Spending a fortune on doing up cars is a fad with those who want wellness to double up as a statement in one-upmanship. It is no longer a surprise to find the fast and the furious spending big bucks on state-of-art car accessories that appear straight out of a Bond movie. Shelling out Rs 5 lakh for accessories to be fitted in a Rs 4-lakh automobile is increasingly becoming a way of life with car enthusiasts At the crest of a booming economy, the spending power of the salaried class has just gotten better. And the entry of various brands into the Indian market is playing aspirants like Vivaldi?s violin.

No wonder the size of the Rs 1,200-crore car accessories market in India is expected to double in strength by 2010. According to the industry estimates, a good 20% of this will come from the top-end accessories whose prices start from around Rs 15,000 and go up to Rs 60,000-Rs 70,000.

Naturally, the leading players in the car accessories segment are expecting to register growth of 15-20% over the next few years as the demand for sophisticated add-ons surges further.

The entertainment and infotainment systems (head units, speakers, amplifiers and sub-woofers) continue to be the biggest revenue generator in the industry as these gadgets are the most sought-after accessories. Not far behind are flood-lights, high-end leather upholstery, GPS navigation systems, multimedia systems and car PCs. You name it, and they have it.

?These days, youngsters are getting good salaries, and the fact is that there is a rising trend of nuclear families, people generally do not have much financial liability. This has resulted into an increase in the spending power of individuals,? says Ajay Sahney, head, Blaupunkt India. Cars being one of the most-used products, there is a growing trend of adding hi-tech features to them, he adds.

International brands like Balupunkt are offering a wide range of car audio systems that include speakers and amplifiers. Among the costliest are an audio system that comes for Rs 40,000 and a high-end amplifier of the Velocity series for Rs 50,000.

?Very high-end listeners who want studio quality sound without any distortion can go in for as much as 15 speakers in a car along with the same number of amplifiers. Hence, they end up shelling out lakhs only to quench their thirst for good music,? explains Sahney.

?Moreover, the young, music-loving car owners, who spend lot of their time on cars, want to ensure that they carry their music with them. Hence, products like Velocity2Go are in huge demand as they can act as a sub-woofer when installed inside a car or a complete audio system when taken out,? he says, adding that high-end audio systems constitute around 20% of the total market, while speakers and amplifiers constitute 10-15% of the overall market.

According to industry estimates, the total audio car market in India is pegged at one million units with around Rs 1,000 crore as revenue. This is expected to grow 10-12% over the next five years.

Also in great demand are the GPS navigation systems. Currently, the prices of a navigation system in India hover around Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000. With more players mulling a foray into the segment, the industry is expected to grow to half-a-million units in the next three years from a mere 50,000 units expected to be sold in 2008. ?People generally prefer to go to nearby towns using their own vehicles. This, coupled with the fact that places like Delhi and Mumbai are so huge that commuting within the city also needs regular guidance, nothing but a navigation system helps them to find their way,? says an industry expert. This trend is fuelling the demand for navigation devices.

Even top-end leather upholstery is finding its way into cars in a big way, despite the fact that the weather in India does not support certain materials to be used as seat covers. ?Leather upholstery has lately emerged as an up-market product. Those who are part of high society generally go in for an all-leather interior, as it has more status symbol attached to it than the normal fabric covers or the near-leather PU-coated fabrics,? says Subhash Singhal, partner, Elegant Auto Accessories.

?For a car like Honda City, the top-end pure leather seat covers cost around Rs 16,000, while fabric seat covers come for Rs 8,000, and people with deep pockets do not mind shelling out this much to lend an elegant feel to their cars,? he says. The car seat cover market in India is estimated to be around Rs 150 crore. It is growing at over 10% and has equal proportions of both organised and unorganised players.

How should your car smell? How secure it is? Top car perfumes, costing over Rs 10,000 and security systems like immobilisers that are now coming as OEM-fitted, have already gained a strong foothold in India?s booming automobile industry.

Then there are car PCs. Computers are now being offered as an in-built device by most high-end luxury car makers, but a minuscule number of people is going in for PCs inside.

?The Indian auto industry is undergoing a revolution, not just in terms of new models and new players, but also in terms of high-tech gadgets that are making their way into the country. Several international car accessory brands are entering India to tap the emerging market of car enthusiasts, and this has given the car lovers a wide range of products to choose from,? says a Mumbai-based analyst.

So, next time when the system belts out Baby you can drive my car, make sure your costly gadgets are in place.