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Originally Posted by fastestindian the only route for a foreign manufacturer to survive is for someone to invest heavily and create a whole new line for home grown new products like Skoda/VW did with their Kush/Sla/Vir/Taig. That is an expensive affair, even when it works out and the timelines for these are long (possibly 5+ years long). |
Two things that will make car manufacturer profitable in long term:
1. Platform
2. Engine/Powertrains (including gearbox)
Keep the above changing radically every season and you are staring at losses in the longest term. Keep the above two to a minimum and keep on improving on it, and companies will have enough money later to invest in other technologies.
Meticulous planning and efficiency have made Hyundai, Suzuki successful and profitable. Any manufacturer who did not think from a long term perspective back then (20 years ago) have no one else but themselves to blame.
Heavy Investment: Not necessarily needed to get a start. Toyota cracked the market with their Qualis which didn't need the kind of investment. They focused on getting the basics right, once and for all, made reliability their USP and rest is history.
Home grown products: Absolutely needed. Getting product right with matching consumer expectations and local regulations requires lot of foresight and planning.
Bringing different technology and platform every 3-5 years means losing lot of money in the long term.
Maruti, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda: Have been using the same engine block for years, they have only improved upon their existing engines and platforms with incremental updates over the years. This helps suppliers and manufacturers achieve profitability and remove imperfections. VW and Renault have finally agreed to have India specific platforms and engines. Renault have a long way to refine their processes match it with Maruti Suzuki's level of acceptable quality and reliability for the masses.
Ford, GM: Laughably, Ford finally found the right petrol engine, the 3 liter Naturally aspirated Dragon series that was efficient, cost effective and simple in 2016-17
![Confused](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/confused.png)
, just a few months later, they packed their bags after staying in Indian market for 20+ years. Ford never got a India centric platform. Their expertise always was and is big cars and trucks. Right from the days of Ford Mondeo till Ford Fiesta (Euro spec), none of them shared parts or engine components at a level necessary for achieving cost efficiency. The first Figo too was based off European model (Ford Fusion). The only car they got right at the end was the Ecosport, but by this time they had lost too much money.
GM too, tried many engines, platforms from different parts of the world (European: Opel Astra, Corsa, Vauxhall Vectra; Korean era: Optra, Aveo; Chinese Era: Sail UVA, Enjoy; Indian: Tavera with ICML engine), had to change specifications a hundred times, they even succeeded with some model but never got one petrol engine right or one platform on which they could thrive. They got the 1 liter diesel engine right in the Beat, but where were the expansion plans ? Where else could they plonk that nice little engine? They simply did not have a platform. Maruti plonked the 1.3 diesel from fiat in Swift, Ritz, Brezza, Baleno. While their ancient 1 liter petrol does duties in the Alto, Celerio, Wagon-R even today. I can keep writing about Ford's/GM's blunders
Look at Kia. They got their first product : Seltos bang on right and did not try anything new with engines and platform. They already had Hyundai who had done the ground work for them. They got all engines, diesel, petrol NA, turbocharged, and all types of gearboxes. What stopped GM, Ford and even Fiat from getting such kind of foresight?
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Originally Posted by fastestindian An Audi Q3, without the ridiculous duty, would sit in the C2 segment and compete with Creta and Seltos (and others but stating these two names as these are market leading). |
Audi can manufacture the Q3 in India and sell it at lesser price if they want to. Whether they want the Q3 to lose its premium in that process is something they have to figure out.
Duty on imported cars is needed, else it will kill Indian manufacturing and supply chain and will cause massive job losses. It has been discussed enough already.
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Originally Posted by fastestindian All this duty business has done is allowed our own manufacturers to get away with producing not-world-class stuff. If they were pushed to directly compete with really good car brands, we'd all be better off. |
Can you provide data that shows our own manufacturers are not producing world class stuff, objectively?
Safety was an issue few years back, but today, we have mass market cars scoring respectable crash ratings. We have cars with safety and comfort features that are provided world over.