Autos, you can find one on any roads in the Indian cities. Though most of these three wheelers in India are used as a means of public transport and are available for hire, there are autos privately owned and used for personal transport also.
Autos have their own advantages due to their small design. But will it be possible to increase the market share of the three-wheelers in the personal transport segment? It’s quite a difficult task. Even when you find some private autos used by small business or by people using it to take their kids to schools, you can hardly find one driven by the owners themselves. It will require a lot of marketing effort to change the mind set of people particularly now when you can get a small car under Rs 1.5 lakh. May be a complete re-design can help a bit.
Yes, its difficult to sell designer autos in the Tata Nano world, but it’s worth giving a try by the three wheeler majors like Bajaj group who are interested in entering the low cost small car segment. As they have the years of expertise in building auto rickshaws, it will be easier for them to come up with a redesigned auto suitable for private use than coming up with a breakthrough car under Rs 1 lakh.
Will they give it a try?
Don’t know, but would the running cost of an auto-rickshaw give it an advantage over the types like a Tata Nano.