[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by GTO

We all knew that Delhi forms the biggest car market in India. What was a surprising fact - at least to me - was that the capital has more cars than the next 3 cities combined!

Cars are priced lower in Delhi than the other big metros. Also, as a result of these two factors, Delhi's used car market gives you the best choice at the lowest prices.

The capital has more cars than next 3 cities + half of Kolkata too.

Originally Posted by Sheel

And this has always been the trend. Since childhood, I remember my father saying the same.

One question though, does it combine the NCR (National Capital Region) as well?.

Yep, the case is same since our childhood but it does nor include NCR towns. I can not imagine the number after including NCR towns.

Originally Posted by maheshramaling

Thanks GTO!

While it might be true that Delhi has the highest number but the sheer % of difference makes me think that it could be because people register in Delhi and use in Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and other nearby cities just because Delhi has lowest car price?

It is other way round. Moreover, the cars registered in neighboring states come to Delhi on daily basis. Also, due to leniency of RTO there are many other state registered cars plying in Delhi.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by GTO

We all knew that Delhi forms the biggest car market in India. What was a surprising fact - at least to me - was that the capital has more cars than the next 3 cities combined!

Cars are priced lower in Delhi than the other big metros. Also, as a result of these two factors, Delhi's used car market gives you the best choice at the lowest prices.

I'm amazed at the sheer size!

Attachment 1323505
Image Source: Wall Street Journal

I knew this statistic all along. The official estimates put the city's population at 25 million when it is much more than that. The burden on infrastructure is such that the city is a crumbling mess of filth, pollution (noise and affluent both) and great rich poor divide. The uncontrolled housing has created the biggest mess and it is so big now that if Delhi to become comparable to any half decent western city, it will have to be razed to the ground and rebuilt all over again. I myself have seen the degradation in the last 10 years or so. Almost every rooted house has become a residential building of atleast 4 floors. Just imagine the burden on the infrastructure with one family living in the house vis a vis four families in the same space and the resultant increase in sewage capacity, electricity consumption, number of cars and hence parking. I am not even counting two wheelers.

We have slowly created a dinosaur and it will only rest when it kills us all. For anyone living in Delhi, just have a think and look around for all the sudden deaths due to ailments seemingly mundane and curable or death due to no reason at all. All this pollution and filth cannot be good for the insides of our body.

[Ajitsingh208]

Well one reason for such high number of cars in Delhi can be the preference of 4 wheelers over 2 wheeler. So there's a car for each person in the family, the public transport is good but the last mile connectivity is still missing. The Metro connects major areas but it takes much longer to reach by Metro at times than by own transport. There's also the status factor that is present.
The no. of 2 wheeler is also less as compared to other cities as the weather is extreme during winters and summers and the distance to be traveled is more so people prefer to take out their cars.

Hopefully things will improve when the Metro work is fully complete.

[SaneOp]

Do consider large number vehicle are procured by govt, semi-govt agencies which are so many that you can't count on fingers. There is central govt , state govt , defense , police paramilitary forces, embassies.... list is long. And these vehicles are changed regularly

Not that I am say private car ownership is any less but a large amount is contributed by these agencies and this is an important factor having multiplier effect on vehicle population.

For sake of it imagine that Delhi has only these government bodies and no other type of population. Then estimate amount of vehicle owned by each officials, from mid level to high rankings govt official. It will be still considerable amount

[D C]

Does the extreme weather conditions contribute to having a higher number of cars in Delhi? I personally prefer to drive a car that takes more time, than using a two wheeler or public transportation on an extreme misty / cold weather.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Totally surprised by the statistics esp for Mumbai. When compared to Thane city which has 15L vehicles the Mumbai figures seems to be totally out of place.

Not really. Refer to this state government report from 2011 and the WSJ numbers seem accurate.

Also, the 15 lakhs you quote are for 'all vehicles', not just cars. The opening post lists stats for cars only.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by GTO

Also, the 15 lakhs you quote are for 'all vehicles', not just cars. The opening post lists stats for cars only.

