Time and again, studies have explored the connection between vehicle types and personality types. However, seldom has a brand and its drivers been singled out the way Haryana's director-general of police, OP Singh, did this weekend when he criticised the Mahindra Thar. "The choice of car shows the mindset of a person," Singh said in Gurgaon on Saturday. Linking the SUV's drivers to road stunts and accidents, he added, "Whoever has a Thar, his mind would not be in its right place. Thar is not a car. It is a statement."
People do make statements with a purchase. In that sense, Singh is right. But that is true across the spectrum of brands. Sure, one could be making a statement with a car, but one could be doing so with a watch, a dress, a pair of shoes, a handbag, or a perfume as well. "Even the iPhone is used to convey a pseudo sense of status. Perceptions get attached to brands, especially those that catch popular imagination or command aspirational value," says Dr Sanjeev Bansal, Additional pro vice-Chancellor and dean of Faculty of Management Studies at Amity University. "And people associated with these brands get judged through them."
Tahseen Haider, who heads administration at a private company, says this judgment of Thar owners, voiced by the DGP, has been fed by displays of machismo by people driving Thar on social media, which in turn has made road rage incidents involving the SUV more noticeable. Haider, who bought a red Thar four years ago, says, "It's now become one of those stereotypes. If you are driving a Thar, you are someone to whom traffic laws don't apply, you drive as you like, and you are a bully. Social media simply reinforces those stereotypes. Some people driving may derive a sense of power from it, but they don't speak for all."
SUVs worldwide, more so high-performance brands perceived as more masculine than others, have been the subject of driver behaviour studies for years, both in Europe and the US. In India, several SUVs before Thar have had this perception of unruly driving stuck to them, like Tata Sumo and the now withdrawn Toyota Qualis. But can rash driving or the tendency to break rules be linked to particular vehicles? Likely not. For example, a 2023 UK govt study found 44% of cars broke speed limits in free-flowing traffic. This was not specific to a vehicle type. Besides, psychological factors have a connection with rash or dangerous driving. A 2023 Israeli study inferred drivers' more hostile behaviour was related to higher levels of state-trait anxiety among drivers.
In Delhi-NCR, where road rage incidents are still alarmingly frequent, perpetrators have been seen to drive all sorts of vehicles, sometimes even two-wheelers. "Am I wary of every SUV or Thar that I see while driving? No. I do sometimes get worried if I'm driving with my wife and daughter late at night and there's a car right behind us or a car is doing something funny, like overtaking and braking. Cops must crack down on that sort of behaviour to make our roads safe," says a Gurgaon-based consultant.
Singh, who was speaking in Gurgaon on Saturday, based his comments on recent incidents. Two weeks ago, two men were arrested after a video of a man urinating from a moving Thar on a public road went viral on social media. In Sept, five students of a law college in Greater Noida died after their Thar crashed into the foot of a flyover on Delhi-Gurgaon expressway as the driver lost control at high speed. Recently, thieves used a Thar to tow away a Scorpio from near the Gurgaon police commissioner's office. The DGP also narrated an incident in Faridabad where a property dealer was run over by an ACP's son driving a Thar. And a couple of months ago, a case was registered against two persons for performing a dangerous stunt on Delhi-Jaipur highway (a woman was sitting on the roof of a moving Thar).
But one can't draw an inference from a few incidents and form a sweeping general perception, says Renu Malhotra, who is based in Noida and works in the modelling industry. "Rowdiness depends on the person behind the wheel rather than the car." Driving a Thar since 2023, she adds, has been an experience she loved. "The Thar is one of the best vehicles out there," she says.
Ravi Veeravalli, a management consultant, admits he sometimes feels judged for driving a Thar. "But I don't care," says Ravi, who bought the car because it fit right into his passion for road trips and love for the mountains.
Car dealers in Gurgaon said the Thar is one of the most widely sold vehicles in the city and the client profile is diverse. Around 450 Thars are sold in the city every month and 80% of them are the black variant, according to one dealer. "There are those in occupations like property dealing, etc., who have bought Thars from me, as have doctors," says an auto store owner, adding what police need to stop is rowdy public behaviour. "It is common in Gurgaon to spot people drinking inside cars outside a theka. Cops must get stricter here."
Esha Mehta, a counselling psychologist with nearly two decades of experience, says the perception that "notorious elements" tend to drive the Thar is a socio-psychological stereotype. "The vehicle's rugged design, high seating, and commanding visibility create a sense of dominance for the driver, which can be misread as aggression. Over time, when a few individuals who fit this ‘notorious' label drive such vehicles, it reinforces existing biases. This is a classic case of confirmation bias," she adds.
The stereotype, she explains, persists because it feeds into the broader social narrative that associates big vehicles with strength and power. "It is deeply unfair to label all Thar owners as aggressive or uncivil. Personalities are complex. Bad driving and civic indiscipline are not vehicle-specific. Aggression and notoriety exist across all car types, be it a hatchback, sedan, or SUV. In the end, every driver is an individual with unique motivations and behaviour," she adds.
(With inputs from Shafaque Alam, Ayantika Pal & Kritika Sharma)