The Hindu Business Line : Hi-tech accessories riding on buoyant luxury car market

New Delhi, July 29 Hi-tech gizmos are inundating the domestic market as the luxury car segment continues to zoom. The car accessories market is evolving to equip consumers with the most sophisticated devices that could transform car space into an entertainment zone.

The gizmos include devices which not only allows listening to music but also watch TV, play video games, charge laptops and converse over the phone effortlessly while driving.

For the high networth individuals, there is Angel, a tracking device.

It works with two SIMS — one placed in the car (it can also be used for bikes or precious bags) and the other inserted in the mobile or the laptop. In case of theft, the owner can not only locate his vehicle but even shut down the car battery, thanks to the GPS-based system.

It will even work if the owner himself is in the car and triggers an SOS call to pre-registered emergency numbers.

GPS accessories

“We are importing this GPS enabled car accessory from Japan and will sell it at about Rs 27,000 in the Indian market. In the last five months, we have sold 35 units mainly to bankers and jewellers,” said Mr Prashant Behiki of Skytech Multimedia Systems, who is a dealer and also sells many of the latest gizmos on the e-bay site.

One of the products that has caught the consumer’s fancy is the infrared night vision camera that provides the driver with a panoramic view in the rear mirror, he said.

If the driver wants to use the mobile, the product comes with a bluetooth enabled seven-inch LCD screen that displays incoming call numbers, giving the user a chance to reject or take the call using the screen as an interface.

Infrared cameras

The infrared cameras with rear sensors are quite popular, said Mr Rohit Agarwal, an accessories supplier for Honda, Toyota, Mercedez-Benz and BMW cars.

Another popular device is the video screen placed on the sunvisor that can be used as a DVD/VCD and MP3 player. Using inbuilt technology, the gizmo is priced at a modest Rs 8,500.

According to dealers, who estimate some of these products growing at 10-15 per cent annually, it’s not just high-end car owners showing interest in these tech products — sales are slowly catching up across other car segments as well. “Many of the younger buyers do not have luxury cars, but they are certainly attracted to gizmos and are using them to enhance their driving experience,” said a dealer.

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