India is a developing country. Her economic conditions are typical, as are her culture and the mode of living of her people. The country's per capita GNP is Rs 650 per annum. This also implies that only three million people in the country, or about five percent of the total population, earn more than Rs 5,000, and only six million earn more than Rs 3,000 per year. People in the uppermost income bracket are the owners of the 10 lakh motor cars that are on Indian roads. A lower section of this income bracket, earning between Rs 6,000 and Rs 12,000 per annum, can also afford some kind of motorised vehicle. However, this group cannot ever hope to buy a motor car, which costs around Rs 20,000. As a result, they must either forego the great conveniences provided by a family vehicle such as a car or opt for a secondary mode of transportation. The only substitute vehicle that also has a lower price and is suitable for family use would be some kind of two-wheeler, such as a motorcycle, scooter, or moped, all of which are poor substitutes for a regular family vehicle.

It is in this analytical framework that the three wheeled autorickshaw could fulfil a pressing transportation need for the average Indian. Being a small vehicle with a simple structural design and sufficient power (7 horse power), it is probably the closest reality to the concept of a people’s car. However, the autorickshaw is not accepted today as a family vehicle, despite its tremendous versatility and potential. The cost of the autorickshaw, at about Rs 8,000, is quite reasonable during the lifetime of the middle income group. This can be understood in its true perspective when the cost of the autorickshaw is compared to the cost of the existing motor cars, which cost two to three times as much. Despite these factors that position the autorickshaw as the ideal vehicle, it must now be noted that it severely lacks in several critical functional aspects, rendering it unsuitable for use as a family vehicle.

The primary aim of this project is to redesign the existing autorickshaw with a view to eliminating all these inherent defects and initiating the genesis of a far superior design specifically meant to provide all the functions of a family vehicle, unlike the existing multipurpose vehicle, which is modified to serve the purpose in a limited way.

Such an approach to the problem should give birth to a singularly unique design that would, in effect, be a substitute family vehicle for that large section of the population that cannot afford a motor car but does feel the need for one. It cannot be stressed enough here how significant such a solution would be for the immediate and substantial improvement in the standard and quality of living of the Indian people.