YOURS SINCERELY, RATAN N. TATA; MY LETTER TO MR. RATAN TATA AND THE NEED FOR SAFER CARS IN INDIA

Imagine yourself driving (wearing the seatbelt) on an expressway at night around 100 Kph on left lane (you should in India) with low beam lights and suddenly a truck appeared on the extreme left with no parking lights or even reflectors. Scary? Yes, it is. It happened to me in 2013 when I was returning from Hyderabad to my home in Mahabubnagar, India. I was a little scared but more than that, I got irritated about that a-hole who parked without any indication, it's prohibited to park like that. 

After a few days, to survive in a boring lecture at my college, I started researching this issue and terrified after seeing the statistics of road accidents in India, they're getting worse each year. In the year 2013 alone, 1.3 lac people died in road accidents. This hasn't changed even today, last year in 2017, around 1.4 lac people died. The reasons can be many, but what stuck to my mind is the lack of society's responsibility and poor automotive standards. 

The golden era of Indian automotive scene has begun.

India is among the top 5 in the global auto market, about 4 million cars were manufactured in India last year and these numbers are expected to grow and make India the 3rd largest auto market by 2021 according to the Mckinsey report. India has an extremely bright future; both for imports and exports and also moving fast in adopting electric mobility. The rise in living standards and the young population demographics (extremely strong point) are contributing to the growth in this sector. But what about the standards? Why our cars are not reaching safety standards like in western countries.


The "Kitna deti hai" effect by Maruti Suzuki (MSIL); India's national brand. (Don't blame them)

Here's a TVC of Maruti Suzuki's "Kitna deti hai" ad campaign

A totaled car at a dealership's service centre in my hometown (2014)

This's what happens when a car with flimsy build quality involved in an accident. How do you think airbags, seat belts help when the shell (body) is such a weak? There are other things which we need to worry about. Let me explain in short, the safety features in cars are of two categories, crash avoidance (the technology that avoids car from getting crashed. ABS, EBD are two examples) and crash protection (after involving in a crash, these things will try to protect passengers from hurting. Airbags, crumple zones are two common examples). All of these are important. 

BTW, can you guess the car in the above picture? It's often considered as India's most favourite sedan and recently this model was ranked among the world's top 10 best selling small cars. Its Maruti Dzire, despite poor build quality, people prefer cars from this brand because of the obsession for more fuel economy and low cost of ownership. I usually join in many car owner's groups on Facebook and some comments by these car owners are horrifying. Below is a screenshot of a conversation of the Dzire owner in one of its Facebook owners group. (Please don't mind for posting this, my intention is to create awareness on safer cars.)

"Carefully watch how people live, get an intuitive sense as what they might want and then go with it. Don't do market research"  -Akio Morita, co-founder of Sony Corporation

Maybe MSIL is following this principle. 

It's not a stupid thing, fuel efficiency matters..not to save bucks, but to save the environment and resources. In fact, it's the biggest challenge for the automakers even today to improve the overall quality of the car with effective pricing. The selection of materials and the body structure contributes to the strength of the vehicle,  but that doesnt mean a heavy body or expensive alloys or composites. The science and technology has developed to an extent where there's a solution to almost everything we face today. Below is a formula 1 concept by Renault showcased at IAA (Frankfurt Motorshow) in 2017, you can observe the honeycomb-like structure designed to improve the crash ability of this vehicle. If this is true, then why still we aren't using such things in our everyday cars? Mr. Carlos Ghosn, you gotta think about it because there's nothing you cannot do. 

Advanced materials are going to play a crucial role in automobiles

Renault R.S 2027 Vision concept at IAA, 2017

"Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) has a great reputation and holds a special place in almost every Indian as their family's first car brand. Today, MSIL dominates Indian car market by more than 50%. If this company accept to produce safe cars, it can affect the whole nation and other brands too follow this trend."

I thought if I just write blogs or talk about safety won't make much impact, since the moment I started researching on this issue (I was in my bachelors 3rd year), I have decided to do something here because I am an engineer and cars are my only love from my childhood.

Tata Group is one of my most favourite and respected brands and I am a mad fan of Mr Ratan Tata, former chairman of Tata Group and Tata Sons. I usually follow him on social media and on news, what stuck to my mind is his plans after his retirement, so I decided to send him my reports on the need for the safety in automobiles. Tata Motors is one such brand that bothers about safety. Today, only 5 Indian made cars secured 4 stars in Global NCAP testing and two of them are from Tata Motors (and 1 from Maruti Suzuki). That's Tata Motors I have faith in. 



In August 2014, I have received a letter from Mr Tata, he thanked me for the suggestions. That letter had literally affected my way of thinking and that's how I realized my life's purpose. I have chosen my masters in material science and now, I am busy with my studies and involved in experimenting various composite materials with my own concepts and thanks to the professors at our University who are supporting my interest. 

Here's the letter from Mr Ratan Tata

Guys, you might do what you love and follow your passion, that's great. But it would be even more beautiful when you strive to change the lives of others through it. Yes, the journey can be painful, but in the end, it's satisfying because.. Pain is temporary and glory is forever. 

Thanks for reading, I appreciate if you share your views on #safercarsforIndia.