‘But thanks to the domination of the forces of economics and their growing “Economic Fundamentalism”, the forces of governance are more concerned for the growing human population than the growing vehicular population.If the pollution is to be drastically controlled, the most ideal way will be to substantially reduce the production of vehicles in the country. And the easiest way to achieve this is to either totally ban or put substantial restrictions on the purchase of vehicles through Financing opines ‘ Dr. Javed Jamil
Such is the control of the market forces on the functioning of the governments all over the world that even political leaders claiming to be people-friendly succumb, knowingly or unknowingly, to the interests of the market. Whilew Kejriwal’s anti-pollution drive needs to be applauded and supported, every single measure implemented or mooted by his government has pro-market flavour. Steps, which can prove more successful in drastically reducing pollution, are nowhere in discussion.
Be it Odd-Even Formula, or introduction of thousands of new buses to the capital or exemption of CNG-driven vehicles, every single step is going to give a new boost to the already growing automobile market in India. According to a report, 37 million vehicles were sold in FY 2014-15, following a growth of 8.68 per cent over the last year. The report further says:
“The automobile industry accounts for 7.1 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)….The Two Wheelers segment with 81 per cent market share is the leader of the Indian Automobile market owing to a growing middle class and a young population. Moreover, the growing interest of the companies in exploring the rural markets further aided the growth of the sector. The overall Passenger Vehicle (PV) segment has 13 per cent market share….India is also a prominent auto exporter and has strong export growth expectations for the near future. In FY 2014-15, automobile exports grew by 15 per cent over the last year. In addition, several initiatives by the Government of India and the major automobile players in the Indian market are expected to make India a leader in the Two Wheeler (2W) and Four Wheeler (4W) market in the world by 2020…..
“The industry produced a total 14.25 million vehicles including PVs, commercial vehicles (CVs), three wheelers (3W) and 2W in April-October 2015 as against 13.83 in April-October 2014, registering a marginal growth of 3.07 per cent year-on-year.”
With more than 3 crore vehicles flooding the market every year, it is not hard to imagine the havoc the automobiles are going to cause in India in coming decades. But thanks to the domination of the forces of economics and their growing “Economic Fundamentalism”, the forces of governance are more concerned for the growing human population than the growing vehicular population.
If the pollution is to be drastically controlled, the most ideal way will be to substantially reduce the production of vehicles in the country. And the easiest way to achieve this is to either totally ban or put substantial restrictions on the purchase of vehicles through Financing.
I could not find the exact percentage of vehicles purchased through finances in India, but I could find the reports from Europe, which give an idea of the role of financing in the automobile industry. A report says:
“Experian Automotive today announced that consumers are relying on financing more than ever to buy their next vehicle. According to its latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, the percentage of new vehicles purchased with financing in the fourth quarter of 2014 increased over the previous year to reach 84 percent. Used vehicles that were financed reached a record high of 55.2 percent.
Furthermore, the study shows that the average loan amount for a new vehicle in the fourth quarter of 2014 once again hit its highest level on record, reaching $28,381. This represents a more than $950 increase from a year ago and a $582 increase from the previous quarter. For used vehicles, the average loan amount increased $437 from last year to reach $18,411.”
It can be safely assumed that the percentages may be similar in India. If more than three fourth of the vehicles are purchased through financing, it is not difficult to infer how beneficial restrictions on financing can be for the country and its people.
Had Kejriwal even made a suggestion of doing something that had the possibility of adversely affecting the market, the media would have butchered him by now. BJP would have been on the roads. The industry as well as the Central government is rejoicing over the odd-even formula. This is why the media is not hitting Kejriwal the way it would have hit him under normal circumstances. The sales of the cars are going to increase. The Finance Market will also grow. The CNG exemption also will benefit the automobile parts industry. The acceptance of Kejriwal; in the corporate-controlled democracy will grow.
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Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books. Read more about him at http://www.worldmuslimpedia.
good point noted.
there is no hope left in the country for good governance.
i was thinking why cant a person owning a car will think of another one atleast a second hand, because its very difficult to travel by public transport for elders, children and to maintain times, lastly habit.