Contrary to what some in the industry will have you believe, Siddharth feels that the consumer is more than willing to pay for basic safety features...
People who know me, or have followed my work at all, know that if there’s one thing that gets my goat – it’s the seeming disdain that people in India seem to have for safety. The cost of human life only becomes apparent when something happens to you or someone close to you, but otherwise road deaths in particular are just a statistic to many. And the auto industry towed that line – “Hey, the consumer isn’t willing to pay for safety,” was the common refrain we heard. But that’s now changing. Finally!
It simply isn’t good enough logic in my view, and never should have been. But now the consumer is also changing her attitude, and awareness levels are also improved. Add to that the fact that doing the right thing is also now smarter PR for the manufacturers. Mahindra said lets offer airbags and ABS as option on all variants of the Scorpio. Big plus – as much as 70% of its top selling variant now sell with airbags. That means the consumer is willing to pay for it. The Nissan Micra, Toyota Etios/Liva, and Volkswagen Polo/Vento – all now have airbags standard.
And now you have the first subcompact sedan to do the same. In an era when cars like the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Hyundai i20 & Creta do not have airbags across variants, the Ford Figo Aspire does. In fact, it comes with dual airbags available right from the entry variant up to the top spec that carries 6 airbags. The point isn’t about just airbags, it’s about a shift in attitude. A few years ago Honda had announced publicly that all its cars would have basic safety covered – a strong body shell, structural rigidity, and, yes, airbags. Honda has since gone the mass car route with models like the Brio and forgotten that philosophy. So it’s good to see another mass player – Ford in this case – step up to the plate. I certainly am pleased that after initially saying airbags will not be standard, Maruti Suzuki also reworked its strategy for the S-Cross between the time it conducted media test drives and the launch of the car. So now the S-Cross also has airbags across the board.
That India has the highest number of accidents, injuries and fatalities on the road is not news anymore. What I hope will begin to change is awareness, and therefore consumer demand. Once people see basic safety as hygiene it will become just that. And this applies to bikes too, where just like alloy wheels have become the norm, so should ABS. Never mind the fact that most people happily flout the helmet law at their own peril. But that again goes back to messaging and awareness.
If all our saas-bahu serials, movies and celebrities in the real world depict the use of helmets and seatbelts, it would be a big boost to the agenda I’m pushing. Renault’s new ad has its new brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor sitting in the rear seat with no seatbelt. Sure, it’s not a law – but it’s about messaging, and doing the ‘right thing.’ So, I would have been pleased to see that happen. And then there are those of us in the media who do get some of your attention. I promise never to let this go. And luckily there are many like-minded folks in the industry today. And the legion is growing! Hope, therefore, floats.
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