully-kitted out cars. The Safari Limited Edition 2003 is doodad dump, and contains, among a thousand other things, a Sony PlayStation, two LCD monitors, head phones, a refrigerator and even a reversing camera. The company, which launched the Rs 11 lakh limited edition eight months back, has all but sold its entire range.

Says Safari owner TP George, 44, who runs a carrying and forwarding business in Mumbai, 8220;I travel a lot with my family, and the luxurious interiors help in keeping us comfortable. Moreover, with the kind of features it offers, I thought it was great value for money. My children absolutely plumped for the PlayStation, DVD player etc.8221;

With inputs from Jaya Basu in New Delhi