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.
When you compare prices outright, the Kwid AMT ranges from Rs 3.78-4.49 lakh(ex-showroom) and is available in four variants. The Tiago on the other hand is priced between Rs 4.79-5.39 lakh (ex-showroom) and is available only in two variants. The Tiago gets a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder Revotron unit that makes 84 bhp and 114 Nm of torque - which when compared to the Kwid is 17 more horsepower and 23 more newton metres of torque. And the difference is almost immediately obvious. Under the bonnet, the Kwid gets a buzzy little 1-litre three cylinder motor that makes 67 bhp and 91 Nm. The gearbox is a 5-speed AMT unit that has been mated to a rather unconventional shifter knob instead of a normal lever between the front seats. While the Tiago offers a much better put together interior in terms of plastic quality, fit and finish and overall appeal, the Kwid offers features galore. The Tiago does not get a touchscreen infotainment system and navigation like the Kwid does and in 2017, features like those do actually make the difference for the average buyer. In terms of space though, both are about evenly matched.
GST or the Goods and Services Tax came into practice on July 1 as a means to make business easier for vendors across the country. Where most businesses received tremendous relief, albeit after some initial teething issues with technical systems and breakups, the process of actually carrying out day-to-day business has most certainly become much easier. In particular the automotive component industry that has to transport parts to various auto hubs have been positively affected. Waiting periods at state and city borders have been eliminated to a large extent except for the occasional police checkpoints. This has also had a positive effect on factors like corruption that has seen a massive dip in the last two months. To put things into perspective, trucks that took about 7-8 days to reach hubs like Chennai from the NCR or Manesar region now do the same journey in only about 4 days due to no bottlenecks at octroi points.
Maruti Suzuki is India's largest car maker and sells over 1.4 lakh units every month. From the likes of the Vitara Brezza compact SUV to the likes of the popular Swift, Alto and Wagon R hatchbacks to the new Dzire compact sedan, Maruti Suzuki has over xxx showrooms in India in their standard dealership network. Until now, Maruti Suzuki showrooms have been pretty basic with a typically white and blue exterior look and a mundane interior design that isn't really governed as such by the company. Now though, in line with the premium Nexa showrooms, Maruti Suzuki has given their mainstream showrooms a major and stylish makeover. Read on to know more!
The Porsche Cayenne, originally launched in 2002 and credited to saving the German sportscar manufacturer from near bankruptcy has been a popular choice for those looking for a performance SUV. In fact, the Cayenne is also credited with inventing the performance SUV segment altogether. The third generation Porsche Cayenne is due for a global unveil on August 29 but pictures of the new SUV have leaked online showcasing as expected a new design language in tune with the current Porsche family look. The new Cayenne is expected to make an official public debut at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto show too.
According to international reports, the raids that took place in the month of March in connection to the investigations into the Dieselgate scandal that involved the 2-litre and 3-litre diesel engines. The documents further showed that several Audi models had been exported to parts of Asia, allegedly China, Korea and Japan with the duplicate VIN numbers.
Ferrari has just revealed the long awaited replacement for the California range - the brand new Ferrari Portofino! The new Ferrari Portofino, named after one of Italy's prettiest costal towns, also gets a new shade of red - Rosso Portofino to go along with the new car. The new Ferrari Portofino will pack a front mounted 592 bhp V8 twin-turbo engine making it the most powerful retractable hard top convertible sportscar in the world. The new Ferrari Porofino will make its official public debut at the upcoming Frankfurt International Motor Show next month and will eventually make it to India too.
The Mercedes-AMG GT R might not be a super limited sports car/supercar like the SLS AMG Black Series that it spiritually succeeds but that is actually a good thing. Priced at Rs 2.23 Crore (ex-showroom) without personalisation, the AMG GT R can actually be enjoyed by a lot more people than just a select few. The AMG GT R is actually great value for money when you compare it to some of the other cars in the range that just seem a little too common. That said, with the average age of an AMG customer in India pegged at 37, we expect the AMG GT R customer to be a mix of young and young at heart individuals who just want a roaring loud (and loud to look at) V8 powered car! So, would I buy one? Well, if I had the money, I most certainly would but maybe in a different and more sinister colour!
The Mercedes-AMG GT R is the flagship supercar from Mercedes-Benz and will be launched in India on August 21. The supercar is a mid-front engine two seater that has been given the nickname 'Beast Of The Green Hell' as it was tuned and perfected at the legendary Nurburgring. Having set the rear wheel drive lap record at the Nurburgring clocking 7:09.10, the GT R has now shattered the lap record at the Buddh international circuit. The supercar has clocked a time of 2:09.853 making it the fastest street legal car to ever lap the Buddh International Circuit. In comparison, the previous lap record for the BIC was help by the Audi R8 V10 Plus at 2:12.711.
