THE RACE TOWARDS PREMIUMISATION

THE INDIAN AUTOMOTIVE SPACE HAS SEEN A VISIBLE SHIFT TOWARDS PLUSHER, MORE LUXE CABINS, HERE'S WHAT SURPRISED US.

- Riaan Jacob George

Only till a few years ago, press presentations by automobile manufacturers, on cabin interiors, included buzzwords such as massage seats, ventilated seats, wireless Apple CarPlay, four-zone climate control, electronically adjustable seats, sports seats, animated digital clusters etc.

However, these in-cabin indulgences were largely limited to major luxury players such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Porsche and Jaguar Land Rover. As much as these luxury cars were performance and safety driven, the narrative of the design-forward cabin experience, coupled with increased technology and ergonomics have been creeping into segments, not traditionally considered luxury.

Burgeoning aspirations of rising disposable incomes mean more pressure on larger players like Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia, Tata Motors, and MG to up the game, especially with respect to what's inside the cabin in terms of comfort, safety and technology. “I've watched Indian car buyers evolve over the years—their wallets are getting fatter and their expectations higher. Hyundai was the first to catch on, upgrading their interiors back in the mid-2010s with the Elite i20 and Creta. Not just high-quality interiors, but also technology that was never experienced at that price point. This is where the trends started to change,” says Rachit Hirani, automotive content creator whose channel Motoroctane counts over 4 million subscribers on YouTube.