At a time when the automotive world is bullish on self-driving cars, Maruti Suzuki Chairman R.C. Bhargava says such autonomous vehicles will not work in India as “nobody obeys any of the driving rules“.
“I would love to see people try and put that technology to use in the Indian driving conditions,” Mr. Bhargava said.
At an interaction here late on Thursday evening, he was asked about his views on self-driving cars and how were they likely to impact the traditional automobile industry.
It is about customer behaviour
“I think no technology will work here when nobody obeys any of the driving rules, nobody obeys any of the systems which are there. How will you devise a technology that will predict customer behaviour? Nobody can predict customer behaviour” he said.
Asked about the impact of taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber on the automobile manufacturers, Mr. Bhargava said they were good for the industry.
“The reason is they bring much greater efficiency into the ability of people to use cars for transportation, the cars are used much more intensively and efficiently and there is much less of empty running, all of which lead to greater efficiency,” he added.
In future, these types of companies will become large purchasers of cars, he added.
Moreover, Mr. Bhargava said, as cars of aggregators are used optimally, the replacement cycle is faster and it is good for the industry.
