Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, has requested the federal government to rethink the obligatory six airbags rule as it can harm the small automotive market, which is already shrinking. Speaking to PTI, Maruti Suzuki India’s Chairman, RC Bhargava, defined that this transfer can additional harm jobs within the trade.
The authorities, earlier this 12 months, introduced that each one passenger automobiles should have a minimal of six airbags as customary. While this isn’t a priority for some carmakers comparable to Toyota, who already provide six airbags, it can harm entry-level automotive gross sales.
To incorporate six airbags, say in a small automotive such because the Maruti Suzuki Alto, the carmaker must re-engineer the automotive to accommodate six airbags. Additional sensors may even should be included. This will end in vehicles turning into dearer by round Rs 20,000.
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The extra Rs 20,000 will not be a lot for vehicles that fall within the Rs 10 lakh and above finances, as prospects will see this as a value-addition. However, for these prospects trying to improve to an entry-level automotive from bikes, this shall be a premium to pay.
Also, the added worth for small vehicles will place them a phase larger, taking them out of attain for a lot of patrons. In such a case, carmakers might discontinue fashions such because the Alto, however it can take away an enormous chunk of gross sales for carmakers.
The earlier norms launched by the federal government of creating one airbag obligatory in 2019, adopted by two obligatory airbags in 2021, and the enormous leap from BS-IV to BS-VI has made vehicles costly, to not point out the three-year insurance coverage rule harm automotive gross sales. The Covid pandemic introduced automotive gross sales to a halt in 2020, whereas the chip scarcity was the fly within the ointment.
Road and passenger security features must be thought-about, provided that our highways now have larger velocity limits. We may even want to contemplate if we’d like gross sales or safer roads for occupants and different customers alike.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”