What's the smartest way to buy a car?

I have witnessed a substantial rise in car buyers. A major chunk of these cars seems to be in the 15-25 lakh range. With everyone being able to afford such good cars despite inflation and taxes, I wanted to ask for opinions from car buyers on this page about the most sensible way to buy a 25 lakh car.

Strategy 1: I've always heard financial gurus and experts say that relying on heavy loans is a bad idea, and I kind of agree, as I work in the IT industry where job security can be volatile. So, I planned to put down at least 15 lakh as a down payment and take the remaining 10 lakh as a loan, which I can comfortably clear in 5 years. The interest I'll end up paying to the bank will be about 2.5 lakhs.

Strategy 2: I collect 15 lakh and, instead of putting it all down, I put only 5 lakh down and invest the remaining 10 lakh in a set of safe mutual funds that return at least 15% per annum. This way, I pay 5 lakh in interest to the bank for the car, but the funds in 5 years would return 10 lakhs.

What would you suggest I go with? Do you have any other strategies in mind?