Think small? Perhaps not. Big is beautiful as Indian car buyers look the SUV way
Smaller cars are convenient and comfortable but he still wishes to own a long, a big car which can boost his ego... a hatch does not satisfy his ego. He wants to constantly move up in life..." These are the last few lines of a recent study by global market research company, Synovate. This consumer is not content riding a sedan. He needs a bigger beast, a beefy SUV.
A minute's stop at a red light in the country's major cities, and you will find yourself looking up at the driver in the car next to you - that is of course if you aren't in an SUV yourself. Auto-experts will tell you the term Sports Utility Vehicle has been, and is still abused, to mean everything from a four-wheel drive to a crossover - that's designed like a car but has features borrowed from the traditional SUV. As a matter of convenience for this story we shall call them SUVs - that's the word on the street.
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A car with its spiritual roots in the Jeep and marries the family orientation of a station wagon with butch looks and rebellious independence of offroaders and pickups. But indeed the SUV is no truck. Lumberjack sat not in the front seat; instead it's the soccer-mom with carpools and parent-teacher meetings to attend who took the steering of an SUV. It's the car that takes the entire family, including Mojo the cat and Sumo the dog, to places outside the city for weekend getaways.
In fact it's also the car that takes you to the neighborhood multiplex, or for a night out, hopping or rather, cruising from one pub to another. Just to highlight the nature of the beast today, take the latest blitzkrieg of Volkswagen ads for its premium SUV to hit roads by the end of this year. Next to a picture of the car scaling snow clad peaks are these lines, 'The Touareg can take you across countries in a weekend. Or just to your neighborhood cinema, if you so wish.' SUPER SIZE ME