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.
MG is all set to enter the Indian market in 2019 with a brand new SUV. The SUV will not be a subcompact sub 4-metre SUV like the popular Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza but instead be slightly larger similar to the likes of the Hyundai Creta or the Renault Captur. MG globally only offers petrol engines but for India, the automaker will offer a diesel engine option as confirmed by Rajeev Chaba, President and Managing Director, MG Motor India. Reports claim that the diesel engine will be sourced by MG from Jeep and will be the same 2-litre unit that does duty in the popular Jeep Compass SUV in India.
The BMW X3 in its new generation was recently showcased at the Indian Auto Expo and is due for an official launch in India very soon. While the standard car comes with 2-litre or 3-litre petrol and diesel engine options, the top spec model on the X3 range for this generation will be the X3 M. The X3 M will soon make a global debut and a test mule of the performance SUV has been spotted undergoing winter testing. Apart from performance upgrade, which will include a more powerful engine, the BMWX3 M will also feature other mechanical upgrades such as larger brakes and tougher suspension
Mercedes-Benz has hinted that it could be working on an entry level model which will have seven seats. In the last few years, Mercedes-Benz has been plugging the gap in every single available market in the luxury automobile segment and an entry level 7 seater MPV or SUV is certainly still an open ballgame with no competition. The seven seater could also be a successor to the Mercedes-Benz B-Class or could be made on the same body style as the practical, yet slightly boring B-Class. The Mercedes seven seater will in fact be made on the MFA platform, which also underpins the likes of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Mercedes-Benz CLA and the Mercedes-Benz GLA.
Audi has teased the future of it's electric mobility plans at its annual press conference. The new concept car is a look into the future of Audi's sportier car range and has been christened Audi e-tron GT. The Audi e-tron GT will make it to production by 2021 or 2022 and will have the same underpinnings as the Porsche Mission E. This will be the third fully electric vehicle in the e-tron range after the Audi e-tron SUV and the Audi e-tron sportback that is due to be launched by the end of the decade along with a range of other hybrid vehicles.
Polestar has started accepting bookings for its first new car - the Polestar 1. The Polestar 1 is now available as a pre order by paying a deposit of "2,500 or $2,500 (20,000 Yen if you are in China) since there has been a huge demand for the hybrid coupe since its launch a few months ago. The Polestar 1 is currently only available in 18 countries - The United States, United Kingdon, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The final price of the Polestar 1 will be about $150,000 to $170,000.
The Rolls-Royce Dawn is a four seater convertible with a conventional folding soft top that is based on the Ghost platform. That said, although it is a much cheaper and definitely a sportier option as compared to the Phantom Drophead Coupe, Rolls-Royce has been finding it difficult to move units worldwide. So in order to add some excitement to the lineup, Rolls-Royce is now offering an option tonneau cover for the rear seats to convert the car to a two seater cabriolet instead of a four seater. The tonneau cover though isn't just a conventional button downed piece of canvas as available on older classic cars but instead has been made from carbon fibre to keep the weight down to a minimum.
The Nehru Science Centre in central Mumbai will hold a vintage and classic car and ,otorcycle exhibition from March 16 to April 1, 2018. The exhibition, made up of 27 cars and 12 motorcycles will be inaugurated today evening (March 15) and will be thrown open to the public tomorrow onwards as a part of the standard display at the centre. Unlike other special displays and programs at the Nehru Science Centre, which have an additional ticket charge to it, the vintage and classic car show will not have an additional ticket charge. The ticket charges for the Nehru Science Centre are Rs 50 for adults and Rs 20 for school students in a school organised trip.
The third generation Maruti Suzuki Swift was launched last month at the 2018 Auto Expo and has already been a runaway success with a long waiting period. The new Swift is a great package with a new and updated exterior design, a new interior packed full with gadgets and an option of both petrol and diesel engines along with a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed AMT on both engines. And now, it ha been reported that the Swift and other Maruti Suzuki models will soon get a 6-speed manual gearbox replacing the 5-speed one that has been used for quite a while.
The Lamborghini Aventador has been around since 2011 and has already seen a range of variants like the SV. Now although usually the SV model heralds the end of a life cycle for a Lamborghini V12 supercar as per tradition, the Italian automaker decided to give the Aventador a much needed mechanical upgrade last year and launched the Aventador S instead giving the lineup a new lease on life. That said, the Aventador has been around for a long time now and will get a replacement soon. And to officially mark the end of its life cycle, Lamborghini will soon be launching yet another SV model. This time however, the SV gets a 'J' suffix - 'SVJ' - where the J stands for Jota. The terms Jota (pronounced Yota) has been traditionally used for the most hardcore and driver focused versions of Lambos and is a hark back to the original and rare Miura Jota of the 60s and the Diablo S30 Jota of the 90s.
Almost every electric car today is powered by a conventional Lithium-Ion battery pack. However, conventional Li-On batteries do have their limitation. These include charge times, weight, size and of course, the amount of charge that they can actually hold (depending on the size of the battery). The next step in the evolution of batteries will be the solid-state Lithium-Ion battery pack which in turn charges quicker, is much lighter and most importantly, is much safer than the current crop of battery packs. Manufacturers like Toyota have been wokring on solid-state battery packs for years now on prototype stage and now, the Renault-Nissan Alliance, of which automaker Mitsubishi is also a part of, has announced that it will move towards solid-state batteries by 2025. Toyota has also announced production versions of the solid state battery in their cars - both hybrid and fully electric by the year 2022.
