Where all can you buy cars!?

When one wants to window shop on his phone screen and opens an e-commerce corp’s app, what does he see? Or better ask what does he expect to see? Electronics? Books? The answer in brief would be; mostly anything that he could fit under his roof. Literally.

But what if he could get a car?

A real fossil fuel run, three door, sub four meter SUV that he can just casually drop off into his wish list or ‘add to his cart’ Crazy right! Well, this is India and we redefine ‘crazy’ by the minute. So here you go. That person is lucky. At least for the next few days. Because Ford has planned to sell its Ecosport face-lift consisting of all the variants and colors and both the 1.5L 3 cylinder petrol and 1.5L 4 cylinder diesel on Amazon!!! Yeah you heard it right. But there is a cap on the number of vehicles that can be booked through Amazon. Only 123 lucky people get to experience this marvelous feat of product positioning.

What are Vehicular Platforms?

The word “platforms” rings a bell in the minds of  auto enthusiasts every now and then when they come across phrases like “This vehicle was built on the older version’s platform..” or something of that sorts. Chances are that they might just rush past assuming a platform to be something synonymous to a chassis or an under body for that matter, which is quite wrong. In fact, the vehicular platform describes a design process rather than a part or a component.
Majority of the blame falls on the very word used to represent the process. Our minds are used to relating platforms to something that holds a larger structure together or something that behaves as a foundation on which an entity is built on. The automobile jargon’s meaning would rhyme more with the second presumed definition. The vehicular platform is a set of design, engineering and production efforts which forms foundation for a variety of vehicles to be built and this may or may not transcend OEMs and segments. The vehicular platform basically forms guidelines for an automaker to take inspiration from a pre-existing model when setting out on a new project.
It is not just the implemented design language but also the associated production process, the machinery, tooling, production cost and overheads, set of common components between the older and the newer vehicle which are inclusive of the platform super set.

India’s Innovation boom: The Automotive perspective

The companies of the western hemisphere have always moved towards the east with an intention to sell and have looked at its enormous population, only as a huge pool of buyers of their product. It took beyond the millennium when both the West and the East finally witnessed the burgeoning work force and brain pool that has been stagnated behind the ‘huge population with average PPP’ notion. But the realization came at the right time, which paved way for the Governments of the East to open its gates to the Western corporates to set up service oriented establishments and employ local skill pool.

What are Low Heat Rejection engines?

Thermodynamics might not be your favourite subject but it is definitely the most important subject for Automotive Engineering. Those who have studied it will know that engines have low efficiency as the majority of energy produced is lost in the form of Heat. A typical engine uses only 30% of the whole power produced and 30% loses are through coolant, 30% through exhaust and 10% through friction. Efficiency can be increased by controlling the heat rejection of the engine.

What is LHR Engine?

The objective of low heat rejection (LHR) is to eliminate loss of energy through coolant by increasing the thermal resistance of the engine walls and ultimately increasing the efficiency of the engine. This is done by Thermal barrier coating (TBC) on the cylinder components like piston crown top, cylinder liner, cylinder head inside and valves. These Thermal Barrier Coated Engines are otherwise known as LHR engines.

Due to the insulation of the cylinder wall, the heat transfer through the cylinder walls to the cooling system is reduced which change the combustion characteristics of the diesel engine.

10 Ads that popularized some of India’s iconic cars!

We Indians have always had  this tendency to consider cars that we like and cherish, as yet another member of our family and only a very few cars down the line have had the privilege to make it into the ‘home’.
Commercial advertisements that tapped into sweet points like family values and Patriotism while subtly explaining the car’s performance and mileage have never failed to help the car reach places. Here are a few ads that managed to touch the hearts of our generation and the one before.

Hyundai Santro
The Santro, while it lasted, managed to make Hyundai the Arch Nemesis for Maruti Suzuki in India and rooted the company strong, for generations to come. Watch these series of ads where Hyundai seems to have convinced Shah Rukh Khan, the greatest seller of dreams in India, and he agrees to sell this heart stealer of the petrolheads!

You can watch the video directly at Youtube 1998 Hyundai Santro Launch in India TVC 1 (Shahrukh Khan & Kim)

You can watch the video directly at Youtube 1998 Hyundai Santro Launch in India TVC 2 (Shahrukh Khan & Kim)

You can watch the video directly at Youtube 1998 Hyundai Santro Launch in India TVC 3 (Shahrukh Khan & Kim)

The Car Of The Nation: Independence day special

In it’s seventy exciting years of existence as a sovereign state, India has seen a steady upward trajectory of growth and sustenance in all crucial fields. It has positioned itself comfortably among other developing and developed nations and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to credit the Automobile industry as a major spearhead.

 

The Indian Automotive sector has provided the world with a Goliath market and an indomitable work force and brain pool to capitalize on. It has reached a status where an automaker ignoring the Indian market would either be selling the costliest of cars in the world or be living under a rock. With the largest two wheeler market, a significant presence in all forms of Motorsports right from F1 to Formula Student, the Indian automobile industry is a force to be reckoned with.

 

Triumph – Bajaj collaboration: The fear of the Enfield?

India is now the world’s largest two-wheeler market and every Indian owning an Enfield or a Bajaj or a Hero would know his contribution towards this opportunity feet. But what he wouldn’t know is that the Royal Enfield 350 sold more units than the Bajaj Pulsar, the once “Bike of every youngster” in January 2017.  Though the margin by which it took over is small (2935 units) as of now, it is expected to grow exponentially. It’s not a well-known fact that Eicher has announced an 800 crore investment in Royal Enfield in the FY 2017-18. A new manufacturing plant in Chennai will help the company achieve a combined manufacturing capacity of 825,000 vehicles in 2017-18, and along with two new technical centers in Chennai and the UK and the extensive R&D work that is going into the flagship 750 cc engine project, it is evidence to Enfield’s clear vision of becoming the largest two-wheeler maker in India. The company has already taken a step ahead by replacing TVS motors in the 4th position in terms of sales.

When other companies are contemplating what to do about this looming threat, Bajaj has already made its move.

The Bollinger arrives..

The truth of electric vehicle domination in the forthcoming century of the automotive industry is undisputable and it will happen for all the right reasons. EVs are making themselves known for instantaneous torque, quiet acceleration, extreme comfort and handling that comes with the premium costs. But, a few Petrolheads behind time, like us, might not like the change in the language of some segments of vehicles from rugged boldness to smooth suavity. This change is even more visible and upfront in SUVs as was the case with the Tesla Model X. The model X is the epitome of deliberate infusion of fluidity in SUVs. SUVs are meant to be boxy, they are meant to have a certain amount of roll and a small aerodynamic lackluster to give the rider a feel that he paid for the right clocks and whistles. And as many companies are moving away from this philosophy, it is really surprising to see an upcoming startup staying back with the right design language at the same time incorporating an electric power train.

Jeep Compass : When the price tag matters

Jeep Compass

August-2

09:52 P.M.

The Indian automotive market is unique and queer in its own way. It is so special that global automakers cater to segments in the domestic market which is only available here and if at all found outside the subcontinent. It is solely because of its potential to provide  a huge margin and the government relaxations similar to that of India’s.
One of the driving factors for the ever-growing Indian automotive market to be incredibly dynamic and unpredictable is its pricing. Pricing plays an important role in placing the product at the right bandwidth and cater to not only the segment conscious Petrolheads but also a common man with a buying potential.