India's Traffic Is So Bad It's Changing the Cars People Buy
- More Indians are buying pricier vehicles with automatic gears
- New car models are expected to flood the Indian market
Traffic travels along a road in Delhi, India, on Friday, April 8, 2106. The odd-even car rationing plan is scheduled to return on April 15 as Delhi Supreme Court is also set to hold a hearing regarding the large vehicle diesel ban. Both measures are aimed at curbing emissions in the world's most polluted city, according to a 2014 World Health Organization database.
Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/BloombergIndia’s snarling traffic jams can leave cars crawling at under 5 kilometers an hour -- making it almost faster to walk than drive.
Now, ever lengthening commutes are pushing the country’s famously price-conscious consumers to upgrade to cars that are easier to drive. Most notably, more are buying pricier models that sport automatic gears and moving away from the manual stick-shifts that have long held sway over Indian roads.