While in India we see automakers and advertisers never take names of its competition in their campaigns, this practice is quite the norm internationally. We all remember the famous billboard wars between Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW a few years ago and now Hyundai seems to have taken a page out of the same playbook with a new billboard that popped up in Geneva during the 2018 Geneva Auto Show. The billboard that reads 'Your turn, Elon.' with the tagline 'the first electric compact SUV is here', which in turn takes a dig at the upcoming Tesla Model Y that will be unveiled sometime later this year with production slated to begin next year.
Ferrari has officially launched their brand new V12 powered GT in India - the 812 Superfast. The Ferrari 812 Superfast replaces the F12 Berlinetta, a model that was quite popular with Ferrari customers in the country. The Ferrari 812 Superfast comes with a hefty price tag of Rs. 5.20 crore (ex-showroom) before options.
Mercedes-Benz has teased the upcoming all-electric EQC SUV in a new video. The video showcases the production version of the EQC all-electric SUV wearing heavy camouflage undergoing winter testing in the arctic circle. The EQC SUV will be based on the Mercedes-Benz EQ Concept car that was originally showcased at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show and then again at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo. The EQC SUV will also be the first product offering by Mercedes-Benz under the new EQ sub brand that will only have all-electric models of cars on offer. The Mercedes-Benz EQC will be launched as a production model in 2019.
The Geneva Auto Show is possibly the most important and most glamorous global motor shows in the world today and for good reason. Everyone who is anyone in the auto industry chooses this show on neutral Swiss soil to showcase the hottest metal and carbonfibre they have to offer. From concept hatchbacks, sports cars, supercars, hypercars and of course, the hoards of SUVs around to the occasional sedan and sports sedan, this year's Geneva Motor Show had something for everyone. The Geneva Auto Show Also played host to a number of production ready cars in various bodystyles, some of which will make it to India in the near future. So here is our look at the top 10 cars from this years Geneva Auto Show.
Volkswagen India has discontinued the 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine in the Polo hatchback. The Polo will now instead get a more fuel efficient 1-litre, three cylinder MPI engine instead. The new engine is also more fuel efficient as compared to the earlier version. Where the older 1.2-litre MPI petrol returned 16.47 kmpl according to ARAI test results, the new smaller 1-litre MPI petrol engine offers 18.78 kmpl. Although the new engine is smaller as compared to the outgoing version, it offers the same horsepower figure of 75 bhp. Torque figures for the 1-litre engine however, as expected, come down to 95 Nm as compared to 110 Nm in the older 1.2-litre engine. The new 1-litre petrol engine will replace the 1.2-litre all the naturally aspirated petrol powered variants of the Polo. Prices for the new 1-litre Polo will start at the same as it was before, Rs 5.41 lakh (ex-showroom).
Ferrari have announced the launch of their flagship V12 GT in India - the Ferrari 812 Superfast. The front engine V12 supercar will be launched in India on March 10 and will be the replacement of the popular F12 Berlinetta and features a traditional GT front engine and rear wheel drive layout. Under the hood, the Ferrari 812 Superfast features a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine that makes 789 bhp of peak power! The Ferrari 812 Superfast will go up against the likes of the Aston Martin Vanquish, the Bentley Continental GT along with the popular Lamborghini Aventador S. Expect prices to be around the Rs 5 Crore mark.
One morning, Mrs.Benz got onto her husbands Patentwagen and decided to embark on what we now know as the first ever long distance journey that was undertaken by an automobile! Without telling her husband and without informing the authorities (which at the time was a must), Bertha drove from Mannheim to Pforzheim a distance of 106 kms. Before this, the only trips undertaken by the Patentwagen were short trial drives made with support staff and returning to the start point. Bertha's drive however started at point A and ended at Point B making it record setting!
As is tradition, the World Car Of the Year top three finalists for the overall crown and the individual categories have been announced at the 2018 Geneva Auto Show. The top three finalists for the prestigious Car Of The Year for the second year in a row are SUVs or crossovers. The three SUVs are the Range Rover Velar, the Mazda CX-5 and the Volvo XC60. The final announcement to crown the winner of the prestigious World Car Awards will be announced at the upcoming New York Auto Show later this month. Last year too, the top three finalists for the prestigious award were all SUVs clearly showing the direction in which the global automotive industry and buyer trends are heading.
Croatian automaker Rimac might not be as well known as the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the world but at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, it has managed to wow the audience with their latest hypercar. But first the facts! The Rimac C_Two makes 1,887 bhp of peak power, 2,300 Nm of peak torque, has a top speed of 412 kmph and does 0-100 kmph in 1.97 seconds! And if those figures don't peak your interest, we don't know what will! The Rimac C_Two is the follow up act to the absolutely bonkers Rimac Concept One a limited numbers hypercar that was made until last year. Oh and by the way, the Rimac is an all-electric hypercar unlike all the other monsters making 1000+ bhp at the Geneva Auto Show.
Tata Motors has taken the wraps off its brand new EVision Concept car at the 2018 Geneva Auto show. The new sedan concept is an all-electric concept that is based on the Omega platform, one of the two new platforms that Tata Motors will use going forward. Incidentally, the Tata Motors H5X SUV concept, which was unveiled at the Indian Auto Expo last month is also based on the same Omega platform. Tata Motors also debuted the H5X SUV in Geneva alongside the sedan concept along with the new 45X concept premium hatchback. The latter also had its global debut last month at the Indian Auto Expo.
