In 2008, when India's Tata Group unveiled the Nano, the small, inexpensive car was expected to revolutionise this motor market of a billion-plus people where only eight in every 1,000 own cars.
With the introduction of the US$2,500 (Dh9,182), oval-shaped hatchbackpublicised as the world's cheapest car, millions of two-wheeler-riding Indians, for whom four-wheel drives were out of reach, were expected to upgrade to cars.
The Nano's arrival was supposed to mark the demise of the family-on-a-scooter phenomenon, a common sight on India's congested roads.
But the launch of the Nano and several other car models in recent years has not dented the market for two-wheelers.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), an industry lobby group based in New Delhi, says 2.07 million scooters were sold in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, a nearly 42 per cent jump from 1.46 million in the previous fiscal year. Motorcycles sales stood at 9.02 million for the year that ended on March 31, up nearly 23 per cent from 7.34 million in the previous year.
Last month, demand for two-wheelers rose nearly 16 per cent to more than 880,000 units from 761,000 units in June last year.
Car sales touched a record last year, buoyed by brisk economic growth and strong demand from the country's middle class. Passenger-car sales grew by 25 per cent over the previous year to 2.5 million units, according to Siam.
By 2020, India's car sales growth is expected to roar ahead of China's - which is rising at 6 per cent annually - to make India's car market the world's fastest growing, according to the global consultancy Ernst & Young. Experts predict that by 2050 every sixth car in the world will be produced for the Indian market.
But car sales are slowing this year because of rising fuel prices and tightening financial conditions including 10 increases in interest rates since March last year.
The recent rise in petrol and diesel prices has moved buyers to purchase fuel-efficient two-wheelers, analysts say.
Two-wheelers are also preferred for their manoeuvrability. They can easily navigate the congested, potholed roads packed with handcarts, livestock, bicycles and pedestrians.
After India liberalised its economy in 1991, women began entering the workforce in vast numbers. Enabled by their economic rise, many have bought scooters.
"The target demographic segment for entry-level scooters is women students and professionals," says Abdul Majeed, a vehicle analyst at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Hero Honda, which is India's biggest two-wheeler manufacturer, recorded its highest ever sales last month - 512,224 units, a 20 per cent jump from 426,453 in June last year.
"The first quarter has set the pace for the rest of the financial year," said Anil Dua, a senior vice president at Hero Honda. "This has put us on course to surpass our guidance of 6 million sales for this fiscal [year]."
Honda recently launched the new Activa, a high-powered scooter with 15 per cent better mileage than the previous version. Sales at TVS Motor, the country's second-largest maker of two-wheelers, climbed 11 per cent to 155,296 units last month from 139,905 in the same month last year.
Motorcycles dominate the two-wheeler market, accounting for 76.4 per cent of all sales of such vehicles. Sales of high-end motorcycles such as Royal Enfield have also grown rapidly. Enfield sold 54,475 units of its cruiser bikes - between 350cc and 500cc - in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, an increase of 8.7 per cent over the previous fiscal year's 50,098 units.
"[Motorcycles are] a category that is growing faster than the overall two-wheeler market," said Venki Padmanabhan, Royal Enfield's chief executive. "We are ramping up production to meet the growing demand."
business@thenational.ae
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
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The%20specs
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
THE%20FLASH
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
more from Janine di Giovanni
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RIVER%20SPIRIT
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INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
