Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2019 i Car India

THE ALL-NEW MERCEDES GLB-CLASS SUV has arrived and it aims to offer a more versatile package at ― yes, we’re saying it ― good value. It’s no secret that the SUV segment is bursting at the seams with offerings of all shapes and sizes. Yet, the number of premium offerings that combine compact size with a choice of seven seats is surprisingly small, if any at all. Apart from the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, which isn’t even offered in India, there are no real alternatives from any of the big names. The new Mercedes-Benz GLB, then, fills this gaping void with authority. With Geländewagen genes built upon the modular front architecture that underpins a host of transverse-engined cars from the Stuttgart major, including the GLA, the GLB looks to…

BMW FORMALLY INTRODUCED THE M8 Coupé and Convertible duo in June and followed that up with the reveal of the 8 Series Gran Coupé. The sole-surviving 6er is now the Gran Turismo, with the rest of the 6 Series range now being confined to the history books. On to the latest 8er, the new M8 marks the arrival of the highest specification and packs a familiar blown V8 and is available in Coupé and Convertible guises, with an M8 Gran Coupé expected to follow suit. The new M8 duo get a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol with 600 PS and 750 Nm. The M8 Competition models get a higher 625 PS. The engine revs up to 7,200 rpm. The high-performance power unit teams up with an eight-speed M Steptronic automatic transmission…

WITH SALES DECLINING AND production halted by several manufacturers, Maruti Suzuki hope to breathe some life into the compact segment with the all-new S-Presso. The new compact crossover SUV design was first previewed as the Concept Future S and will be a sub-four-metre car packing a frugal petrol engine. We expect something along the lines of the Alto, but with a higher ground clearance. A 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine should bring the power, with a choice of five-speed manual or automated transmission expected as well. Expect competitive pricing in line with the popular Renault Kwid as it takes on the competition head-on once launched ahead of the festive season this year.…

THE UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT NETWORK, INDIA (UNGCNI) have honoured JK Tyre with the prestigious Best Practices Awards on Sustainable Development Goals. As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, JK Tyre have provided access to clean drinking water, implemented water conservation, and encouraged women’s empowerment at Kankroli in Rajasthan. A total of 13 hamlets have benefited from this initiative. Along with this, JK Tyre have also supplemented the Rajasthan government’s “Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan”, bringing positive results to irrigation as well. Steps have been taken to ensure that groundwater is not polluted any more by adopting a “zero discharge of wastewater” policy. For women’s empowerment, 42 self-help groups have been set up with the participation of over 700 women. Furthermore, they have also implemented adult literacy and skill development…

BUYER’S DILEMMA At the very outset I would like to thank you all for coming up with such great issues one after the other. I really love reading your magazine. I am looking to buy a new SUV in the price range of Rs 15 to 20 lakh. I have two SUVs in mind: the MG Hector and the upcoming Jeep Compass Trailhawk. I feel that the latter might be a better offroader than the former. Am I right? I would also like to know your expert opinion on the MG Hector. Please advise me as to which one of these two would be a better overall offering and why. Arif Sheikh, New Delhi Dear Arif, We have good news regarding your query. We have driven both the aforementioned SUVs…

AISHWARYA PISSAY IS A YOUNG AND successful racer with five road racing and rallying titles under her belt — and she’s only 23 years old. She is quickly rising through the ranks to the crème de la crème of the Indian motor sport scene and we had an opportunity to spend a couple of days with her to try and understand how a star athlete like her lives her life. For a young racer with great promise, I had brought along a young car with great promise — the new Toyota Glanza premium hatchback, perfect for driving around Aishwarya’s home town of Bengaluru and the short journey down to nearby Mysuru and back. Being a motor sport enthusiast myself, I jumped at the opportunity to find out how she trains…

