Premium car features will trickle down to the mass market segment soon; here's why

What was science fiction of yore is flagship tech of today. And what is flagship tech today will become accessible to a larger set of consumers tomorrow. That, in a nutshell, is the democratisation of technology, which takes place for reasons such as economies of scale, lower prices, innovation and greater demand.

A sterling example is the iPhone. Before 2020, only the line-up’s flagship Pro models sported OLED displays; the non-Pro models had to make do with IPS LCD displays. But come 2020, all iPhones in the line-up were provided with OLED displays.

The story is similar in the automotive space, where some features available in premium cars now could well be available in more mass-market variants in the future. Here is our pick of four such features:

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

This is a feature that’s already available in several cars in India like the Mahindra XUV700, the Honda City or the MG Hector. As this tech evolves, features like adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, automatic emergency braking and blind spot monitoring could truly save lives.

Augmented Reality

AR in cars? Yes, but we’re talking about AR heads-up displays (HUD) and AR cameras. AR HUDs are a standard feature in several premium cars in India. Here, details such as potential safety hazards, driving modes, speed limits and turn-by-turn navigation are projected on the windshield in front of the driver. The BMW i7 has taken this a notch higher by superimposing turn-by-turn directions on visuals from the front camera, giving an immersive AI experience.

Suspension tech

For the tough terrain on India’s roads, advanced air suspension tech can prove to be a game changer. Cars like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the EQS 580 have a self-levelling suspension system that automatically slows the vehicle at high speeds and can be raised to tackle tough terrain or the occasional speed-breaker. Range Rover also offers this feature across its SUVs and it can come in handy, especially for ingress and egress from the vehicle.

Steering tech

No matter how good a driver you are, it’s often impossible to parallel park or manoeuvre a big car in narrow lanes. That’s when rear axle steering—available in cars such as the Range Rover SV and Mercedes-Benz EQS—comes in handy. A slight tilt of the rear wheel reduces the turning radius and makes the big car easier to manoeuvre than a Honda City or a Maruti Suzuki Baleno.