Gautam Sen, the vice president (external relations) at Fédération Internationale de Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), the international federation for historic vehicles, feels that the vehicle scrappage policy will only help the country’s automobile industry.
Sen, who founded India’s first newsstand car magazine Indian Auto in 1986, is directly associated with the automobile industry in India and Europe.
He has worked with eminent designers such as Gerard Godfroy, Tom Tjaarda and Marcello Gandini.
Since 2010, Sen has also published several critically acclaimed books on automobiles.In an interview to TOI, Sen said both scrapping of old vehicles and deregistration of 15-year-old vehicles will not help in bringing down emission.
Excerpts…Q.
What kind of changes have you seen in India’s auto industry?A.
In the 80s, I started the country’s first car magazine ‘Indian Auto’.
In those times, we had only three Indian companies — Hindustan Motors, Fiat and Standard Motors.
Then came Maruti in 1984 and by 1986, the numbers grew with five car makers.
But at that point of time, the two-wheeler industry was already booming.
Since then, there has been a massive rise in the number of vehicles even though the state-of-the-art cars designed in the 1950s like Ambassador, Premier Padmini etc.
were immensely popular in the 80s.
In those days, cars were in good demand, unlike today.
In that sense, the industry has completely transformed as at that time we were a fledgling young industry and today, it’s a very mature industry with the largest tractor manufacturers, second largest two-wheeler manufacturers and top five car makers.
India’s current auto technology matches world standards.Q.
What is Fédération Internationale de Véhicules Anciens all about and in what way is it connected to India?A.
FIVA is a 55-year-old organization established in 1966.
It is a federation of different bodies and clubs dealing in historic vehicles.
FIVA works towards protecting, promoting and preserving the history of vintage cars.
FIVA has a presence in 85 countries, has more than 105 members and represents about five million people the world over.
The need for such a conglomeration of bodies of classic vehicles was necessitated as governments across the globe cite high vehicular emissions as the reason to bury vintage vehicles into obscurity.
While FIVA believes it is a part of the automobile history, the government thinks that these cars/vehicles will be used on a daily basis but the fact is that they should be allowed for occasional use is something we feel is part of our heritage and FIVA is there to protect that.
Q.
What are your views about the transport ministry’s argument that getting rid of an estimated 9 million old vehicles will mean cleaner air and boost automobile sales? A.
Yes, it will boost automobile sales.
The reason why countries have vehicle scrappage policy is primarily to benefit the automobile industry.
For every car that you junk, you are probably replacing three to four new vehicles on the road.Q How does India’s V-VFMP compare with similar programmes in Europe, USA and the far East? A.
China is one country which has a compulsory vehicle scrappage policy.
Vehicles that run over 6,00,000km or are more than 15 years old are scrapped in China.
So the sale of new vehicles on an average has been topping 20-23 million in the last few years, whereas scrappage is four to five million.
How can pollution levels be controlled by scrapping old vehicles?.
It is completely illogical and the argument that scrapping vehicles will mean less air pollution is honestly rubbish.
To clean up the air there are other ways to do it and China has a solution.
In Beijing, the public transport vehicle share is only 3%.
People use their private vehicles only to go to office and back.
Rest of the time they use public transport.
So, these 3% vehicles contribute to almost 30% of pollution in Beijing.
So, they decided to convert these 3% vehicles into electric on priority and bring down emission by 30% or so.Q.
The transport ministry has notified that all vehicles owned by the Central, state governments, PSUs and local self government bodies shall be automatically deregistered after 15 years.
Is deregistration not a burden on the exchequer?A.
If the usage of vehicles is minimal or most of them carefully maintained, it should be allowed.
In Kolkata, the Army (eastern command) has a beautiful Austin Sheerline, a Dodge Kingsway and a Mercedes Benz used by General Niyazi in the 1960s.
These vehicles are all part of their staff cars.
Won’t it be a criminal to discard a part of our history? Scrapping such vehicles of heritage value would be wrong and instead, they should promote preserving vintage vehicles.Q.
The transport ministry has notified via a draft policy about preservation of vintage vehicles by classifying them as 50-year or older ones.
A.
The reasoning is simple: 50 years or more will knock off General Niyazi’s Mercedes Benz.
India’s specific automobile industry is between 30 and 50 years.
Our automobile industry, especially two-wheeler, started growing in the ’70s and cars emerged in the ’80s.
If we consider the 50-year mark for preservation of vintage vehicles then we obviously have to scrap all vehicles manufactured in the 1970s and 80s.
A major chunk of India’s own automotive industry will be destroyed.Q.
With the imminent changeover from internal combustion engine to electric vehicles in the future, how do you see the scenario unfolding for India?A.
There are cars which are being accepted by more and more people across the world.
It has a limited range.
People can’t use multiple vehicles.
Today, EVs are a luxury.
People who have electric vehicles use these only intra-city.
Q.
In what way can we make EVs more user-friendly?A.
It is a question of battery technology.
In another two to three years or so there will be batteries which will have enough range to use EVs on almost a daily basis.
EVs will be going to be much more expensive and the government must give encouragement by giving rebates in taxes.Q.
Despite a historic record, is the government promoting collection of vintage vehicles? A.
I don’t think the government is doing so.
But some states have funded museums to preserve vintage vehicles.
Many people are doing that to get some benefit from the government and that’s the reason people are putting together a collection of vintage vehicles.
Of course, it’s a very elitist hobby.
If you have a big collection and can afford to have a museum then you have an advantage.
If you just own two or three cars, you are nobody.
In that sense, the government is nothing for them, as we are not a rich country.
Actually, the government is discouraging them and helping richer collectors.
The new policy, which India is bringing, will encourage only big collectors and small collectors will be finished.