Aurangabad:
Starting today, Rishi Darda is entitled to use a bumper sticker that says "My other car is a Nano." He's among 150 men who've just been handed over their spanking-new Mercedes cars in Aurangabad.
Their home town may not exactly be the dream market for big brands, but that's exactly what Darda and friends are hoping to change. They want to prove that Aurangabad is ready for the big league.
This is the largest bulk sale ever for Mercedes in India. Rs 65 crores in a single transaction. Somewhere, a car salesman is in commission heaven.
Like all big ideas, this one started small. A few businessmen who knew each other decided to buy their Mercedes. Then they began actively soliciting acquaintances and friends of friends. 100 Benz-seekers came on board. Some wanted more than one car.
The models delivered today range in price from 25 to 90 lakhs.
"We did not get together and place a bulk order for a discount. Companies generally look at bigger cities for investment, but smaller cities like Aurangabad have good infrastructure too," says Darda.
Eight hours away, another town is trying to shake off its Tier Two branding. The sugar fields of Kolhapur are dotted with BMWs or Landcruisers as often as they are with tractors. A few years ago, when politicians didn't know any better, these are the sort of scenes that made India Shining seem like a worthy slogan of a country heading towards super-powerdom.
But as those politicians discovered, that's a hollow claim. Within a few hundred kilometres of both Aurangabad and Kolhapur lie some of the country's most notorious killing fields. Where debt is the invisible hand that strangles farmers who decide they can't go on anymore, and where thousands of children have become the helpless face of malnutrition and hunger.