Thanks for the info. re: Pajero. I was a mis-guided all my life and a blind Pajero fan because Pajero's were Pak # 1 choice. After all Pak had access to foreign maal Vs. India with old time clunkers. This in the good old bad days, very bad.
See, city ppl. in India and most no-tax agri. places like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Western UP .... basically everywhere except parts of Bihar, East UP ... and some tribal areas all over, vehicle ownership is now possible.
That leaves us the richer areas which are more like Pakistan. Think Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Western UP, Maha, Andra, Malabar, Calcutta, Madras etc. Between property price boom, white collar job boom and pvt. banking sector giving out vehicle loans; ppl. don't think of prices in lakhs but monthly payments of couple of thousands, as in PAk. The magic is that between a retired father, 2 brother's or 2 sister's, or a mix, and maybe some farm or rental income, monthly payments of 2500-5,000 for a vehicle are possible for middle class Indians for the 1'st time. Basically a family put together can easily afford a vehicle on their monthly payment plan, depends on the vehicle. I'm not talking car's only. Motorcycles (albeit tinny ones) and scooters are # 1, 3-wheelers and mini trucks are #2 & #3 in poorer areas The rich getting richer and poor getting poorer is a myth re: developing countries. The real boom in emerging countries is in the 'grey' economy. It's opposite is true in developed places where the state is all powerful.
The key difference is that 2 generations of Indians, father's and grand-father's, put up with made-in India un-affordable, dangerous and 'cut-paste' maal. Vespa, Lambretta, Yezdi, Jawa, Fiat, Ambassador, Matador, etc.
As this economic phenomenon spreads, Indians have turned into world's biggest consumers of vehicles for business reasons. , the recreational user market also expands. Everything is super sized given the 1.2 Billion marketplace.
It's a self - fulfilling cycle. The more the demand from the bottom, ... maybe not ok, so the more the demand from the 1 or 2 before the bottom-of-the-pyramid, the more the demand from the top end. The cycle drives more factories, more suppliers and more competition. Things gets cheaper and better for everyone.
No wonder the players in the Indian market run the world's biggest factories be it Bajaj, Hero Honda, TVS, Maruti-Suzuki, Tata or the new transnationals like GM, Ford, Hyundai, Fiat, VW.
For eg., in the Coal belt region of India where most coal mines are govt. owned, 1 can pay a pittance in bribe and take as much coal as 2 hands and a bicycle will allow for sale in the next market. This will make you a couple of dollars a day. Bicycles (Inida has many of the world's largest bicycle factories) are cheap and can even be rented at a daily rate, but the real kicker is 'motorised' battery run bicycle which can quadruple sales/per diem.
So even nominal and recreational technology is having a disruptive and discontinuous effect in the poorest parts. This is the eco-system Pakistan should also aim for. I wonder about CNG fishing boats in Pak. What will happen when same convert to electric or battery powered propulsion, PAkistan is famous for it's water resources.