I have been working as an Auto Journalist for last two years and after much exploration have finally found carandbike as my work home. I am someone who cannot form his memories without cars and bikes have always been a desirable object. All I want is to drive and experience every four-wheeler with a steering wheel and talk or write about it. If you want to see how wide my lips can spread, just get me behind the wheels of a fast car and make me drive across a winding section of the road. Probably the thing I’ll do with the last litre of fuel I could afford.
At a time when the Indian Automakers are witnessing a prolonged decline in sales across segments, the auto component industry has recorded a revenue growth of 14.5 per cent at Rs. 3.95 lakh crore in FY2019.
A new set of spy images of the 2019 Hyundai Elantra Facelift have surfaced online giving us a closer look at the upcoming model. The India-spec next-generation model is likely to look identical to the one sold in the US and changes are expected to be subtle in elements. For instance, the alloy wheels on the test mule car are finished in silver whereas the American-spec model gets metal black wheels and we can expect minor changes on the inside as well.
June 2019 has marked one full year of stumbling sales in the Indian auto industry. The passenger vehicle (PV) segment has recorded a slump of 17.54 per cent in June 2019 selling 225,732 units against 273,748 units which were sold a year ago.
The State Government had started working on the policy in November last year and is on the verge of finalising it. The Government is planning to roll out the policy in July 2019.
Skoda Auto India is offering attractive discounts on the top-spec L&K variants of select models in a bid to push its sales. The Skoda Kodiaq L&K which was priced at Rs.36.79 lakh is now being offered at a cash discount of Rs. 80,000 and has been priced at Rs. 35.99 lakh (all prices ex-showroom, India). Moreover, the company is also giving a bunch of attractive offers on the L&K variants of the Kodiaq and Octavia. It is offering six years warranty and roadside assistance along with Rs. 50,000 loyalty bonus on both models. There is also an additional benefit of Rs. 50,000 on select credit cards.
The Renault Triber MPV had been a long time coming and has finally made its global debut in India. The all-new MPV is based on the same CMF-A platform that underpins the Kwid, and is a seven-seater offering tucked under the four-metre mark. At that size, the new Renault Triber is a direct rival to the Datsun GO+, but gets a completely different design language that help make for a roomier cabin than the and improved space. In fact, Renault is comparing the Triber to a number of B-segment hatchbacks, with the French model offering the additional third row seating that is more practical. Here are all the details on the new Triber.
The wholesale and production numbers in May 2019 have seen a huge drop compared to retail numbers which is the biggest indication that automakers are trying to control their inventories.
The biggest of updates on the Apple CarPlay is the all-new dashboard which shows multiple apps in a single view including maps and music.
Niti Aayog also proposes a complete ban on three-wheelers powered by internal combustion engines. But how realistic is it to set a deadline to phase out all three-wheelers with internal combustion engines, and that too, within a short period of just three years?
The BlueLink tech has been developed in-house at Hyundai and the company has integrated 10 India-specific services for the Indian market.
The Toyota Innova Crysta is the Japanese carmaker's bestseller in India and Toyota has sold over 2.25 lakh units of it since the model was launched in 2016.
Steelbird India which predominantly is a helmet and auto accessories maker is also known for exploring various businesses, be it the entertainment industry or exporting garments. Marking 55 years of its presence in the Indian market, the company today ventured into the technology space with a rather unique form of social networking and E-Commerce platform- the Steelbird connect. The fanciest bit about the Steelbird Connect is its share & earn feature. People can earn money by uploading and sharing content on this platform. For instance, if you upload a video on this platform with a bid of Rs. 10, the amount will be credited in your wallet every time someone shares your video on any social network including Steelbird connect. In-turn, the person sharing it will also receive the allocated part of the amount.
Though the FAME II scheme hasn't given any clarity on incentivising private four-wheelers yet. However, it has proposed the establishment of 2700 charging stations in metro cities and across other smart cities, tier 2 cities and hilly regions.
Lamborghini India has launched an even more performance-oriented version of the Huracan - the Lamborghini Huracan Evo, priced at Rs. 3.73 crore. The new Huracan Evo gets refreshed styling along with improved aerodynamics, more power and a larger infotainment screen.
Life would have been so much easier there would be a Robocop along to assist us in our daily tasks. Well! That always had been an unreasonable childhood fantasy, however, one such thing now seems possible if automakers could pursuit the idea which Evan Kirstel shared in his tweet captioning it - "Well this is handy". And indeed it is, specially for an easy-going (read: laid-back) person like me who wouldn't mind a robot to fill his car's boot for him.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class range will soon be getting a new entry-level variant which will be a diesel variant. The new variant is the G 350D and will be powered by the OM656 diesel engine as standard which is a BS6 compliant diesel engine. The engine is equipped with a selective catalyst reduction (SCR) converter with an ammonia slip catalyst which is seen in the recently launched Mercedes-Benz BS6 diesel engines. Additionally, the fuel system is also treated with AdBlue which separates Nitrogen and water, thus making it harmless for the environment. Though we have this BS6 engine in several Mercedes-Benz models in India, there is no certaintyof the G350d making it to our market as Mercedes has traditionallysold only the top-end G63 AMG variant in India.
A long list of launches in the SUV segment is scheduled in the country for 2019. We've already given you a glimpse of what SUVs to expect next year but the luxury car makers have a whole bunch of cars lined up which will strengthen their SUV portfolio in the country.
Porsche has expanded the Macan range with an even powerful Macan S which is equipped with a new 3.0-litre, turbocharged V6 petrol motor. The new V6 engine has made the new Macan S even more powerful by adding around 14 bhp and 20 Nm of torque. The 3.0-litre engine now churns out 349 bhp and 480 Nm of peak torque which has made it 0.1 seconds quicker than the previous model and propels it from 0 kmph to 100 kmph in 5.1 seconds. Moreover, the new Macan S can take a top-speed of 254 kmph.
The Tiago XZ+ is the new top-end variant in the Tiago range and gets a host of exterior and interior updates.
KIA Motors is aggressively gearing up to foray into the Indian market and has some big plans to take on its competitors. The Korean carmaker has revealed that it will be launching one new product in the Indian market every six months for three years.
