next 5 years of Indian Automobile Industry

1)Majorly, an increase in the consumption of cars in the rural sector either by shifting consumers of 2-wheelers to cars or by making cars at dirt-cheap prices.
Presently, annual production of 2-wheelers (bikes) in India: 65lakh.
MUL’s production rate: 6.5lakh cars/day, which will increase once the Manesar plant starts production by the end of this year.
Passenger car penetration in India: 7/1000 people

2)Improve the emission standards of the present batch of cars. All metros have
BS-III cars, but semi-urban & rural areas still have BS-II compliance at max. Vehicles like “Zen-carb” still being produced.

3)Improve fuel efficiency of cars so that fuel consumption reduces, resulting in higher affordability of cars post-purchase.

4)Diesel cars, though more complex and demand higher maintenance, but give a higher mileage and diesel is cheaper than gasoline. The new entrants run as smoothly & noiselessly as petrol cars giving them a steady competition.
So development of diesel cars should gain speed, bringing out diesel variants of the existing petrol cars.
Not just diesel variants, but company-produced CNG variants will also be produced.

5)Though not comparable to the higher consumption rate of smaller cars, but significant due to higher costs involved.
As the semi-rural sector shifts to C-segment, the semi-urban & urban sector is shifting towards B and B+ segments. The disposable income of the middle class is increasing, resulting in a swell in the number of cars a household can purchase.
The standards are to be maintained & hence one & all desire nothing but the possible best.
It’s a growing section, which no auto company would wish to ignore, as the market is highly aggressive and capable of filling the gap in the blink of an eye.

6)The industry also needs to plan for the times to come in a little distant future. The present sources of fuel are exhaustible & non-renewable, a fact which cant be ignored for long (at max 10-15 years) even at the pretext of being a developing economy. So alternate fuels & concept vehicles need to be developed ASAP. For those who say that nothing is being done anywhere in the world, I say: India can be the pioneer.

how will they react...?

I have just recovered from illness after almost a week… and like other times, this time as well one thought came to my mind…

What would be the reflexive action of people if they realized I was dead…?
If I die of affliction, the people close to me would be prepared for it… but what if its some kind of a mishap…? Sudden news…?

It’s a thought which I do get a few times… I mean just how would people respond to it…?
How would my relatives react…? My cousins, the ones who really love & care about me as well as those I barely meet once an year…?
What about my friends…? Those who are closest to me…? Will they believe it instantaneously…?
What about my other friends, those who I am in frequent touch with…? Will they get curious about the silence from my part…? How long before each of them will get curious…? How will they try to track me down & finally figure out what happened…?
What about people at my place of work (where it’ll be at that time!)…?

What about individuals who I know and speak or meet up with just once in a while…? How long before they find out…?

And once people know it for sure, then what…?

How many people will sincerely be grieved…? how many will take time out to turn up to say their final adieu to me…? If asked to say something, what’ll be said…?
How many will essentially think about me & miss me initially…?
Will I be able to stay around my loved ones even when I am gone…?

22 years isn’t all that long a time, but then I do wonder at times, not when I am despondent or anything, but aise hi…

also personally, I wish to expire in a debonair fashion, sleeping peacefully, and cross the path to wherever it is or it is not…!

the hidden truth...

i dont really believe in judging a book by its cover... its just a pic which may or may not represent even part of the real thing...
though the abstract does give one a preview of the things to follow...

its the same with people... first impressions are formed whenever you meet someone...
even if you try not to judge people so soon.. but as soon as you come in contact with someone for the first time, the mind starts analysing all the data being received either consciously or sub-consciously, picking up the small things & gestures...
the impression or opinion formed need not necessarily be on the mark…

but can one say much about a person just by looking at a picture…?
for all you know, it might've been modified or not even be of that person...

the reason why i am talking about all this stuff...
ever since i have put up a picture of mine on my profile at orkut(though its an old one, and i sure have changed a bit since..!), i've been receiving numerous friendship requests...
not that i mind them or any such thing... infact i have accepted a few of them... and quite a few are still to be answered...
but earlier, when my pic wasn't put up, i only had people i've known personally on my list... i didn't get so many unknown requests... dont know, and dont really care all that much either, if the profile was being read or not by strangers...
even now i can't be sure of it... but it seems people just see the pic and send a request... they have no clue as to what is the story behind that pic... or even if there is one at all...!

ofcourse i can't deny the fact that its nice to know that people like what they see in the pic...! it always makes one feel good to know such a thing... but then it doesn't really mean anything because those people know nothing more than my name...

and to an extent, i can't even accept that the pic was appreciated...!
though some of my friends ask me to just shut up & accept such a compliment gracefully whenever i am given one...
but i still have to learn to accept them...

been a while...

since i said a few words...

i was doing my summer training so didnt really have time...
i did my training in the Engine Testing dept of MUL.... was a decent experience...
learnt about the various tests done on an engine.. ranging from emission tests for polluciont control & to follow Euro norms to tests being done for a project to improve the fuel efficiency of an engine...
the number of parameters that need to be taken care of is humungous...! but the amazing part is... most of the parameters can be controlled... and the delay in response is almost negligible...

the best part was always the trouble-shooting part... before a test could be done, the set-up would invariably develop snags... it was always fun to find & rectify them... n then finally perform the test...
performing the test was kinda mechanical... could get boring coz the observations to be recorded were too many... to record parameter(s) for varying values of boost at every rpm within a specified range... also the same test could be repeated as well... so it used to become kinda repetitive... at one point of time, i did the extact same test 8 times on the same day... initially some troubles came up & later didnt get the expected result...
now the results are another issue all together... many a times, the results were anything but what was anticipated... the readings would go berserk and the graphs would be way out of line... this perpetually called for a brain-storming session to ascertain the cause of the deviation... and then to eliminate the cause so as to get the desired results, which were also to be further improved upon...!

the basics were more or less the same in all the tests... set-up the vehicle(for tests on the engine as a part of the entire system) or engine(in isolation), whichever is to be tested, perform the test, if u get expected results, then its cool... but that was never the case in the first shot atleast...!
if the results weren't upto the mark, check the set-up... if that's ok, check the vehicle or engine... if required, change part(s)... perform the same tests again & analyse the results in comparison to the old results & the expected results...
every change that is made in the vehicle or the engine invariably called for testing...

and so things just keep proceeding in what becomes a routine...

also saw the engine assembly... a workshop which cant be seen on the usual plant visits... makes one realise the magnitude of the specialisation and accuracy required to produce every single dream machine...

saw other floor shops as well... attended a few intra-dept presentations/seminars... made a few pals...

was an experience... now i do atleast have an idea as to whats gonna be in store for me if i take up a job in the automobile industry...