With the summer sun blazing brightly across most of India, stepping into a car that has been parked in the open for a while is pretty much akin to stepping into a sauna. That might explain why a new survey has revealed a surprising shift in what Indian car buyers are prioritising, and no, it’s not the good old sunroof that is number 1 on the list any more.
The survey, conducted by Park Plus Research Labs, which gathered insights from 6,000 car owners across the country, suggests that ventilated seats are now the top feature people look for when buying a new car. Around 78 per cent of those surveyed said ventilated seats were a must-have. Given the heatwaves we’re seeing, that’s not too hard to believe, and ventilated seats, which were once only found in luxury cars, have found their way to the mass segments. The most affordable vehicles which employ this feature include the Tata Nexon and the Kia Sonet.
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Ventilated seats in a car use tiny fans integrated within the seat cushions and backrests. These fans draw in cooled air from the vehicle’s air conditioning system and circulate it through seat perforations. Carmakers such as Hyundai, Kia, Tata, MG, Skoda and Volkswagen are already on board, offering this feature primarily on the front row seats in higher variants of their passenger vehicles, respectively.
Meanwhile, the once-trendy sunroof seems to be losing its charm. Only 11 per cent of respondents deemed it a must-have. Sure, it adds a premium touch, but most buyers are seeing it as more style than substance, especially when you factor in the heat, the risk of leaks during monsoons, and maintenance concerns.
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Advanced Driver Assistance Systems also didn’t rank too high on the list of most sought-after features, with just 8 per cent of participants put it on their list of essential features. And when it comes to big infotainment screens, only 3 per cent of respondents saw it as a necessity.