THE RENAULT KWID has been capturing hearts since the original 800-cc version was launched in 2015, followed by a 1.0-litre version and the stylish Climber variant. Attractive looks, tall and rugged stance, sturdy build quality, and reasonable pricing have seen the Kwid succeed in our competitive market and Renault have sold over three lakh units of their entry-level hatch. To celebrate this sales milestone, Renault brought together over 50 Kwid owners and their families for a day of fun with their cars. The team from Renault had organized games, singing, dancing, and more to keep everyone from kids to their grandparents entertained, but the main event of the day was the mileage rally to see who could use the least fuel over a set route through the outskirts of Pune.…

I NEED NOT EMPHASIZE HOW IMPORTANT THE VENUE is for Hyundai, as it enters new, unexplored territory. And the same can be said about our drive location as we head to the North East where a lot is yet to be discovered. Starting from the rain-washed roads of Guwahati, we drove on one of the best driving roads in India that leads to Shillong in the neighbouring state of Meghalaya. There are three engine options to pick from: two petrol and one diesel. We got our hands on the much-anticipated 1.0-litre turbo petrol with the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and the tried and trusted 1.4-litre diesel which gets a six-speed manual. Since the 1.2-litre petrol manual was not available during this drive, we hope to review that in one of the…

ELECTRIC CARS, THEY SAY, ARE THE future and I have driven a few of them. Some popular international models and a few home-grown ones too. But what I am driving now is very different. Calling it special won’t be wrong either. This is the Hyundai Kona. An all-electric SUV that completely shatters the image of sport utility vehicles (SUV) which are often branded by Green revolutionaries as being bulky, inefficient, carbon-chugging machines. The Kona SUV has zero tailpipe emission and is as clean as electric vehicles can be. The reason I’m driving and writing about it is because the e-crossover is being launched in India this month (July 2019). Hyundai are planning to assemble the EV and the battery pack in India and the Kona is expected to carry a…

THE GROWTH OF SUVS, AND their sales, too, is something of a phenomenon. Cars have grown in size with evolution logically adding a fair bit of kit to the mix when it comes to safety and connectivity. However, while large SUVs are popular, the masses seem to prefer compact SUVs to conventional hatchbacks and sedans. Whether it’s the all-road ability, capability of dealing with bad or even no road conditions or simply the need to sit higher than the person in the car next to them, buyers are taking to compact and mid-size SUVs like moths to a flame. In India, however, there is a sub-four-metre onslaught, but when it comes to moving up above that bracket, there aren’t too many credible options. The Škoda Karoq aims to conquer that…

WHAT MAKES FOR AN UNMISTAKABLE character in a car? It’s not one element, or even two, and it’s certainly not a badge. There are several examples of manufacturers having drastically varied looking automobiles in their portfolio, identified only by their badging. Yet, there are some that are truly distinct. Where even a grille can instantly point to not just its identity but its heritage. Among those few are Škoda. With their grille design evolving over the years and headlamp detail given equal attention, there is an immediate recognition that occurs when one is spotted. The front grille has characteristic vertical ribs and, to many an eye, appears as a fine, trimmed moustache on that smart Czech face. The headlamps alongside have also evolved from rectangles to prisms and eventually having…

Your 2018 sales record shows that the Mercedes name is indeed going strong. Whether the suffix is Benz, AMG or Maybach, each offering has its own unique characteristics. Which cars in your portfolio have been bestsellers? We don’t even have to think about the answer. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Long Wheelbase is the car model we sold the most [in India] and is also the car that appeals the most to the customers looking for a luxury sedan. Now with a new BS-VI engine, it’s definitely a very strong proposition. The AMG models have been doing well. Do the SUVs sell more than sports cars? How has the market taken to the high-performance offerings? There are different customer profiles. They vary in terms of cities and towns and also in terms…

ARJUN MAINI, WHO RECENTLY MADE HIS début at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has decided to chase his ultimate goal of Formula 1. He will return to the Formula 2 grid for the forthcoming races in Austria and Britain (Silverstone). Arjun has signed up with the Campos Racing team and will team up with Jack Aitken for the remainder of the 2019 season. Campos Racing are a team based in Spain and are currently fourth in the championship with a total of 115 points. Arjun made his début in the 2018 season and has now decided to contest for a full-time seat in the 2020 season of Formula 2. The selections have been scheduled at Red Bull Ring in Austria and Silverstone in Britain for the upcoming season.…

