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 first 'Made in India' and 'Made For India' offering will be a mid-sized SUV, which will make its global debut in India in 2020. Production and market launch for the new Skoda SUV will be in the first half of 2021.
The world of motorsport woke up one day to the news that an electric vehicle had just shattered the Pikes Peak Hill Climb course record. The internet stood divided. On one side, you had the petrolhead who refused to even acknowledge the fact that the Volkswagen ID-R, which incidentally is a purpose built hill climb beast powered by electricity had shattered the record and on the other, you had a whole bunch of new-age enthusiasts who defended the electric and hybrid car like it was a certain religious prophet's second coming. A new breed of petrolhead .... Ummm.... Gearhead ..... no ... lets just use the general term.... 'Car enthusiast' has emerged. And we shall call them 'Electroheads' - and you heard it here first!
Honda Cars India Limited or HCIL has posted a total sales growth of 37.5 per cent in the month June 2018 as compared to the same time period last year. The total sales figures for Honda Cars India stood at 17,602 units (domestic sales) spurred by the popularity of the likes of the new Honda Amaze that clocked an impressive figure of 9103 units sold. The Honda Amaze had similarly sold over 9789 units in May 2018 overtaking the popular Honda City as Honda India's largest selling offering in India. Exports for the month of June 2018 stood at a total of just 486 units for Honda Cars India.
Hyundai, India's second largest automaker after Maruti Suzuki has registered a positive growth of 19.5 per cent with overall sales at 60,779 units as compared to 50,853 units in June 2017. From the total sales, the domestic sales accounted for 45,371 units in June 2018, up 21 per cent. Exports were up 15.9 per cent to 15,408 units in June 2018 as compared to 13,291 per cent in the same time period last month. The growth was led by the new facelifted Hyundai Creta with the compact SUV getting over 70,000 enquiries and over 14,000 bookings since its launch in late May.
In yet another month of strong sales, Tata Motors showcased a growth of 54 per cent overall in the month of June 2018 as compared to the same time period in 2017. The automaker, which has a large passenger car and commercial vehicle business showcased healthy growth in both sectors. The overall sales by Tata Motors in June 2018 stood at 56,773 units as compared to only 36,836 units in the previous year. The commercial vehicle business as always dominated the sales charts clocking 38,560 units, up by 50 per cent as compared to 25,660 units in June 2017. In comparison, the sales for the passenger vehicle units for Tata Motors was up by 63 per cent to 18,312 units. In terms of first quarter results for the current financial year 2018-2019, Tata Motors has showcased a huge improvement with overall sales figures pegged at 1,64,579 units as compared to the first quarter in the last financial year, a growth of 64 per cent.
With fuel prices fluctuating every day, trade wars looming with countries like the United States and with varying taxes, one would expect the Indian automakers to face difficulties getting their new cars out of their showrooms. However, beating all these circumstances, car sales for the month of June 2018 were higher than the same time last year and the automotive industry in India seems to be on an upward growth trend once again.
Mahindra and Mahindra sales for its automotive sector saw a growth of 25 per cent in June 2018 as compared to the same period last year. The automaker, which specializes in the utility vehicle segment, sold a total of 45,155 vehicles in June 2018. Passenger car sales for Mahindra, which includes the likes of the popular Scorpio, XUV500 and Bolero were up by 12 per cent as compared to June 2017, a total of 18,137 units.
Maruti Suzuki, India's largest automaker has shown a significant growth in sales in June 2018 as compared to the same period last year. Overall sales for Maruti Suzuki in June 2018 were up by 36.3 per cent as compared to June 2017. This includes a growth of 45.5 per cent in domestic sales, which stood at 1,35,662 units in June 2018. Exports however were lower than June 2018 with only 9319 units as compared to 13131 units in June 2017 a drop of 29 per cent. When it comes to the first quarter in the 2018-2019 financial year (April-June), Maruti Suzuki saw a growth of 24.3 per cent overall. Domestic sales were up by 25.9 per cent as compared to Q1 FY17-18 at 4,90,479 units. Exports for this period were at 26,639 units.
