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.
Skoda will showcase the all-new Scala premium hatchback on December 6, 2018 and while the automaker has already showcased a range of official spy shots and even a side profile, here is the biggest teaser so far. The Czech automaker has officially put out a render of what the new production ready Skoda Scala's interiors will look like. And as expected, the new premium hatchback shares nothing in terms of design language and in terms of hardware with the outgoing model range. The Skoda Scala will have an all digital instrument cluster on the top spec model along with a new large infotainment screen.
Skoda has official announced that it will showcase the new Scala premium hatchback at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 6, 2018. The new hatchback will essentially be a replacement for the now aging Skoda Fabia hatchback and will take on the likes of the Volkswagen Golf in international markets. What that means is that the Skoda hatchback will move up a notch from being a Polo competitor to a Golf competitor in Europe and across the world. The new hatchback will be based on the same MQB A0 platform that underpins the likes of the Skoda Octavia. As a distinction, the Skoda Scala will also be the first ever car from the brand that will not have the logo at the rear but instead will have S-K-O-D-A lettering on the tail gate instead.
The Virtus or the next generation Vento, which might make it to India soon, now gets a 1.5-litre TSI engine making 150 bhp and 250 Nm. The engine is also available on a few versions of the Polo and the Golf - both in non GT/GTI versions in Europe. In comparison the current generation Polo GTI (not the last gen one that is still sold in India) gets a 2-litre engine making 200 bhp and 320 Nm of peak torque. Just like the Polo GTI that you get in Europe though, the GTS Virtus Concept also gets updated bumpers, a new grille and of course, those tell tale Volkswagen performance red pinstripe that extends into the headlamps.
Yesterday we brought you a detailed report on all the discounts that India's largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki was bringing to the table during the festive season. With discounts up to Rs 75,000 on certain models like the current generation Ertiga and even the recently launched Swift getting handsome offers, the festive season is a great time to buy your private vehicle. That said, Maruti Suzuki is also offering great discounts to its fleet customers and yellow plate operators. Maruti Suzuki offers 3 'Tour' models in India, which are made specifically for the taxi market and all these models get discounts.
China currently levies a 'car purchase tax' on new cars at 10 per cent, which after the tax cut will be reduced to 5 per cent. This will make cars more affordable although will only be applicable on cars whose engines are smaller than 1.6-litres. Interestingly, almost 70 per cent of all cars sold in China fall under this category. Amidst the on-going trade war, China had increased taxes on American made cars to a whopping 40 per cent while other imported cars from other regions of the world are taxed at 15 per cent.
Tata Motors has got its very own performance sub-brand 'Jayem Tata Performance' or JTP, and with that come the company's very first performance skunkworks - the Tiago JTP and the Tigor JTP. So is the Tata Tiago JTP a true hot hatch or just some fancy paint and bumpers? Read on to know more.
The Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Lokur made it clear that only BS6 compliant vehicles shall be sold in the country after April 1, 2020. The bench also mentioned how the need of the hour was to move to a cleaner fuel across the country.
Let's take a look at how the new 2018 Hyundai Santro stacks up against its competition in terms of price comparison. We have chosen the Santro's nearest rivals, the Renault Kwid 1-litre, Maruti Suzuki Celerio and the popular Tata Tiago.
Hyundai India has launched the all-new 2018 Hyundai Santro in India at a starting price of Rs 3.89 lakh. The new Hyundai Santro Prices for the petrol manual range from Rs 3.89-5.45 lakh while the ones for the petrol automatic AMT range from Rs 5.18-5.46 lakh.
Hyundai India has launched the all-new Santro in India today and apart from a petrol version, has also launched a factory fitted CNG version. While the CNG market in India is a small one as compared to the petrol or diesel market overall, this category of hatchback with a CNG fitting is a very popular option for fuel price conscious urban buyers as well as the more prominent fleet buyers in the country. So here is a quick look at what the CNG version of the Hyundai Santro will offer. But before any more details, here are the Hyundai Santro Prices for the CNG variant. The entry level variant on the Santro CNG will be the mid-level Magna priced at Rs 5.23 lakh while the most expensive Santro CNG will be the Sportz variant priced at Rs 5.64 lakh (ex-showroom, India). Of course, as with the likes of the petrol, these prices for the CNG variants on the Santro will also be only introductory till the first 50,000 units are sold.
The Mini Cooper S Oxford Edition gets all the fancy bits that were introduced when the facelift came around. So you get the new round LED daytime running lights, the new LED headlamps and of course, the new - and really quite cool - Union Jack LED tail lamps.
We keep hearing electric cars are the future. But while we wait in vain for real-world mass application solutions, it would seem Bosch has an intelligent idea to retrofit even existing cars to go green. Whether it is Tesla or the Volkswagen Group or Mercedes-Benz globally, or Tata Motors and Mahindra in India - all are striving towards cleaner mobility solutions. And they too are relying on a lot of the innovation happening - not in their own labs, but at the supplier end with component makers stepping up their game. Enter Bosch.
The brand new Hyundai Santro is possibly the most important new car launch of the year and marks a much awaited return of the Santro name to the Indian car market after an absence of a few years. The new Santro will fit in between the aging Hyundai Eon and the popular Hyundai Grand i10 and will be a much awaited product for all those looking for their first ever car or for those wanting a second urban runabout in the country. So here is everything you need to know about the all-new Hyundai Santro - from exterior bits and design to interior pace and features, from engine and fuel options to the much needed automatic gearbox, we have all the juicy details for you.
While cars are getting safer and safer every year in general - especially with newer platforms that come inbuilt with crash protection, some models have actually scored a lower safety rating than their predecessors. So are they any unsafe as compared to their predecessors? Well, not exactly.
Bringing the Mercedes-Benz EQ C to India could be a big boost to Mercedes-Benz India - especially if the automaker could set up some sort of charging infrastructure at the owner's house/office space and also look into public charging infrastructure for EQ C owners at showrooms and service centres.
What is possibly the most baller/gangsta/lit (or all the other rap analogies you can think of) vehicle in the world, the Mercedes-AMG G63 has now been launched in India in its newest avatar priced at Rs. 2.19 Crore (ex-showroom).
The new B-Class is based on the same A-Class platform and will now be in its fifth generation avatar. While the updates on the exterior are in like with the new Mercedes-Benz look and design, the changes on the B-Class really come to light when you strip off that new exterior and take a deeper look. New engines, new autonomous tech and of course, a whole new interior make this the coolest and most capable B-Class yet and yes, the hatchback finally seems to have managed to dropped its supermini or soccer mom appeal too.
Renault has taken the wraps of a brand new electric concept car at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. The new concept car is essentially an all-electric version of the very popular Renault Kwid hatchback and has been officially called the Renault K-ZE concept. The electric car packs an impressive range of 250 kms on a single charge and has a dual charging system that supports both commercial electric car chargers and standard home based plug points too. The Renault K-ZE has been made specifically for the Chinese auto market where it will be launched in a production avatar sometime soon.
Global NCAP's latest round of crash tests for Made In India cars sees the popular subcompact SUV from Maruti Suzuki score four stars, with a stable rating for its body structure.
The Ford Mustang is the quintessential 'sportscar/supercar/muscle car' for the masses with its naturally aspirated V8 under the hood, a soundtrack that can stir the dead and an iconic coupe profile that makes pedestrians snap back and stare. Ford's iconic pony car has done pretty well in the Indian market mainly due to the fact that prices for this muscle car are quite comparable to most 6-cylinder sports sedans or 4-cylinder sports cars in the market. That said, the Mustang has recently been facelifted in international markets and now India's first Ford Mustang has been spotted.
