One would argue that development of original designs is a capital-intensive venture with a long gestation period, but what about the work being done by the cottage industry in UK like TVR, Westfield, AC, Morgan, Panther and so on? Firms which has been fueled exclusively by passion of the respective promoters, without the benefit of multibillion dollar budgets of the big manufacturers. They may not always be successful, but they do try, and that could be the reason that UK today leads in composite technology for automotive applications, and has most of the F 1 teams headquartered there, in spite of its own mainstream auto industry being swallowed up and nonexistent.
The range of products offered by the multinationals available in India have been adapted for our needs and conditions and as a result may have deviated from the virtues that were originally designed in them.
The wide and varied conditions available in this country should provide the right challenge for designers, and locally developed products, if given a chance (the institutional support) can be at par with the best. Lower volumes may be a downside, but development cost would also be lower owing to the availability comparatively lower cost manpower.
Motoinc >>>
FUTURE TRENDS: In urban commuting, due to the frequent start/stop scenario, an estimated 80% of the total energy consumed by cars comes from the effects of mass. So vehicle mass reduction is a key strategy for reducing energy intensity in city driving but if we de-link from the idea of a cheap eco-box micro car, and instead think in terms of entirely new transportation products that give consumers the intangible benefits they want, we might discover new opportunities and profits with much smaller vehicles. It would not be surprising to see marketing successes along these lines before year 2010, perhaps with products that are radically different from what we traditionally think of as an automobile....
