Everyone is talking about how our Honourable Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the millennials prefer cab services like Ola and Uber instead of committing to an EMI. Well, it is easy to say this and blame the millennial generation, but if we take a closer look at this situation, we will find many factors that contribute to the slowdown in the automobile sector.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman: Automobile industry is now affected by BS6 and the mindsets of millennial, who now prefer to have Ola or Uber rather than committing to buying an automobile pic.twitter.com/6KEecyopH3
— ANI (@ANI) September 10, 2019
Firstly, there are not many employment opportunities in the economy right now, and those who are employed are not being paid well. So for people belonging to this group rather than spending on a car and then spending on petrol or diesel (which isn’t cheap either), it is more feasible for them to use the public transport which is cheaper and more convenient.
Secondly, we are all aware of the major traffic and parking problems we face in our cities. So instead of purchasing cars and adding to the already existing traffic in the cities and also taking the added stress of where to park your car, it is much much easier to take a cab or public transport. This frees one from the frustration of driving on a traffic-jammed road and the added stress of searching for a parking spot.
Lastly, we know how poor air quality we have in our cities. This means if we don’t purchase cars and other automobiles, there will be less consumption of fossil fuels which means there will be less pollution overall.
When it comes to the millennial generation, if we splurge on buying things and vacations, then we are blamed for spending too much. And if we save money and not spend much, then also we are blamed for causing a slowdown in the automobile sector. At present, the income is not growing at the rate at which expenses are growing. This is resulting in more distress and less peace in households.
While Nirmala ji has blamed this “millennial mindset” for the automobile slowdown, some media houses are calling the millennial generation “cab-addicts”. This millennial generation is very much aware of how to use the available resources efficiently so that even future generations can use these resources. This is something I wish the generation prior to us had realised at an early stage.