WITH COLLEGE ADMISSIONS IN FULL swing, my trusted Creta has been doing some overtime ferrying outstation guests from the airport to reputed educational institutions in Pune. The “Perfect SUV” has been garnering plenty of compliments for its spacious cabin and comfy seats. Those frequent airport trips have taught me to leave the parcel tray in the garage and stack more suitcases in the boot. I wish the variant offered split rear backrest as well, which would have helped accommodate larger pieces of luggage and still leave room for a passenger. The refined 1.6-litre turbo-diesel is pretty efficient. Even in huggermugger traffic it returns 13.5 km/l and can cross 17 km/l on the highway, using the slick six-speed ’box. Features such as automatic climate control, rear a-c vents, parking sensors, and…

THE FERRARI SF90 STRADALE IS THE MOST powerful prancing horse for the road and shares its name with the SF90 Formula 1 car, with the “Stradale” suffix meaning “road”. It was launched to mark the 90th anniversary of Scuderia Ferrari, the link between Ferrari’s road and track cars. The F154-family engine has increased to 3,990 cc. The twin-turbocharged 90° V8 produces 780 PS at 7,500 rpm and 800 Nm at 6,000 rpm, making it the most powerful production Ferrari V8 engine ever. It is mated to an eight-speed, dual-clutch, automatic transmission. Supporting it are three electric motors capable of producing up to 162 kW (220 PS), powered by a lithium-ion battery. That takes the combined peak output to 1,000 PS; also making the SF90 the first series-production plug-in hybrid electric…

AS WE’D REPORTED EARLIER IN OUR Aston Martin special, the RB-003 has been named “Valhalla”. The latest mid-engined hypercar is a collaboration among Aston Martin, Red Bull Advanced Technologies, and Adrian Newey and is known, to insiders, as “Son of Valkyrie”. Named after the warrior’s paradise celebrated in ancient Norse mythology, the Valhalla follows the Valkyrie on Aston Martin’s journey into the highest echelons of road car performance. Employing lightweight construction methods and radical aerodynamics pioneered in the Valkyrie or RB-001 (RB-002 was the Valkyrie AMR Pro), the Valhalla will be propelled by a combination of high-efficiency, high-output V6 turbo-petrol engine and battery-electric hybrid system. Only 500 coupé examples will be built. The Valhalla continues the tradition of Aston Martin cars having a name starting with a “V”. That lineage…

THE THIRD-GENERATION BENTLEY FLYING Spur luxury four-door grand tourer has arrived and features bold new styling and some outstanding features. Style comes naturally on the new Flying Spur thanks to its unique, cut-crystal effect LED matrix headlamps. At the rear, new wrap-around tail-lamps bear “B” motifs. Modern sculptural design language is evident in its elegant yet muscular proportions and the new 22-inch wheel design communicates its unique prowess and presence. The wheelbase is 130 millimetres more than its predecessor. Another prominent detail, rather a signature, is the “Flying B” mascot adorning the nose, retractable for the first time in modern memory. Inside, every element exudes elegance with fluted leather upholstery. The unique Mulliner Driving Specification brings in diamond quilting on the seats and a first in the automotive world: three-dimensional…

RUDRATEJ “RUDY” SINGH WILL TAKE OVER AS PRESIDENT AND CHIEF Executive Officer of BMW Group India from 1 August. Rudratej Singh brings more than 25 years of experience and has held multiple leadership positions both in the automotive and nonautomotive industry. His previous assignment was that of Global President at Royal Enfield. Prior to that, he worked with Unilever in India and in international markets for over 16 years. Singh graduated from the Delhi University and holds an MBA in marketing and finance from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. Back in August 2018, Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of BMW Group Australia and New Zealand and Dr Hans-Christian Baertels, Director, Finance and Administration, at BMW Group India had successfully shouldered the…

