The adverse publicity for remote security locks for cars in the aftermath of the Mumbai floods last year and the recent accidents in Delhi, wherein passengers were trapped inside their vehicles, has resulted in a massive slump in sales for small players, especially aftermarket ones.
While big manufacturers like Autocop, Nippon and Minda have ridden over the crisis, smaller players have seen their sales plummet. Praveen Bajaj of Bajaj Communications says: “The misinformation about central locking devices for cars has had people being hesitant to install them. We have seen sales enquiries dropping drastically in areas like Jharkhand, Ghaziabad and Patna”.
Blackcat, brand leader in remote control bike alarms, has seen a fall in sales in the car market, especially after media reports attributed the spate of accidents and deaths in North India to central locking devices. Bajaj, however, refutes charges that they are dangerous and that they refuse to function in case of fire or an accident. He said that a few reports even blamed the systems for causing fires in cars!
Putting things in the right perspective, Bajaj says that central locking devices per se do not cause fires. Sparks can be caused by any of the several electrical devices in a vehicle including batteries, self-starter, ignition switch, ignition circuit, lights, horns, stereos, power windows and loose wires. But it is virtually impossible for any of them to lead to a fire in a car.
As for the contention that doors (with central locking) cannot open in the event of an accident or internal fire, he explained that “central locking actuators are nothing but motors installed/working in parallel with manual locking. In no way do they obstruct the manual locking function. It implies that the door locks can be still be opened manually, even if there is no battery power or central locking is defective.”
Moreover, he says, all carmakers use fire-resistant wiring. Also, many fuses go off due to a short circuit in wires. Bajaj cautions against use of local fitments and amateur wiring by poorly-trained mechanics.
BIGGIES RIDE THE CRISIS
“Yes, there was an initial scare but we did not witness any drop in sales for car security-cum-central locking systems,” says Harsh Sharma, director, marketing, Autocop India, the leading player with 86 percent market share. It is an OEM supplier to Hyundai (Cobra and Maxx brands), Tata Motors, GM, Ford and Toyota. In the aftermarket, its products sell under the Guardian, Pirana, and Terminator brand names. “We sold around 48,000 pieces last month alone, more than we did in June 2005,” he said.