Several car manufacturers have gradually introduced distinct features, that are traditionally only seen in luxury vehicles, on models which are smaller and more affordable, to attract consumers. The premiumcharacteristics could be widely classified in terms of stability, connectivity, interior, exterior, motor, and transmission.
Although safety features such as the ABS, airbags, rear-park sensors, and others are subject to regulatory specifications for passenger vehicles, a variety of options have been lined up by many car manufacturers under other heads. Last week, the Kia SUV Sonet was introduced in 17 different models, with two diesel engines and two petrol engines, five transmission options distributed across two trimming tiers – the Tech Line (Tech Line) and the G TT-Line (GT Line). Companies such as Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Kia Motor, Honda Motor India, MG Motor, Tata Motors Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra LTD, and others are becoming more and more dependent on providing connectivity based mobile apps.
“People pay for anything on the dashboard and not just things below the hood”, said Som Kapoor, partner, car company EY India. He added that Indian buyers have a kind of cell telephone obsession, hence connective features in a car are their top priority. “R&D investments on the dashboard are noticeable and that is what we are told about by the latest releases,” he said. Hyundai and MG Motor launched their respective sports utility vehicles – Hector and Venue – last year with a number of communication features early on. To attract consumers, the two companies delivered integrated eSim and cloud-based voice recognition services.
Although MG Motor’s Hector brought these characteristics into the sub-15 lakh range for the first time, Hyundai took a step forward in offering the same features in his compact SUV venue, called Bluelink, for its sub-10 lakh range. Bluelink of Hyunday provided remote automotive management, including start / stop the engine, AC on/off switch, geo-fencing, car theft monitoring, and recovery immobilization. The passers can only open and close the sunroof with the voice order, or access cricket details in real-time. In June, Honda unveiled its iconic mid-size of Sedan City, a fifth-generation equipped with remote Alexa technology.
According to Gaurav Vangaal, partner director at IHS Markit for Light Vehicle Development, while MG Motor has generated a lot of interest with offers around Internet connectivity in motion, connected car features are now just as safety features across most cars.