I am an avid reader of your magazines and reading it helps me enhance my knowledge of cars. I belong to Chhattisgarh but recently I moved to Pune from Rajasthan in connection with my job. After coming here, I realized that there's a huge difference in the traffic on road and people here have very different on-road manners. Considering this big change, I am planning to buy a small automatic hatchback in the range of Rs 8 lakh. I need a feature-rich car that will make my city drive fun. Hence, I need your expert advice on which cars I should consider, keeping city practicality in mind. Since I have never driven an automatic car before, I would also like to know how different automatic cars are in terms of…

OVER THE PAST DECADES SUVS HAVE GONE FROM purely utilitarian people carriers, built solely to transport their payload across terrain that other automobiles couldn’t be driven on, to oversized status-symbol cars that barely leave the tarmac in today’s bigger-is-better world. Naturally, this change in market perception has diluted the go-anywhere nature of the utility vehicles that we knew from 20 years ago, trading off-road capability for on-road comfort and spawning a segment of soft-roader, front-wheel-drive SUVs in various sizes. But what if you want an easy-to-drive car that the wife can take grocery shopping, one that can comfortably get you to and from work through the week, and still have the chops to clamber over rocks, wade through streams, and get you out of sticky situations when you get lost…

HEADING INTO THE UNKNOWN IS AN ANXIOUS experience for many. Yet, let anxiety get in the way and you may as well write yourself off. Morris Garages, or MG, have had no such issues. They’ve got a heritage to fall back on, yet, the name not being an everyday one has not slowed them down one bit. They’ve got their branding going in full swing. They’ve got dealers and after-sales set for the crunch and they’ve readied a slew of brand-spanking new Hector crossovers for the first drive. At our disposal are the 48-volt mild-hybrid petrol and the turbo-diesel, powered by a FIAT-sourced 2.0-litre MultiJet II engine that also does duty in its two primary competitors, the Jeep Compass and the Tata Harrier. At the time of the drive, the…

WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THIS AMT VARIANT, MAHINDRA HAVE MADE THEIR EXTREMELY COMPETENT CAR EVEN MORE APPROACHABLE AND EASIER TO DRIVE WE DID REVIEW THE XUV300 EARLIER this year and, if you read that story, you would know that we consider this Mahindra to be a worthy rival to the likes of the Ford EcoSport, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, and Honda WR-V in the compact SUV space. It shares a platform with the Korean SsangYong Tivoli and is built around a modern monocoque chassis, rather than the dated ladder-on-frame layout, keeping it technologically abreast of its rivals in the class. What the XUV300 didn’t offer was the convenience of an automatic transmission option, but this has been rectified with the introduction of an AMT system to manage the six-speed gearbox…

PARTNERSHIPS AND ALLIANCES ARE the new rage in the Indian automotive scene these days it seems. Everyone and their mother brands are tying up with each other to try and gain that competitive edge and secure their hold on India’s four-wheeler industry. The first spawn to come out from one such alliance, between Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Kirloskar Motor, is the Glanza. It is clear and evident from even a single glance that the Glanza is twinning with the Baleno. In fact, squint your eyes and you probably won’t be able to tell the two apart. The differences, apart from the badging, of course, are subtle and restricted to the Glanza’s visage. The front grille to be precise. It gets a new-ish dual-slat design and chrome flourishes... and that’s about…

TRHE FIRST ROUND OF THE MRF MMSCI FMSCI National Championship 2019 came to a conclusion at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore. A total of 18 drivers took part in the Ameo class. They included nine new drivers who had never raced before and nine drivers from the previous season. All the drivers were put through fitness training to prepare them for the races and sessions such as workouts, posture correction, diet, and nutrition were the main focus. Three races were conducted in the first round of the Ameo class 2019. On Saturday, the drivers started with the qualifying sessions. In the second half of the day it rained and all drivers had to use slick tyres which prevented them from pushing the limits. To be on the safe side,…

