Cyrus Dhabhar was born and brought up in a motorsport family and cars run deep in his blood. As a passionate founder and head of a classic car club in Mumbai and an avid part of the vintage and classic car scene in the country, Cyrus prefers his cars older and simpler. That said, he loves everything on four wheels and the occasional two-wheeler as well. Cyrus currently is the Assistant Editor - AUTO for the NDTV Group.
The move has been proposed to put an end to different pricing structures across various parts of the country and to stop people from registering their cars in lower taxed areas and using then in cities where taxes are relatively higher.
According to a circular issued by the Ministry of Road Transport, a recommendation to increase taxes on diesel vehicles by up to 2 per cent has been proposed by the Ministry while at the same time asking for a further reduction in taxes for all electric vehicles.
Volkswagen will have a new logo in 2019. The new logo is said to be a more modern and more up to date as compared to the logo being used currently and might probably be the first logo in the company's history to move away from the 'V' and 'W' placement that has been a standard since inception in the late 1930s. According to reports in Bloomberg, Volkswagen has not decided on what the new logo will look like and will soon start accepting submissions from advertising firms around the world in a few months and being a shortlisting process thereafter.
A few months ago, we brought you the first and exclusive news on how Pininfarina would go from being primarily a design house to also being a standalone automaker to take on the likes of other electric automakers like Tesla.Last week, the now Mahindra owned Pininfarina madeits long awaited debut as an automaker - Automobili Pininfarina and now here are a few sketches that showcase what its first car, the PF-Zero will look like. The first car will be launched in 2020 and will be an electric hypercar making almost 2000 bhp of peak power with a 0-100 kmph time of under 2 seconds, a 0-300 kmph time of about 12 seconds and a top speed of just over 400 kmph! The electric hypercar will cost about 2 Million Euros and will have a very limited production run with very high levels of customisation. The car will be showcased at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concourse for the first time and will most likely be displayed in the new Automobili Pininfarina blue and red theme.
Ford and Mahindra will make a range of next generation SUVs for India in the coming years but the two automotive giants have already tied up in the United States for a much cleaner mobility project.
Mahindra-owned Automobili Pininfarina's PF-Zero will be showcased for the first time ever in a concept form at the Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance.
Volkswagen has posted its highest ever sales figures for Q1 in its long history as an automaker with 15,25,300 vehicles sold the world over. As compared to the same period last year, sales for the automaker are up by a considerable 5.9 per cent. Although the brand has seen some turmoil in the last few years, including the scathing Dieselgate scandal and more recently, the animal testing scandal, Volkswagen has continued to stay a popular brand amongst car buyers worldwide. Just in march alone, the German automaker has sold a record 5,84,700 units
In the first quarter of 2018, Toyota sold more than 280,000 vehicles in Europe, which is a growth of 4 percent over the same period last year.
If you thought spending Rs 1 lakh on the number '1' in India was ostentatious, you'dbetter sit down for this one! What is possibly the most sought after number plate in the world, 'F1' in the United Kingdom has officially gone on sale for a staggering Rs 132 Crore!The F1 number plate has been on a variety of cars in the last decade since it came into private ownership including the likes of the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, custom Range Rovers and most notably, a Bugatti Veyron. Before the plates were sold in 2008 for about Rs 4 Crore, the plates were under the ownership of the Essex City Council since 1904. The plates have since been under the ownership of Afzal Kahn, owner of Kahn Design, a British firm that specialises in customised vehicles.
A few weeks ago we brought to you an exclusive review of the Mahindra Genze electric scooter all the way from San Francisco. The Genze scooter is purpose built to be a workhorse with just one seat and a loading bay at the rear which gives it an immediate distinction as compared to the other two wheelers available in the segment. We knew Mahindra was testing the Genze scooters in India for reliability trials and now, one such prototype has been spied doing the test rounds. Although India is being used as a test bed for the electric scooter, it is however unlikely that it will get launched here anytime soon primarily due to price and segmentation reasons.
The New Nissan Leaf was launched last year and has already received quite a bit of praise from all over the world. An affordable all-electric offering, the Nissan Leaf is available in multiple variants, all fitted with a 40 kWh battery that offers 378 kms of range. While the more powerful version gets a standard DC quick charger fitted, for the lower powered version, the DC quick charger can be added as an optional extra. The DC quick charger can charge the battery up from zero to 80 per cent in just over half an hour, making longer trips possible. However, according to new information that has come to light, it seems that the number of times the Nissan Leaf's battery can undergo a quick charge in a short amount of time is restricted by the Japanese automaker. This issue has now officially been christened 'Rapidgate'.
About a year ago we brought you the news about Tata Motors being selected to supply 3,192 units of the Safari Storme to the Indian army. As a replacement to the ageing Maruti Suzuki Gypsy, the Tata Safari Storme would be ideal since it met a list of criteria that were set by the Indian Army - hard top, 800 kg payload capacity and air conditioning. And now here are some of the first pictures of the Safari that has finally been readied for the Indian Army in a cool matte green paintjob. The Tata Motors SUV supply to the army will also be complimented by SUVs from Nissan and Mahindra.
In response to the United States President Donald Trump proposing a tariff of $50 billion on imports from China to the United States, China has responded by threatening to do exactly the same. The United States President had included several components that are used by the auto industry in the list of taxable items, including the likes of transmissions, catalytic converters and lithium ion batteries. The increase in tax on these crucial automotive components would have in turn made them more expensive and in turn made automobiles more expensive in the United States too, forcing American automakers (and automakers with American assembly facilities) to look inward to American suppliers.
The twin turbocharged V6 powered, 2018 Audi RS5 Coupe will officially be launched in India on April 11. The GT 2+2 all-wheel-drive coupe will cost well upwards of the Rs 1 Crore mark and will take on its natural rival - the BMW M4. The new Audi RS5 is now in its second generation and the original RS5 in both pre facelift and facelift form was actually quite a popular car with Indian sportscar buying audiences. The new Audi RS5 will be the fourth car on offer in Audi's A5 lineup with the other bodystyles being the A5 and S5 sportback and the A5 convertible.
The new SUV is scheduled for a United States unveil by early 2019 and will most likely see an official market launch by early 2020.
Ford has jumped into the fray with a cross version of its Figo hatchback, albeit with a lot more changes thrown into the mix with the all new Ford Freestyle.
Audi's Twitter handle put out this lovely video explaining how it works momentarily exciting a fair few fans until of course, everyone remembered that it was an April Fools prank!
Last year we brought you news about Ford and Mahindra's upcoming joint venture to share platforms and develop new vehicles specifically for the Indian market. And now, its all signed, sealed and official. Mahindra and Ford have signed an MOU to develop a new mid-sized and compact SUV and a new electric vehicle for the Indian market.
Lotus has also confirmed that the SUV will have typically Lotus design in terms of its exterior with front and rear styling heavily inspired by the likes of the Elise and the Exige.
The Mahindra XUV 500 is one of the most popular sub Rs 20 lakh SUV in India. Launched originally in 2011 with a first facelift in 2016, the popular SUV is due for yet another (and major) facelift in order to freshen the range up. The new SUV will be launched soon but has already been spied with minimal camouflage recently. The pictures show the new Mahindra XUV 500 with an updated front and rear end. Updates up front include a new larger front grille that ditches the conventional slats in favour for a sportier look. Thick chrome slats also accent the grille. The signature front bumper slits with the fog lamp housings are now slimmer, slightly more angular and with less chrome as compared to its predecessor.
