Tag Archives: SUV

The case for a diesel Gypsy

Posted on September 22, 2012 by tapish

Building a new car from scratch entails a huge investment. Apart from design, the major areas that use up this investment are platform, engine, and assembly. No wonder, major car manufacturers around the world have identified platform sharing as a cost effective way to increase their models in the market. It is also extremely efficient as building a new car on an existing platform requires much less time than building one from scratch.

Volkswagen group is one great example of … Read more

Mahindra Quanto : Ugly ‘or’ Pagli

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Runal

Ugly or Pagli was this Mallika Sherawat movie which was a rip off of a very regular but somehow very popular Korean movie ‘My Sassy Girl’

Case in point is the way Mahindra has thought about the whole concept of Quanto.
Firstly, the “Korean movie” bit here is the tall hatchback funda (somewhat rediscovered in this case) and the the rip off is very much obvious.

Quanto makes you think of two things :
1. Should this be considered a … Read more

Women on Wheels : Premier Rio Multijet Review

Posted on September 13, 2012 by admin

Somehow, the automobile was made and is still associated with men. The shapes, colors, styling, engines and tv commercials are all centred around the alpha male.
But a fact goes un-noticed : the power (read contribution) of women to the fancy little things on four wheels is just more than driving.

Carkhana starts a quest to find the “most women friendly cars in India” and with our experienced petrolhead Janhavi in-charge , the hunt gets better by the … Read more

Why the Duster is a messiah for Renault

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Runal

There are cars which mobilized people and then there are cars which mobilized a company to prosperity beyond their regular means.

Renault, the smart French manufacturer making oddly nice looking cars has been in India for long now. Their innings started off with Mahindra (as a local partner) and a very frugal car called Logan.
The failure of the car (and JV) is a mystery beyond anybody’s comprehension. The Bermuda triangle seems easier to crack.

Post the failed arrangement and … Read more

Maruti Suzuki XA Alpha

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Aryan

We are not usually accustomed with Maruti’s venturing in C segment, because this company is familiar to us with its wide variety of small cars.

In 2012, Maruti Suzuki’s MD and CEO, Shinzo Nakanishi, introduced us to a new Maruti product which can rule the C segment, comfortably well.

The concept is built on the new Swift platform, and its overall length measures 4 metres. The four-metre length makes the XA Alpha eligible for a lower rate of excise duty … Read more

Mahindra Ssangyong Korando ; Mahindra’s new premium weapon

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Vivek

Everyone came to know when the Tatas bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Not many knew when Mahindra decided to buy Ssangyong (you pronounced it wrong again!).

Well, it’s a South Korean company (you expected that) which is getting popular around the world now. And Mahindra has decided to bring their flagship (by sales) SUV to India, the Korando.

And they are right on the money! This one looks contemporary, and Giugiaro has done it again! To me, it’s … Read more

Renault Koleos

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Vivek

I remember watching ‘the social network’ where one nerd takes on all the existing giants in the sector by just giving what people want. Well, it seems somebody at Renault was impressed by the thinking as well.

Last month, they finally brought the much acclaimed SUV, the Koleos, to Indian shores. And the similarity is that with the likes of the Toyota Fortuner, Hyundai Santa Fe, the Honda CR-V, the Nissan X Trail(and even the BMW x1 to … Read more

Mahindra XUV 500

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Vivek

To me, the most impressive superhero is Hulk. And he has a cult identity that no one else has ever had. Despite the not-so-successful films, he still remains the one when it comes to pure muscle.

And amidst the race to create cheaper SUVs, Mahindra has finally struck large with the ace it had up its sleeves. It was codenamed ‘World SUV W201’, and launched as XUV500. And it’s probably the most exciting car in the Indian markets today.

As … Read more

A grown up kid still called “Mini” :Countryman

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Runal

What happens when things go off track

When Nike makes an iPod shoe, Simon Cowell starts speaking or when Mini starts making bigger cars

This very un Mini creation is the most in-news British act apart from the NOTW debacle

Its big (not that big, but then, the reference is the tiny Cooper) and it looks soooo ‘wierdo good’

History : Mini did to us, what Leonardo Di Caprio did in Inception : To plant an idea in our minds. An idea … Read more

BMW X1 : The small whale

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Runal

If Apple can shrink their i-Pod into a Shuffle, why not do the same with cars

And BMW did do the trimming (this is what they claim) with their X series of SUV’s

Take a X5, downsize it into a X3, do that again and you arrive at the X1

Its small (officially called a compact SUV), based on the 3 series platform

The Car:- It carries forward the recent shift in consumer interest towards smaller, compact cars. Is … Read more