From Maruti to Merc—there's a car to fit every wallet

They inked a business deal 30 years ago. At that time, perhaps no one would have guessed just how it would change the country's roadscape.
Maruti Udyog entered into a joint venture with Suzuki of Japan in 1982. A year later, out rolled its first hatchback, the prototype of the iconic Maruti 800. Few thought that chit of a car would be able to take on the leviathan Ambassador, who, along with lady accomplice Premier Padmini, had a duopoly over the market. But what the new car lacked in size, it made up in attitude. As the first company to mass produce cars in a country where the population was huge and a set of wheels rare, Maruti Udyog quickly grabbed the market and reached the first millionth mark. This February, it sold its ten millionth car in India.
The Maruti nimbly wove its way through traffic congestion, parked itself in the narrowest lanes and perhaps unwillingly, lent its name to the Maruti Culture—one defined by people adept at squeezing their way through the thickest of situations. Amby owners looked at Maruti families with disdain initially; it's almost a dinky car, they snootily proclaimed. If only to prove a point, Maruti owners began packing their cars with as many people as they could—seven, then ten. They opened the boot door and packed a few children there, too, for good measure.

For years, Maruti had a free run in the market and on the streets. It launched several other cars: Omni, Esteem and another beloved, Zen, till the markets opened in the 90s and foreign makes began trickling in. Hyundai set up a plant in India and rolled out a strange looking Santro, and Daewoo its bubble shaped Matiz. There was more money in the country now, so the Mitsubishi Lancers and Opel Astras had ready buyers, too.
But it was Ratan Tata who was now busy scripting the new chapters of India's car-nama. Tata Motors launched Indica, the country's first indigenous car in 1998. With air conditioning and power windows at the entry level model, it redefined basic. Those who said a company which made trucks wouldn't know a thing about cars had to eat humble pie as Indica, and its upmarket sibling Indigo, established themselves with ease at home, and also rolled onto ships for export. Ten years later, despite grappling with mounting costs and an unreasonable didi in Bengal, aapro Ratan fulfilled a promise and introduced Nano, the world's cheapest car priced at ∃1 lakh. Among the first to buy it was a 
cobbler from Mumbai. His name, ironically, was Maruti Bhandare.

So now here we are. There's a car to fit every wallet, every lifestyle. From the sedan to the SUV. From the Nano to the Merc. Incidentally, in places like Aurangabad, even the latter are bought in bulk by businessmen. From no car to two cars per family, it hasn't taken too long on the timeline, has it? But the market is only set to grow further, what with one survey saying that even now, only eight in a thousand Indians own a car. One estimate says that by 2050, every sixth car made in the world will be for the Indian road. Wow! But will there be enough road per car?