Big is beautiful

You might not actually live it, but it is a lifestyle choice. One most certainly doesn't buy a Hummer because it gives you better mileage! So more often than not the big adventure is on congested city roads going at 30 kilometers per hour (one could think of it as a simulated off-road experience!) But that doesn't deter hardcore fans from buying these monster vehicles. So what is the grab? In the US, where the larger it is the better, automakers went as far designing utility cars to look as savage as ferocious animals with front grilles designed to look like sharp fangs and fenders to look like jaws, aggressive enough to appeal to a certain type UV personality. Here, perhaps, the SUV story is a bit more Slumdog Millionaire in nature.

According to Ashish Potdar of MarketGate Consulting, "Optimistic about the future, people want to showcase power, confidence and achievement. And cars are one way to display that sentiment." SUVs are not as much about off-road travel and aggression as they are about status and luxury. "We have seen the profile of the SUV customer changing, over the years, from a hard core off-road seeking individual to a typical urbanite, who in the past was only focused on a sedan," says a Tata Motors spokesperson.