BACK AT THe CiRCUiT PAUL RiCARD iN La Castellet, it was Lewis Hamilton who had claimed pole position, his third this season, with a lap time of 1:28.3, with his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, starting second, having qualified 0.29 of a second slower. Charles Leclerc started third for Ferrari, with a time a further 0.36 off the Finn Bottas. The Grand Prix proceeded as the five lights went out. The McLarens were looking strong, especially that of the young rookie, Lando Norris, as he went about battling with the front of the field. Post the pit-stops, there was action around as the two Toro Rosso cars of Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon were scrapping for position. Daniel Ricciardo was looking good in his French Renault F1 car as he challenged and…

THE OPENING DAY OF THE RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA WAS FILLED with action and drama. Championship leader Sébastien Ogier (Citroën Total World Rally Team) had a terrible day ending in retirement as his car hit a rock, damaging the suspension. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team) also made a lot of mistakes but managed to see the day through. However, he was unable to finish near the top three. Starting later down the order, Dani Sordo (Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team) enjoyed the luxury of grip on the sandy roads after the drivers before him had swept the sand away. He carried this momentum through the day and finished 10.8 seconds ahead of Teemu Suninen (M-Sport Ford World Rally Team). Ott Tänak (Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team)…

NEW THIS MONTH ISUZU D-MAX V-CROSS The facelift of the popular V-Cross lifestyle pick-up truck has arrived with some bold new features. Prices start from Rs 15.51 lakh (ex-showroom) TOYOTA GLANZA Toyota's entry into the premium hatch space is here. Petrol only, manual and auto. Yours from Rs 7.29 lakh (ex-showroom) LEGENDS PRICES Ex-showroom, Pune (subject to change) BO: Available only by order NA: Price not available FEATURES F: Front only D: Driver airbag only O: Optional equipment ASTON MARTIN BMW BMW FERRARI FIAT HONDA HONDA JAGUAR JAGUAR LEXUS LEXUS MARUTI SUZUKI MARUTI SUZUKI MERCEDES-BENZ MERCEDES MINI MITSUBISHI RENAULT ROLLS-ROYCE TOYOTA TATA VOLKSWAGEN VOLKSWAGEN VOLVO…

THE NAME “SELTOS” HAS BEEN derived from Speed+Celtos (a Greek god). Kia consider their entry into India extremely important. Their foray will see a touchpoint network bigger than any new brand in India, they say, and will include tier-III and tier-IV cities. The Seltos will be offered with a trio of BS-VI-compliant petrol and diesel engines. The first is the all-new “Smartstream” 1.4-litre T-GDI turbo-petrol, direct-injection engine. Apart from that, we expect to see a 2.0-litre 150+PS naturally aspirated petrol engine and a 130-odd-PS 1.6-litre CRDi turbo-diesel engine. The standard transmission is a six-speed manual. An intelligent continuously variable transmission, dubbed “IVT”, is on offer for the natural petrol, a six-speed, torque-converter automatic is available for the diesel, while a seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT) is being offered for the…

PORSCHE HAVE REVEALED TWO NEW additions to their 718 line-up, the Cayman GT4 and the Spyder, each powered by a naturally aspirated 4.0-litre boxer-six. The duo share a technical base and have a newly developed, naturally aspirated, 4.0-litre, six-cylinder boxer engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission driving the rear wheels ― purist perfection to many. The new engine revs as high as 8,000 rpm and produces 420 PS at 7,600 rpm and 420 Nm of peak torque between 5,000 and 6,800 rpm. That’s an output of 35 PS more than the old Cayman GT4 and its 385-PS, 3.8-litre boxer-six, and 45 PS more than the 375-PS Boxster Spyder. The new Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is now the entry GT road model. Both 718 models rely on highly efficient aerodynamics,…

THE ASTON MARTIN VALKYRIE HYBRIDhypercar will contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 2021 World Endurance Championship, the British marque announced on the eve of the 60th anniversary of its glorious win in the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans. Aston Martin will once again bid for outright victory in the French endurance classic in 2021. This follows the announcement of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s decision to introduce hypercars to the top category of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). The WEC’s newly confirmed “hypercar” regulations are designed to allow race-prepared derivatives of the world’s fastest road cars to fight at the forefront of world sportscar racing. As such, Valkyrie race car will draw on all the radical pillars of the road car and its track-only AMR…