Thanks GTO.

I was actually referring to this article.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/45708071.cms

[heavenlybull]

No wonder the air quality in Delhi is so bad and it seems to be getting worse every year, even with the introduction of Metro, CNG autos, CNG buses and what not. Go anywhere any time of the day and there is heavy traffic everywhere on all the roads.

Public transport is inadequate - autos, taxis are not cheap for everyday use. Metro is super crowded and I think many people prefer going by their cars than having to fight it out to get into Metro or buses. I usually see bikers are those who ride single, most families prefer travel by cars.

Weather may be a contributing factor too. Its awful to ride a bike here in summer and winter months not to mention a month of monsoon.

[svsantosh]

I am amazed that Mumbai has lesser cars than Chennai and Bangalore! What a revelation!?

This opens up more questions than answers - Delhi with a really good Metro Transit system has more cars, Mumbai with, lets say - overloaded, transit system, too low cars. Bangalore with (whats is public transit :P) with more cars, chennai has a equally good transit system -more cars... What does all this data say!

Gets more confusing than ever!

[Hells Bells]

What is a telling story is now this statement is being made for "Bangalore", Chennai and Mumbai. Early 2000s, this was made in reference to Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai (the Metros). I can only imagine what will happen if Bangalore too ends up with a NCR kind of concept with Hoskote etc too getting included.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Hells Bells

I can only imagine what will happen if Bangalore too ends up with a NCR kind of concept with Hoskote etc too getting included.

Nothing will happen. The woes will still be restricted to KR Puram, Whitefield, Kadibesanahalli, Silkboard, Manyata areas as usual.

The concept of NCR has never really seen any success path in case of Bangalore. Kengeri was planned to be a Satellite City to replicate Vashi but if one visits Vashi (Navi Mumbai) its a very positive story altogether.

It is a well known fact that the biggest contributor for Traffic jams is the IT Industry in Bangalore. Look at Peenya (One of the biggest Industrial areas in India) and there's no everyday Jams like how we see in IT corridors, it is reasonably better here. Bangalore's primary revenues are from IT and not really from anything else if you want to compare with other manufacturing Hubs.

Till IT remains, affordability to buy cars right from Nano till X1 shall remain.

[atnyia]

Adding to above points, physical security is another concern. Alongwith Cars, I assume Delhi and NCR also registers road (and other) crimes more than that of combined for all other metros. Debatable, but I prefer my family women using cars instead of two-wheelers. That is biggest reason why so many families in Delhi keep more than one car. And families keeping more than one car is thing which makes Delhi that much dense.

[vb-saan]

Interesting statistics! Thanks for sharing. Equally surprising is to see Bangalore there in second spot.

By Delhi, if they’re referring to NCR, is the area covered more than the combined size of next 3 cities below?

Originally Posted by pgsagar

But yes, everywhere else capital holds sway over other cities.

There will be more examples like the US. In many countries, the capital city is just where the administration activities happen (read boring), and the entire buzz and colour will be elsewhere, for e.g.; Australia, Turkey...

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by heavenlybull

Public transport is inadequate - autos, taxis are not cheap for everyday use. Metro is super crowded and I think many people prefer going by their cars than having to fight it out to get into Metro or buses. I usually see bikers are those who ride single, most families prefer travel by cars.

I beg to disagree with this. Delhi has one of the best public transport in India. It is the first state to have a full fledged metro train network and given the conditions, a reasonably efficient and clean one. The metro ridership is constantly increasing with increasing network and averages almost 2.5 million people as of today. Imagine all those people switching to cars or two wheeler and you will come to realize the havoc it will create.

What we need to do is improve the last mile connectivity as somebody said earlier and improve the efficiency of our road transport system to make it truly world class.

[heavenlybull]

@extreme_ torque I agree with you regarding Metro. Its the best currently on offer in India. What I said was that public transport is inadequate. The city has grown much faster than the infrastructure which is struggling to keep pace.