The global automotive power corridors have been awash with the rumour of the Hyundai group looking to buy out FCA - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The Hyundai group currently consists of Hyundai, Kia and Hyundai's parts division Mobis. The Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Group on the other hand consists of manufacturers like Fiat, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Iveco, Maserati and of course, its most profitable car company - Jeep. According to a report by AsiaTimes, the Korean automaker has been waiting for the FCA share prices to drop to a certain figure before 'launching a takeover bid' for the Italian-American auto conglomerate. Incidentally, this isn't the first time we have heard about an FCA buyout or merger in the recent past.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nissan GT-R and design house Italdesign, Nissan and the Italian design house have joined forces to make a one of a kind concept car. Called the Nissan GTR-50 Italdesign, the new concept not only showcases what a 'without limits' GT-R would look like but in all probability, previews what the next generation of the Japanese supercar would look like. The Nissan GT-R50 Italdesign is based on a new 2018 Nissan GT-R Nismo and takes the current generation GT-R's design cues and gives them a futuristic twist with a new design and electronically controlled aero. All in all, the concept certainly looks stunning - especially with the heavy use of carbonfibre.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan facelift will be launched soon in India and will get both petrol and diesel engines apart from the powerful biturbo V6 and V8 AMG engines. Until now, the standard, non-AMG C-Class was only offered in the C200 variant for the petrol and the C220d and C250d variant for the diesel. The new facelift C-Class however will be available with the C200 (with the new 1.5-litre engine) and C220d but will also get more powerful engine variants to choose from. The petrol will get the C300 variant - essentially the same engine from the C-Class Cabriolet while diesel fans will get a more powerful C300d replacing the current C250d.
The new McLaren 600LT is 96 kilograms lighter than the standard version and will essentially take on the likes of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS and even more powerful cars like the Lamborghini Huracan Performante and the Ferrari 488 Pista.
The Porsche 911 GT2 RS is powered by a twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine mated to a PDK 7-speed gearbox and gets rear wheel drive unlike the 911 Turbo/Turbo S that gets all-wheel-drive. The engine makes 686 bhp of peak power and 750 Nm of peak torque getting it from 0-100 kmph in 2.8-seconds and on to a top speed of 340 kmph. The Porsche 911 GT2 RS is also the king of the Nurburgring when it comes to rear wheel drive cars holding the current record at 6:47.3 around the famous race track. The Porsche 911 GT2 RS will be launched in India on July 10, 2018 in Mumbai and will have an expected price tag around of Rs 4Crore (ex-showroom) without options.
The new 2019 Audi A4 gets subtle changes to the exterior and the interior and also brings about a new S-Line package that further accentuates the A4's good looks.
Aston Martin has taken the wraps off its latest supercar and the replacement for the Vanquish, the all-new DBS Superleggera. The new car is, as expected, a V12 front engine GT and heralds the return of the DBS marque into the Aston Martin lineup. The new car also brings back the Superleggera name and badge to the Aston Martin family with an homage to design house and coachbuilder 'Touring', which was responsible for some absolutely spectacular Aston Martin designs of the past. The Superleggera (lightweight) badge also means that the new DBS takes its weight reduction very seriously for maximum performance and efficiency.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class range will soon be updated with the 2018 version of the car which has undergone a fair few changes. Apart from a slightly different look that includes new bumpers, new LED headlamps, new tail lamps and new wheels, the car will also get a major upgrade to the interior department. A noteworthy change though will be under the skin. The current entry level petrol C-Class in India is the C200 petrol, featuring a 2-litre engine that makes 181 bhp of peak power. This engine will soon be replaced by a smaller and lighter 1.5-litre, turbocharged 4-cylinder unit which will make more power at a rating of 184 bhp. Torque will be slightly lower though at 280 Nm as compared to 300 Nm that the current powerplant makes.
The world is caught in FIFA fever. With the 2018 football World Cup in full swing in Russia and with most people around me talking about it every day, even I, with my negligible love for football seemed to gravitate towards good old Google-uncle. But I had no interest in what team was winning, who had scored the most goals or if a Frenchman had headbutted someone yet. My 'goal' was to see if there were any strange cars with the football theme that had been launched around the world. And as always, the internet came out swinging. Or is it kicking. Nevermind the puns though, here are a some absolutely... ummm... 'special' special editions of cars with the football theme.
In the wake of Audi CEORupert Stadler's arrest a few days ago over the 'Dieselgate' Scandal, the German luxury automaker that was due to hold its annual 'Audi Summit' in August 2018 has postponed the annual event. The 2018 Audi Summit was also where the brand new all-electric Audi e-Tron SUV was supposed to make its official (and long awaited) global debut. Incidentally, the Audi e-Tron SUV will also be the first all-electric production car from the German luxury automaker and Audi has already received thousands of pre-bookings for the SUV even before an official debut.In a communiqu sent by the automaker, an Audi spokesperson said, "Today, we decided to cancel the Audi Summit on August 30 and 31, 2018, in Brussels due to organizational reasons. The Summit will take place on a later occasion in the United States."
Mercedes-Benz will offer a relatively inexpensive coupe to its audience in India very soon with the all new and freshly updated C-Class coupe! So read on to know what this new car from the three-pointed star is all about.
The hybrid hypercar was earlier showcased at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon as the 'Toyota GR Super Sport Concept' and was to remain only a concept until the automaker's confirmation last weekend.