MERCEDES-BENZ INDIA HAVE ANNOUNCED A CHANGE AT THE top with Santosh Iyer taking over the responsibility from Michael Jopp as the Head of Sales and Marketing for India. Santosh Iyer was the Vice President, Customer Service and Corporate Affairs, and played a pivotal role in curating industry-benchmark customer service initiatives and driving the objective of the brand being the “Mercedes of Service” through unique service differentiation in the luxury segment. He has an MBA degree from the University of Applied Sciences Konstanz-College of Technology, Business and Design. Iyer is succeeded by Shekhar Bhide, formerly Vice-President, Quality, associated with Mercedes-Benz India for more than 20 years. Jopp, meanwhile, will move on to head the sales and marketing function of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia.…

Ford EcoSport Thunder Edition The Ford EcoSport Thunder Edition has been launched from Rs 10.18 lakh (ex-showroom), adding more spice to their range for 2019. The EcoSport Thunder Edition gets refreshed styling and more features. These include dark inserts on the headlamp clusters and a more prominent black treatment to the fog-lamp bezels, front grille and wing-mirror covers, and 17-inch alloy wheels. The bonnet is also partially black. A dual-tone finish and decals on the doors give it a distinctive road presence. The interior gets a dual-tone cabin and Cognac accents on the front seats, door-panels, centre console, and instrument panel. The limited Thunder Edition also gets a sunroof, a 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with embedded navigation, voice commands, and other in-car connectivity functions. The 123-PS 1.5-litre petrol engine and…

SINCE JOURNALISM IS ALL ABOUT WHAT’S happening at the moment, one of the key parts of any journalist’s day is to stay on top of new trends either by checking news wires, social media platforms or the television. It’s the same with Senior Political Newscaster Sahar Zaman who starts her day at 6.30 am by putting on the television. ‘Being a mother and a wife, my mornings are for my family. From having breakfast with them to sending my son to school and handling the cookhouse, the news headlines will run continuously in the background,’ says Sahar. Sahar, who has more than 18 years of experience in the field of news and art, started out at the overseas division of All India Radio after obtaining a master’s degree in mass…

NOW-A-DAYS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE inclined to opt for a luxury SUV instead of a sedan, whether it has to do with road conditions or that the new luxury SUVs offer one the best of both worlds — that is, good ground clearance and the comfort and ride quality of a luxury sedan. The GLS has been around for quite some time. In fact, it started life as the GL and later became the GLS. Now Mercedes have launched an all-new GLS from ground up and we were invited to Utah, USA, to drive the new SUV. The front end of the new GLS exudes presence and power. This is ensured by the nearly upright radiator grille in an octagonal SUV interpretation, the prominent, chromed skid-plate in the front…

WE SWITCHED OVER TO THE DIESEL variant for the journey from Kodanadu to Coimbatore. This is the familiar 2.0-litre MultiJet II turbo-diesel from the Jeep Compass — complete with its 170 PS and 350 Nm. The drive, though, is front-wheel only, so select your terrain with due consideration. The turbo-diesel engine has massive torque and the build-up is strong. The ratios, however, required frequent shifting in the hills, else the whirr from the motor doing around 3,000 revs is something not really kind to the senses. The sound deadening, then, could be better as well. That apart, the heavier diesel engine makes the Hector seem even more planted. The steering feels a tad heavier but the drive feel doesn’t change. I did experience some clutch pedal issues with the engaging…

RED LEATHER EVERYWHERE. ONE OF MY TWO FAVOURITE APPLICATIONS for it is a car’s interior; never mind the other. And, when paired with that carbon-fibre trim across the dashboard, door panels, and centre console, there is more than a hint of excess. This is the cream of the crop. This is it. You’ve arrived. This is maximum Mercedes. Okay, the Maybach S 650 would theoretically be the maximum, but this, the Mercedes-AMG S 63 Coupé, offers just about every excess possible in terms of luxury and performance parameters. There are Swarovski crystals in the headlights, OLED units in the taillights, perforated leather upholstery inside, and carbon-fibre elements inside and out, with 900 Nm of peak torque going through a nine-speed, dual-clutch, automatic transmission to the two rear wheels, wrapped in…

