The new year will see a line of hatchbacks (including compact SUVs) hit the Indian roads. Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com offers a peek.
What explains India's love affair with SUVs? They are not exactly "value for money" -- the watchword for brands across segments -- nor always practical. Is it for the badge value? Or the butch imagery associated with SUVs? Maybe both, says Alokananda Chakraborty.
Cumulative sales of India's top passenger vehicle makers -- Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors, Honda Cars, and Toyota Kirloskar -- increased to 206,418 units in February over 200,322 units in the same month last year, an increase of 3 per cent.
Leading carmakers Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors reported robust dispatches to dealers in May on the back of strong demand for passenger vehicles across regions, even as the global semiconductor shortage continued to impact production. Mahindra & Mahindra, Kia India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Honda Cars and Skoda also witnessed strong demand for their models last month. The month of May also witnessed Tata Motors race ahead of Hyundai in terms of domestic wholesales.
The entry level car, brainchild of Ratan Tata who envisaged giving a safer and affordable alternative to families riding on two-wheelers, received lacklustre response from the Indian consumer. Tata Motors to bid adieu to Nano from April 2020.
'The August phenomenon of decline in sales occurs every year.' 'What they have done cleverly is, using the economic slowdown as an excuse, they want a package from the government to compensate the expenditure they will incur while converting BS4 to BS6.' 'That's why they are making a hue and cry.'
While the overall passenger car industry is expected to grow at around seven per cent a year in the next five years, SUV growth is expected to be over 10 per cent.
Is the XUV700 just a facelifted XUV500 or is it a completely new breed in the vast range of SUVs available today? Rajesh Karkera takes the latest offering from the Mahindra stable for a spin to find out.
Close to half a dozen more three-row premium mid-size models are expected to hit the road over the next two years.
Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com got the chance to get behind the wheel of the KIA Seltos in rain-splattered Goa, and can't get over the experience.
Rajesh Karkera journeys through verdant countryside to the little-explored pristine Lonar lake in eastern Maharashtra.
Reflecting the mood, passenger vehicle sales in November either remained muted or skidded for most manufacturers as high fuel prices and the higher cost of borrowing dampened buying sentiment.
Market leaders saw good traction for new cars, including the electric ones.
'When I met him, I was a behaving like a 16 year old!' 'He is incredible, very casual and chilled out.' 'He told me he would watch Gully Boy and then he said a dialogue from Gully Boy, 'Bahut hard!'.'
The new Kiger has enough in it to draw you away from the hatchback you've been eyeing.
While hybrids, CNG and biofuels found favour in 2018 among many carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda, others such as M&M and Tata Motors have shown full faith in electric vehicles.
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