SUVs vroom despite hassles

Patna: The number of high-end SUVs is increasing at a fast clip in the city. Congested city roads and regular traffic snarls have failed to deter the rich and neo-rich from flaunting their money by owning luxury cars priced above Rs 25 lakh. No less than 50 Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW vehicles are moving on city roads now.
The craze for owning a BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Nissan Terrano or an Audi has grown though there is no showroom in the city for their sales or service centres for their maintenance.
Ayushman Agrawal, a Patna-based businessman and proud owner of BMW and Jaguar SUVs, says, "We prefer these high-end SUVs because of their space, seating capacity, versatility, comfort, hi-tech features and looks. These SUVs provide ultimate comfort during travel. True, they don't have showrooms or service centres in the city and we have to send our vehicles to Kolkata for servicing, but that is only once or twice a year. Moreover, these vehicles are made with such advanced technology that we hardly face any problem on the road."
Noted filmmaker-director and founder member of Magadh Motors Sports Club Pranav Shahi, who owns both a BMW and a Mercedes car, says, "There are two kinds of BMW owners in the city. Many of them possess second-hand ones brought from Delhi or Kolkata, while some are owners of new vehicles. For the new vehicles, servicing is not an issue. If you call up the company's authorized centre, they send their representatives to service your SUV.''
Dr Ashutosh Trivedi, a noted orthodontist, also has a BMW. "I send my SUV to Kolkata or Jamshedpur for servicing. But that is only once a year, and I do not mind it as these vehicles provide ultimate luxury and comfort to us."
Pranav Sahu, another city-based businessman and owner of Godrej Interio showroom, is also a proud owner of Land Rover. "I have to call up the authorized service centres either in Kolkata or Bhubaneswar and they send their representative to service my vehicle. But to be honest, it is not satisfying at all. An authorized service centre has no substitute."
Asked about the reasons for this surge in the sales of SUVs, another BMW owner Rajan Verma said, "I purchased it way back in 2010. Good law and order coupled with good road conditions in the state led to phenomenal increase in their purchases. The lifestyle of people of Bihar has changed significantly and they are now spending money on luxurious items."
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