A Four Door Porsche!!

A thorough-bread sports car manufacturer coming out with a four door sports saloon is surprising. Car lovers around the world associate the brand with two door coupes and convertibles. While Asia is playing a bigger role in the world economy, world car makers are thinking out of the box. Four door Panamera makes perfect sense for the Indian market where the majority of luxury cars are chauffeur driven. Panamera will have a much wider audience compared to a two door sportser. Look out Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi……

Jaguar Land Rover

Tata launches JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) in India. Yes, these iconic brands are now available to the Indian motorists! Tata of India bought these brands from Ford of US, and recently launched them in the Indian market. Though Indian market is very small for such luxury brands, it holds good potential in the long run. Tata Motors has wide range of vehicles on the Indian roads, from the worlds cheapest car - Nano to large multi-axle commercial vehicles. It is to be seen though whether these luxury brands are sold from new exclusive outlets or through existing outlets for other Tata cars (which should NOT be the case!).

Nano - Greek word for "dwarf," is a small, affordable (at USD 2500), rear-engine, four-passenger car aimed primarily at the Indian market. Tata Motors has developed this car indigenously. Tata has already proved its car designing and manufacturing capabilities with their earlier launch - Indica. The design is cute and inspiring and the launch promises to fulfil dreams of millions of Indian families to own a car. But the question on everybody’s mind is that by fulfilling those dreams, are we not putting more pressure on the infrastructure (read roads) which is already chocked? It takes two hours to cover 50 km in peak hours on the roads of New Delhi. Even if 25% of two-wheeler owners in New Delhi become car owners, it will be a nightmare to drive through Delhi. Probably, Nano should be sold only in rural areas and small towns.

Xylo – a new SUV in the Indian market. A home grown design by an Indian manufacturer - Mahindra. Indian auto design has shown tremendous improvement over the last few years. But it may take some more time before they can match upto their European counterparts. Xylo is surely attractive, but lacks that true design integrity! The headlamps, the grill, and tail lamps may need re-work in the next avatar.