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IN TOP GEAR OF HYDERABADI CARS
By M H AHSAN
If you thought that almost every second car on the city’s roads sported the yellow coloured T/R number plate, you aren’t off the mark in believing that car sales in Hyderabad have shot up like never before. On a wet and windy late evening last week, as people rushed from work to the safety of their homes, a few were seen beaming outside a car showroom in Banjara Hills. Soon, five cars gift-wrapped in red ribbons rolled out elegantly on the rain soaked road and the car dealer wincing in the rain shook hands with the latest additions to his ever-expanding customer base. The smile on his face said it all— business was never so good.
Hyderabad is vrooming to be part of the country’s fastest growing car markets, a change it has seen in less than two years. Last year, the Regional Transport Authority recorded an almost 22 per cent rise in the number of new vehicles in the city, a sharp rise from the average annual growth of about 15 per cent that the city’s car marker reported until the year 2005.
The last one year, in particular, has been the most significant for the city’s roads — from traffic snarls and futile attempts of widening them to flyovers and increasing congestion — the city has seen it all. But, what the city is witnessing the most is the sudden spurt of cars bearing the yellow T/R (temporary registration) number plate, proud new owners manoeuvring their flashing assets through Hyderabad’s worsening traffic.
Until 2005, Hyderabad’s car market was lagging behind Ahmedabad which had a growth rate of 21 per cent. “Ludhiana and Coimbatore recorded a growth of 24 per cent each when Hyderabad’s annual growth was between 15 and 17 per cent,’’ says Sugata Sen of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), adding that growth in Hyderabad was pretty average.
No longer so. This could well be the car market’s bull period in the city of Nizams with more Hyderabadis preferring the comfort of a four-wheeler than trudging to work on their bikes. Companies in Hyderabad are no longer test driving in this region with their figures moving skywards now. While Maruti witnessed a growth of 28 per cent in the financial year of 2006-07 over the previous year, Hyundai hit a jackpot with a 49 per cent percentage growth in sale in the calendar year of 2006 as against a growth of 28 per cent in the calendar year of 2005.
While car dealers attribute it to lower interest rates on car loans and excise deduction among factors for this upward trend, companies point out that now there is a wider variety to choose from and that the car market in general is doing well in most cities owing to the variations on existing models and the new products launched in the market. For instance, the LPG version of Wagon R and Omni have contributed to their improved sales, say industry observers. While Wagon R’s growth has been 77 per cent over last year, Omni’s growth is pegged at 38 per cent in the city.
Interestingly, however, it is not only the small car segment that is booming currently. Hyderabadis have not only graduated from two-wheelers to four-wheelers but are crossing segments much sooner than they did before. More Hyderabadis are going for big cars. The Rs 5 to Rs 12 lakh car segment, for instance, is at its best right now, with sales of cars in this segment having doubled, say industry observers. They point out that this segment is witnessing its best growth in Andhra Pradesh at this point in time. Toyota’s Innova, for instance, has shown a jump of 33 per cent over last year.
“They are crossing from a Rs two lakh car to a Rs 10 lakh bracket car now,’’ says Sailesh Shetty, deputy general manager (sales), Toyota. Shetty adds, “It (car sales) actually took off from mid-2005 and it is on fire now. The growth rate in Hyderabad is much higher that other states. This segment (Rs 5 to Rs 12 lakh) grew at 40 per cent in 2006 and in this first five months of 2007 alone the growth is maintained at 30 per cent.’’ He says that while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were ahead of AP in sales in this bracket, the gap was narrowing.
Boosting sales figures of cars is the city’s economic health. With the IT boom and better salaries, there is an increase in the spending capacity of individuals. But, apparently contributing to car sales the most is the real estate boom. “The boom in real estate apart from the IT sector’s presence in Hyderabad is responsible for the rise in sales,’’ says B Venkateshwarlu, joint transport commissioner. He adds that Ranga Reddy district has seen the sharpest rise in the number of new vehicles with land prices in areas such as Maheshwaram touching the roof, making cars an affordable purchase even for farmers.
Besides, since Euro II vehicles cannot be registered in Hyderabad’s RTO, they are registered in Ranga Reddy. Figures here again are astonishing. From 2,668 vehicles registered in the financial year 2004-05, as many as 5,902 Euro II cars were registered in the last financial year.
According to G Mamatha Prasad, deputy transport commissioner, Ranga Reddy, the overall figures of new cars registered with the transport authorities in RR district too have shot from 4,540 in 2005-06 to 7,844 in 2006-07. While there is no putting breaks on the speeding growth of the car market here, the biggest concern is the increasing congestion on the city roads. With a huge chunk of the road occupied by cars, the traffic in the city has gone out of gear. “The average number of occupants of a car would be just one or two but they (cars) occupy the maximum road space,’’ says Venkateshwarlu. With a failed public transport system and an upcoming one which may take a minimum of three years to get functional, the city’s traffic woes wont get sorted until citizens themselves look for solutions such as car pools.
However, with the number of autos limited and bus facilities poor, many Hyderabadis are opting for a second car, adding to the city’s traffic woes. But, even as commuters fret over the jams, for car manufacturers Hyderabad was never more beautiful.
Gods may have nothing to do with materialist possessions, but temples in Hyderabad are doing brisk business with the increase in car sales. It may now be a routine sight of brand new cars parked outside temples awaiting the blessings of the Lord and the rituals of the pandit, but car-puja has now become an organised business.
While some temples have arranged a coupon system costing anywhere between Rs 50 or Rs 75, others follow a strict queue system because there are far too many vehicles parked outside the premises causing snarls. The believers queue up with their cars in tow till as long as the temple is open and the priest is willing to perform the puja. “Some temples look more like car showrooms,’’ an observer quipped, stating that as many as 100 to 200 cars are lined up at the popular temples for pujas on auspicious days.
Be it the temple in Khairatabad or one temple in Madhapur or another in Tadbund, the queues are long and the new car owners wait patiently for their turn. Everything about the puja is organised. After buying the token, the mandatory garland, stickers of gods, goddesses or an ‘Om’, coconuts and lemons are purchased. The priest then performs the ritual he is by now so familiar with.
In fact, some priests even perform simultaneous puja of two to three cars, depending on the rush. And if the car owner humbles with his new dream machine, he need not despair. The priest comes in handy in explaining some nuances of car driving and familiarising owners with the various knobs and switches. The best part of the ritual comes when the priest asks the owner to pay obeisance to the new vehicle. Car seva, anyone?
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