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 new generation of the Audi Q5 is a comprehensively improved vehicle. Not that the last car had glaring flaws - after all it has been a hit since its 2008 launch. But yes 8 years really called for a new model. And so 1.6 million units later the next generation car is ready to roll. The new Q5 has many changes and firsts on it, but one most significant to the start the story with, is that it's being built outside Germany.
The Toyota Camry has been one of the bestselling nameplates in automobile history the world over. It is currently in its 7th generation, and has already undergone one facelift. The typical lifecycle of a Camry has been about 6 years, and so we are due for an all-new generation Camry in 2017.
The Los Angeles Auto Show has grown in stature and strength, and is getting very crucial for all of us motoring hacks. Why? Well it's simply because a lot of brands are now choosing LA to show us new concepts, production cars, technology and even make strategic business announcements here. So I was at the show this year and here's my list of the top ten newsmakers at LA.
The Compass is Jeep's big growth driver as it sees the compact SUV space as the fastest growing opportunity globally. Fiat is moving fast on the SUV's production and India will be the manufacturing hub for all RHD markets.
Hyundai will launch the next generation Verna in 2017, but follow that up with its first subcompact SUV in 2018. The product plan, its lifecycle as well as its roll out strategy are now fully confirmed and frozen by Hyundai Motor India's parent in South Korea.
It's turning into a long journey for the new touring sports bike from Bajaj. It is now confirmed that the previously christened Kratos 400 will now be launched under the Dominar brand.
We drive Renault's much-awaited Kwid AMT and have quite some positive opinions about it. Read out comprehensive review to find if its actually better than the competitors' offerings.
Hyundai has cracked the Indian car market and how. But while the no. 2 carmaker has steadily and sometimes sharply grown faster than the market, it has not quite been able to break into Maruti Suzukis market share. The plan to take that on; is by launching a slew of new products and of course introducing group brand Kia to us in the next few months too.
The first impression I want to put down for you is that the new Fortuner is indeed a better, more refined and better-finished car. And while it has taken its time to get to India, I am glad it is finally here and Toyota has launched the new Fortuner at Rs 25.92 lakh for the petrol and Rs 31.12 lakh for the diesel.
For all those of you who were waiting with bated breath for car prices to head south post April 2017 - exhale. It seems prices will remain more or less at current levels - though may see a marginal climbdown.
The Triumph Bonneville T100 has arrived in India and completes the new family lineup of the Modern Classics from the British bike maker. We took the bike out for a spin and here what we think about it.
It is the latest mean machine from the four-ringed Bavarian stable, and is set to excite and exhilarate. The new generation Audi R8 Spyder is the topless or convertible avatar of the second generation of the flagship sports car, which launched last year.
Mercedes-Benz India has finally decided to bring the GLA to us in its 4Matic or all-wheel drive version too. And is calling it the GLA Activity Edition. We had scooped the GLA before it came to India with the first exclusive review. So why not do that again with the 4Matic too eh?
One of the pioneers in making and marketing all-electric cars, Henrik Fisker is now all set to come back with a new set of vehicles. The designer who became famous thanks to cars like the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9 has founded a new eponymous company called Fisker Inc. to lead this charge. This is not the same as his former company Fisker Automotive that he left following a bankruptcy in 2013. That company is now owned by China's Wanxiang Group and is renamed as Karma Automotive.
Jeep is riding a wave and wants to ensure it can make the most of the brand strength it is currently seeing. After announcing the Compass compact SUV a few days ago, Jeep is now planning another smaller new model. Sources in the know suggest that there will be another Renegade sized crossover model, but one that will likely be shorter and curvier!
Here are the top 10 concept cars showcases at the Paris Motor Show 2016.
The Paris Motor Show is certainly one of the key global automobile showcases, and yet this year I fear it was more evident than ever how Motor Shows are losing steam - and perhaps more so in the case of Paris. A shrunken show with some key players missing may not be cause for cheer, but luckily some products still gave us some excitement. Here are my top picks from the ongoing Mondial de l'Automobile!
The 5th generation of the Land Rover Discovery is a very crucial product for the Tata-Owned British marque. Not only is it an iconic nameplate that carries quite the rich legacy, but it also becomes crucial in JLR's quest for larger volumes.
The latest from Ingolstadt is the souped-up TT. Audi's RS badge brings with it some pretty cool credentials and claims. The completely reworked 2.5 litre 5-cylinder engine under the hood is the star of the show.
The cars tested were the Renault Kwid (in a follow up test) and the Honda Mobilio (which shares its structure with the recently launched BR-V). The Kwid with an enhanced structure a driver-side airbag has now received 1 star for adult occupant safety and the Mobilio has 0 stars (base variant) and 3 stars for the variant with airbags.