This particular chorus from the Aussie rockers was looping through my head as I tore up some dirt and then proceeded to attack corners a scant 10 minutes later from behind the wheel of the new X5. Fitting, isn’t it? I certainly think so, but in order to explain why, I need to go back to the start of this day, when I found myself on the outskirts of Pune with the shiny key-fob of the latest luxury SUV offering from the German brand gripped firmly in my fist. If you’re familiar with the midpoint of BMW’s “X” line-up, you will instantly recognize that iconic silhouette. After that, however, things get a little bit different. The new X5 has been shaken up for 2019 and this shake-up includes a fresh…

As one of the leading portals in the automobile trade market in India, how big is the used vehicle market in India? The used vehicle market has witnessed a growth of 40-50 per cent over the last year. Even though the supply has been coming mainly from metro markets, there has been a boost in demand from Tier-II and Tier-III cities as well. With an estimated value of Rs 1 lakh crore in 2018-2019, the used car market business accounts for more than half of what is done in the new car space. The Indian used car market as a whole is expected to register over 10 per cent CAGR in the period 2019-2024. The two-wheeler segment follows a similar growth trajectory, with the used segment steadily becoming mainstream. Both…

INDIAN TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP (ITC) This year was the first year that Volkswagen Motorsport took part in the ITC class with three Vento race cars that were driven by the winners of last year’s Ameo class. There were a total of 10 drivers competing in the ITC class. The other teams that took part in the ITC class were Arka Motors, Prime Racing, and Race Concepts. Here’s what went down in the races. Race One In the qualifying session for the ITC class, the winner of the 2018 Ameo class, Dhruv Shivaji Mohite, took pole position with a lap time of 1:07.829. Second and third positions in qualifying went to Arjun Balu and Karthik Tharani with lap-times of 1:07.908 and 1:07.945 respectively. Dhruv went on to win the first race…

THiNGS WeRe LooKiNG DiFFeReNT in Canada. There was a lot more scarlet around and it began with Sebastian Vettel taking his first pole position for Ferrari this year. There was a lot of action on track and a lot of it seemingly off it as well. The two Ferraris looked extremely strong and it was Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes-AMG who found themselves often bested. Although Hamilton had chances to get ahead, it was Vettel who seemed to have the pace. The deciding incident came towards the end of the race when Vettel, who was pushing the limits, found them and ended up on the grass, a mere passenger. As Hamilton was going through, Vettel’s Ferrari SF90 came back on track and a collision was imminent. Hamilton braked to avoid contact…

MUMBAI-BASED JEHAN DARUVALA, WHO earlier won the inaugural round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, went on to grab two more podiums at the French Grand Prix. His amazing performance has enabled him to move up to second place in the championship standings. Race One Jehan Daruwala qualified for the first race in second position. At the beginning of the race he was passed by Nelson Piquet and was pushed down to third place. He then put in some fast laps to catch up and go past Piquet to reclaim second position. Meanwhile, the race leader, Jake Hughes, had managed to open up a lead of 2.8 seconds. Once again Jehan pushed the limits of his car to get within DRS range of Hughes and finally passed him a few…

TAKING OFF FROM THE EVERYDAY MUNDANE for a long, relaxing drive is not an easy task, especially when the kids are still at school. The last time we had such an excursion was during the Diwali vacation. After that, the Kwid has been treated to the everyday grind only and while the AMT was certainly a useful tool to handle rush-hour traffic, I was waiting for a chance to get away from the city. Fortunately, I got my chance during the kids’ summer vacation. Having bundled the family and luggage into the Kwid, we set off for Ganapatipule. Unlike on my previous trip, the roads were far better this time and we were able to cover long distances with fewer breaks in between. I am fairly impressed with this little…