The average age of a car buyer in India has come down from 39 years to 32 years. There are now more buyers in the age group of 25-30 as well as compared to past decade, which means that there is a new generation of Indian buyers that are looking at cars as style statements along with performance and having pride of owning a car. This has led to car makers to focus more on styling and design cues in their cars with more jazzy and upbeat features in their cars.
The new Chevrolet Beat was launched with funky dashboard and a display unit that stood out on the steering wheel displaying digital information about fuel, etc. The new Ford Figo ads flaunted Bluetooth as a latest feature when the car was launched in the Indian market. Fiat Punto explicitly states that its styling was done from Italian car design studio when marketing itself in the Indian car market. Last but not the least, the latest entrant Nissan Micra speaks of the start-stop button and keyless entry in a small car that were till now features of sedans.
“We are now dealing with younger customers who are not just hugely demanding but also frequently changing cars,” says Mayank Pareek, executive director (marketing & sales) at Maruti Suzuki. “This post-liberalisation generation is willing to spend on new products and willing to experiment a lot,” he adds. Maruti has seen sales of its models such as Swift and A-Star speeding on the back of sporty design and powerful performance. This is the reason that may be the new 2011 Maruti Swift is coming with not only changes in exteriors but interiors speak of a brand new dashboard and steering mounted controls in its upgraded model next year.