The Honda City is one of the most popular cars in India, especially in its segment. Essentially the sedan version of the Jazz (or the Fit as it is known internationally), a strange test mule of the City has been spied undergoing testing in Europe recently. The said test mule as you can see in the pictures is not just the standard city though but is longer than the usual car with a few inches of extra metal added to the rear doors along with protrusions on the rear bumper and a humped bonnet.
Following on the lines of Volvo's development of an external airbag, Mercedes-Benz have patented a new A-pillar mounted external airbag setup that will help reduce the injury of the accident victims by reducing the impact between the pedestrian and the windshield.
The new Hyundai Verna in its 5th generation is all set to make its India debut on August 22. The new sedan from the Korean automaker, now in its third generation in India, will take on the likes of popular offerings like the Honda City and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. The new Hyundai Verna in its past offerings was a popular car in the Indian sedan space for its good looks, well spec interior and creature comforts. So lets see how the new Hyundai Verna stacks up on paper against its rivals.
The General Motors and Chevrolet brand might have bowed out of India but Chinese automaker SAIC will soon take its place. The Chinese SAIC has a joint venture in China with General Motors and Wuling where they sell cars under a variety of brand names, and one of these is Baojun. GM's China joint venture collaboration has launched a new urban electric car foe the domestic Chinese market (where electric cars are very popular in some parts) called the E100. The E100 is a small and funky two seater city car that costs just $5300 or about Rs 3.4 lakh according to the current conversion rate.
Now usually, the sister ties the brother a rakhi on the wrist and in return gets a box of chocolates, some money or maybe a small gift. But what if you, as a brother, are feeling generous and wants to gift your sister a brand new car!
The Hyundai Verna, originally launched over a decade ago went through three generations in Indiawas long overdue for an update. With competition selling nearly 10 times the number of units Hyundai sold every month, the Korean automaker needed a much needed shot in the arm in this segment.Now in it's fifth generation globally and fourth in India, the new sedan has now officially been launchedat a competitive price of 7.99 lakh to 12.61 Lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi)to take on the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Honda City, Volkswagen Vento and the Skoda Rapid. We got behind the wheel of the new Verna at Hyundai's in-house test track at the Chennai research and development centre to get a first hand feel of the new car. Read on to know more!
In the modern day and age where everything that you read on the Internet is assumed to be true and every WhatsApp forward is considered the gospel truth, we are here to help sanity prevail. In the last few weeks, if you are a WhatsApp user in India, you would have more than likely received a forward that stated 'World's Cheapest Car from BAJAJ, Rs 60,000. Online Booking Started Today Onwards'.... Lets not beat around the imaginary bush then - it is FAKE! Not only is Bajaj not launching a car that looks like the one in the pictures that usually come along with this questionable WhatsApp, the car in question is actually 6 years old! Bajaj since has developed the car further and improved it substantially to make the Qute.
The new Range Rover Velar is the fourth car in the Range Rover family and possibly one of the most stunning SUVs in the world today. We recently got you the exclusive news about how the Velar, which was originally supposed to come to India next year would be launched in the festive season this year instead and now we have even more confirmed information.Bookings for the Range Rover Velar have already opened and an official price announcement for the new SUV will be on September 21 with an official market launch soon after. The new Range Rover Velar will get both petrol and diesel engines at the time of launch too.
The new Jeep Compass SUV is set to be launched in India tomorrow and it will be the most affordable offering from Jeep India. The Jeep Compass diesel will be the first one to be launched and will get a manual 6-speed gearbox, followed by the automatic trim later.
The sub 4-metre subcompact SUV segment is one of the most popular and most aspirational automotive segments in the country. Maruti Suzuki consistently sells over 10,000 units of the Vitara Brezza every month and the Ecosport single handedly helped recover Ford India's lull a few years ago. Mahindra has four SUVs in this segment too - the TUV 300, the Bolero Power+, the KUV 100 and the NuvoSport. So it was only obvious that sooner or later, any automaker who wants to be a real volume player in the Indian market needs to have a model present in this segment. Tata Motors first showcased a concept sompact SUV called the Nexon at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo. While most of us expected the production SUV to be watered down or 'paani-kum-chai' version of the concept, the Indian automaker has surprised us by launching the Nexon subcompact SUV that is very close to the concept's original look and design. And the last time that happened was when Jaguar launched the F-Pace! So read on to know more about the brand new 2017 Tata Nexon!
The Rolls Royce Phantom is the obvious car of choice if you have unlimited money and want to be driven around in unparalleled comfort. As the largest, most expensive and most luxurious sedan in the world, the Phantom has (on and off) been the flagship line for the Rolls Royce since 1925. And now, there is a new one - the brand new Rolls Royce Phantom 8! And no, this is not a BMW 7 Series with a fancy body on it like the smaller Rolls Royce Ghost, but features a brand new bespoke platform with equally bespoke exterior and interior styling. But lets not get too technical with what lies underneath the skin and tell you what really matters - Luxury!!
The upcoming Tata Nexon subcompact SUV comes with a host of segment-first features like - multi-drive mode and floating dashtop HD infotainment display among other features.
