Former senior primetime news anchor, financial correspondent, producer, and Chief Editor-Auto – Siddharth has worn many hats during his many years at NDTV. He conceived all the automobile based content for the NDTV network - including the annual carandbike Awards, and used to head the Auto Prime band of programming launched in 2014. He was a key driver behind carandbike.com – already the country's 2nd largest auto portal. Siddharth also created India’s biggest auto quiz, which ran for 7 seasons – the Mahindra AQ. Besides all this, Siddharth is the first Asian journalist to be appointed as a Director on the Steering Committee for the prestigious World Car Awards in 2016. He has served on that jury since 2011, and is now Executive Director of World Car Awards since 2020. He is also Editor-in-Chief of carandbike.
The Volvo S60 Polestar is all set to be launched in India and we have already driven it. Polestar is the name of Volvo's performance car division that has its roots in the Polestar Racing team that the Swedish company used to support. Here's how it drives.
Already industry sources are saying the last 48 hours before the ban comes into effect could deliver a new record for two wheeler sales in the auto industry. The reason for this sales rush? In its ruling on March 29 2017, the Supreme Court had advised manufacturers to try and sell as much of their BS III stock as was possible. And they have taken the instruction very seriously.
The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has been the best selling compact sedan in the Indian market for several months now. And now the market leader is taking that success to its premium retail network Nexa. As was always expected - the Ciaz will now no longer be sold through the Maruti Suzuki dealer network but instead will be available at Nexa only.
The Supreme Court of India has banned the sale of any Bharat Stage III or BS III vehicles across India, with effect from April 1 2017. This is in accordance with the government deadline to adopt the new emissions cycle pan-India. Here's everything you need to know about the ruling of the apex court:
The Supreme Court has ruled that no registration or sale will be allowed on any BS III compatible vehicle from April 1 2017. Saying that public health concerns overrule all other considerations, the apex court has stated, 'Even though the numbers of unsold stock of BS III (vehicles) is small, keeping in view of public health concerns commercial interests are not important.'
The fifth-generation Land Rover Discovery is here and we have received an exclusive opportunity to test the SUV in the diverse off-road terrains of the United States. India will get the Si6 and TDV6 and here's our take on the all-new Land Rover Discovery.
The very successful Renault Kwid has now crossed 150,000 units in sales. And there has been a massive contribution from the more recent variant introductions from Renault India.
Toyota will finally bring us the much discussed and anticipated Vios compact sedan next year. The Vios is a compact sedan and will be going up against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Honda City, and the new-generation Hyundai Verna that's coming this year. Toyota Kirloskar Motor will showcase the Vios at the Auto Expo in February next year, with a market launch and price announcement soon after in April.
Tata Motors and the Volkswagen Group have inked a significant Memorandum of Understanding. They will now explore possible partnerships for jointly developing new mass volume car models for Tata, VW and Skoda brand of vehicles. Skoda will front the discussion from here on for the VW Group. Here's a quick look at what that could mean in terms of the potential it holds for both entities.
The Duster first drove in to India in 2012. Since then Renault has brought us the AWD variant, introduced a touchscreen nav option, launched a major facelift in 2016 and also the Duster AMT automatic variant. And now the automatic story will go further with a refined and advanced CVT joining the pack in a few weeks' time.
History will be made this year regardless of which of the final three is crowned World Car of the Year 2017. The Top Three announced at the Geneva International Motor Show are the Audi Q5, Jaguar F-Pace and Volkswagen Tiguan. So you want to know the historic part? The winner will be an SUV - a first in the World Car Awards' 13-year history. And all three are uniquely strong in their own way, aren't they?
One of the bestselling nameplates in the Indian automotive market, the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire always gets our attention. We were the first to tell you this last year, and now we can confirm to you that the new Swift Dzire will come to us before the hatch, and arrive this year. Sources within the company have confirmed this news to us. The next generation subcompact sedan is all but ready for launch, and we have seen it testing in and around Maruti's plants in December 2016 and January this year.
Tata Motors has taken the covers off the new Racemo sports coupe at the 87th Geneva Motor Show - the 20th time the company has attended the European show. The car is the first product showcased under Tata's new sub-brand TAMO. Tata Group's new Chairman N Chandrasekaran and Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata were present at the unveiling.
At a review hearing at the Supreme Court on Monday, March 6t 2017, a small battle has erupted amongst the two-wheeler manufacturers, and it is one that has been brewing for some days. The court had asked the centre to inform it of what it was doing on petroleum coke and furnace oil, but SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) was also present on the issue of clean fuels. Bajaj Auto has approached the Supreme Court and informed it that it was prepared to honour the country's Bharat Stage-IV or BS-IV emissions deadline.
The very basic MPV offering from General Motors in India - the Chevrolet Enjoy, has failed has received Zero Stars in a crash test by Global NCAP. The international car safety watchdog has been conducting crash testing of many Indian made car models since 2014, in a bid to get the safety standards in India to go up. The Ford Figo Aspire subcompact sedan has also been tested and has done well with a 3 Star rating. These are the first set of tests for 2017 and both cars were tested in their base variants - as is customary.
Scoff if you will and judge me for having a first-world thought on the pricing of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class! The car has launched at Rs 56.7 lakh for the E200 and Rs 70.15 lakh for the E350d. Mercedes-Benz India has in some ways throw down the gauntlet to its immediate rivals. But only if the long wheelbase gamble pays off. If that happens then the star would have set the car amongst the pigeons as it were!
Hyundai is all set to launch the facelift on its subcompact sedan, the Xcent in April 2017. The major focus as far as the makeover goes is on the individual buyer. So expect restyling of the car to make it look more attractive.
Shah Rukh Khan's latest video of him driving his son AbRam around Mumbai in his BMW Convertible has gone viral. And while it may be super adorable to see the superstar father take his young one out for a drive, there's a glaring safety concern that one seems to be talking about.
The Japanese giant Toyota is finally stepping on the gas for India, and the next big model launch we can expect is the Corolla Hybrid sedan.
We drive the Porsche 718 Boxster that has just been launched in India
