Road Safety in India

Indian roads are never known for their road safety. The roads in India are mostly in atrocious conditions and the drivers are even worse. Vehicles overtake past each other leaving just an inch of distance between them. Tailgating is just another way of driving that the Indians have offered. I might have done it a few times without even realizing it.
We get to see all sort of accidents in real life and the rest is covered in the news. According to a report around 1,50,785 deaths due to road accidents, which means atleast 413 people died everyday. Such statistics don't really inspire faith on the Indian roads.😳 But there were over 21 crore vehicles registered in 2015, which means we do love driving but not safely.
Most of the roads in India are in battered condition. The 'mountain sized' speed breakers cause their own share of accidents. Not only people but the government too wasn't keen in safety too. According to them safety meant driving vehicles slowly. Hence the implementation of quite low speed limits in highways.
This was changed with governments plan to introduce the Bharat stage 6 emission norms soon and also soon launching a special vehicle crash test facility to ensure that all the vehicles are made safe. Soon all the car manufacturers started taking Indian vehicles safety seriously.
Now two front airbags, ABS and EBD are given as a standard safety feature across all variants of the cars. ABS is also to be made mandatory in bikes above 150 cc engines, with CBS brakes being mandatory in all automatic scooters.
The quality of roads is changing dramatically too. The government is keen on improving the roads and also are gearing up to build more expressways to facilitate the transport between cities more quickly. Recently our Prime Minister inaugurated 'Eastern Peripheral Expressway' from Kundli to Palwal via Ghaziabad around Delhi.
This expressway reduced the traffic in Delhi, especially reducing the number of trucks in Delhi. Soon the Western Peripheral Expressway will be inaugurated which would reduce the traffic in Delhi even more. The Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways would be a ring road outside Delhi. These expressways will divert the traffic outside Delhi to other states which had to go through Delhi earlier, causing massive traffic jams and increasing pollution levels in Delhi.
Such a change in road safety is a delight to see in India. But road safety has still a long way to go.  Not all cars are fitted with safety features and some cars also demand extra money for airbags. With the implementation of Bharat Stage 6 all cars would be fitted with standard safety equipment.
The driving manners of people are not just careless, but dangerous for them and others too. People refrain from maintaining their vehicles properly and refuse to abide by the rules set by the government. Stricter rules have to be applied so that people are forced to follow them without any negligence.
With the increase in better roads and safer cars, the fatalities caused by road accidents are sure to become less and India would become a safer place for driving pleasure.

Why are Compact SUVs gaining such popularity?

When it came to luxury cars, sedans were always the first choice in India. The 3 box design always pleased the people, giving a sense of opulence and sophistication which the hatchbacks and the SUVs failed to provide.

SUVs were majorly popular with people who had huge families or lived in places with pathetic roads. Sedans like Honda City, Mitsubishi Lancer, Ford Ikon or Maruti Esteem were popular with dignitaries who wanted a vehicle with a sense of sophistication and style statement.

Modern SUVs

This was changed with the launch of Mahindra XUV 500 in India. The wasn't like another typical SUV which were offered in the Indian Market, but was way more 'car like' with high ground clearance. The XUV 500 was based on a monocoque chassis unlike the other SUVs which were based on a ladder frame chassis. This made the XUV more easier to drive and control at high speeds. The monocoque chassis made the car more lighter, hence making the car more sprightly and provided more agility.The XUV 500 was a game changer for the Indian Market as it provided the qualities of an SUV with the drivability of a small car. It was also very competitively priced, making it an even more value for money buy.

The Game Changer

The Indian market is extremely price sensitive, hence we needed an SUV which was priced below the XUV. Here came the compact SUVs. Renault launched its compact SUV, Duster, in 2012. But the car which proved to be a game changer was Ford's Ecosport.

This was a sub 4 metre compact SUV which allowed it to get ta exemptions from the government, hence making it even more cheaper to buy. The Ecosport proved to be a hit among the masses and it facilitated the demand for compact SUVs. The small form factor with ample ground clearance and excellent drivability made the Ecosport a perfect car for the people.

Soon many carmakers launched their own sub 4 metre compact sedans. Maruti's Vitara Brezza, Tata's Nexon and Honda's WRV tasted success soon after their launch in the market as the demand for such cars was very high.

The things which made these cars extremely popular was good ground clearance, sense of a being in a big car, drivability of a hatchback, and a decent space. No other car could prove to be a perfect all in one car like the compact SUVs. The versatility they provided was enough to sway the consumers to their side.

Soon the hatchbacks and the Compacts SUVs were the only ones which ruled the Indian Market. Maruti Suzuki's Vitara Brezza won the sales race among the compact SUVs and judging the current trend, i am quite sure that this race is won't be ending soon enough.

Is Honda Amaze the best diesel Automatic?

Automatic cars have recently gathered a good amount of pace in the Indian Market. The reason for this is pretty obvious. With the rise in the number of cars and hence increase in traffic, the people have realised the convenience the Automatic cars offer.
But this wasn't the case before. Automatic cars were always criticized for their low fuel efficiency and expensive maintenance. The German luxury cars and Honda Accord were one of the few once which dared to offer automatics. The people who bought the luxury cars weren't much concerned about the costs but the Honda Accord took a hit when it came to automatics. The 4 speed automatic wasn't appreciated for the reasons mentioned above.

Rise of Budget Automatic Cars

Many car manufacturers dared to launch automatics but to no avail. This was changed with the launch of Maruti's Celerio with its revolutionary AMT gearbox. The 'Hindustani Aam Janta' could now dream to buy an automatic vehicle without the hassles of unnecessary expense. The Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) from the firm Magneti Marelli worked wonders for the budget carmakers.
The AMT cars provided equally good mileage as the manuals and provided extra convenience by omitting the clutch. People loved the Celerio for its revolutionary gearbox. Maruti and Tata also started bring AMTs with diesel engines, which further boosted their sales.
But the problem with AMTs was that they didn't provide the flexibility or the performance that the other transmissions provided. Here came other transmissions like the DSG or the CVT. But DSGs were expensive and CVT was never actually tried for a budget diesel car.

Honda's Take on Diesel Automatics

Honda has always tried to maintain its 'premium brand image'. Hence they deciding not to go with the trend but instead they launched their next gen Honda Amaze with a CVT diesel variant. This was a first ever engine gearbox combination ever tried in India. Everyone was surprised with the Honda's decision and was also quite eager to test it.
It might seem a bit too soon but the Honda Amaze Diesel automatic might just be the best diesel automatic ever. It gets rid of the gear change jerking which the AMTs were notorious for and also eliminated the rubber band effect to some extent.
The reduction in the power and torque as compared to manual won't feel much in real driving conditions. The car feels smooth and noise is well masked too. Honda has indeed nailed it with the new Amaze. The fuel efficiency of the diesel and the smoothness of the CVT has proved out to be great combination. We might get to see something like this in the Next gen Honda City too.
Yes, the CVT might not provide the excellent fuel efficiency of the AMT but the smoothness and the refinement it provides does make up for it.
Such fierce competition among the carmakers has always been good for us consumers. We get to see new concepts and products which we wouldn't have even thought about ever.  Honda proved this statement with the new Honda Amaze once again.