Till 2005, Suzuki used to sell a hatchback version of Esteem in Europe and called it Swift. The car had a loyal following. It is said that when the new Swift hit the market, the buyers and wannabe buyers of the old Swift came to see it and went back shaking their heads in bewildered disappointment.

In their place came a new, much bigger crowd of customers that wanted the new Swift. After 2000, the total installed manufacturing capacity, at about 1.6 million a year, became much higher than the demand of about 1.2 million. The market became the buyer's, instead of the seller's.

The post-Independence generation lived in scarcity and was averse to spending. The next generation came into some money but spent only what it had in its pocket.

The present generation, spoilt by the boom in retail finance, is not willing to wait for the day after tomorrow, when money would come, to buy its dream. It is a generation that crowds airports, not railway stations, and doesn't mind spending Rs 500 on a movie show. "Yesterday's conveniences are today's hygiene," says Mayank Pareek, the joint head of sales and marketing.

Inevitably, the concept of the car could not remain insulated from these changes. From a transport solution, it has become an extension of the owner's personality.

Image: Workers fit out Maruti-Suzuki Swift cars on an assembly line at the new auto plant at Manesar in Haryana | Photograph: Prakash Singh AFP/Getty Images