This is the era of affordable cars and car manufacturers across the world are trying to come up with affordable cars that can be sold like hot cakes.
Affordable cars like Maruti 800, Ford Model T, Volkswagen Beetle, Citroen 2CV and the BMC Mini are some successful launches in India as well as the developed markets.
The launch of world's cheapest car 'Nano' from the Tata stable brought India's specialty of manufacturing affordable cars to the forefront. Today, many Indian and foreign players are trying to replicate Tata's success.
Gone are the days when foreign players could dump phasing out models in Indian market and be accepted by the masses. This is the age of India-specific cars and the Indian buyer wants the best at affordable prices.
So, how do carmakers make cars affordable? Today's lower-cost designs use fewer components and integrating electronic functions as against the old cost-cutting theory of stripping features and using cheaper materials.
Engineers of the Tata group came up with an affordable design for the masses through Nano. However, they could not inculcate features like air-conditioning, airbags and anti-lock brakes in the 'affordable' tag.
Following Tatas path, carmakers are redesigning components to make the technology affordable and in it the end it is all about a cleaver design. Sometimes reducing the overall standard of performance also helps cut cost.
Components like airbag modules, electronic stability control, automatic transmissions, miniature turbochargers, power steering and creature comforts like air conditioning are usually the first targets of companies' cost cutting measures.
Cleave designing and competitively priced cars are going to be sold like hot cakes in the BRIC economies that are the major driving factors of growth in the world auto sector.
This is the era of engineering challenges for developing low-cost cars and the companies that take these challenges head on would be the future winners.
Image: Volkswagen Beetle
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