Cheap cars for India

IT MAY be an Indian consumer’s dream – cheap cars for $US2500-$US3000 within reach of millions of a swelling middle class. But it could also prove to be a traffic and environmental disaster.

India has low car ownership rates – there are seven to eight cars per 1000 people compared with 300-500 cars per 1000 in many Western nations, but annual passenger vehicle sales in India are expected to double to 2 million by 2010. In New Delhi alone, more than 200,000 vehicles are added to its streets every year, where they battle with cows, rickshaws and motorbikes for space.

It’s all part of a middle class that will expand by 10 times from its current size of 50 million to 583 million by 2025, according to consultancy firm McKinsey.

Sydney Morning Herald