AUTHENTIC CARS

It’s no secret that Kia Motors, a part of the Hyundai Motor Group has been exploring an entry into the Indian market for several years. In fact, it’s surprising that Kia has taken so long to enter such an important market that has long been ripe for the picking. Newbie Kia has the massive advantage of piggybacking on sister brand Hyundai, which is a hugely successful in India, to tap a country forecast to have five million car buyers ever year, by 2020.    Kia’s model line-up which ranges from budget hatchbacks to premium SUVs and sedans would be well suited to the Indian market, especially since many of them share the same underpinnings with popular Hyundai models in the market. Hence, developing the right products for India may not be that big a challenge as setting up an all-new factory and supplier base, building a dealer network and of course, establishing the Kia brand. Besides, to compete effectively, Kia would have to start with a high level of localisation fro...

Hyundai has launched the all-new Tucson SUV at a starting price of Rs 18.99 lakh for the base trim, going up to Rs 24.99 lakh for the top variant. This is the third Hyundai SUV to go on sale, and it plugs the gap between the hot-selling Creta and the more up-market Santa Fe. The new third generation Tucson marks the comeback of the model in India, after the first-gen model was discontinued after a short stint here. The new Tucson is available with a choice of two engines – a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol unit and a mainstream 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine. The petrol unit is good for 155hp and 192Nm and can be mated to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic gearbox. The diesel unit, on the other hand, pumps out a more significant 185hp and a meatier 400Nm. The diesel unit too is offered with the choice of a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox. There is no all-wheel-drive option. Hyundai is offering the Tucson in three trim levels – 2WD M/T, 2WD A/T GL and...

The Porsche Panamera range has gained six new models as production of the luxurious five-door liftback is ramped up following the second-generation model's introduction earlier this year.     Included is a pair of price-leading models in the form of the rear-wheel-drive Panamera and four-wheel-drive Panamera 4. They are joined by a quartet of long-wheelbase four-wheel-drive models in the Panamera 4 Executive, Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Executive, Panamera 4S Executive and Panamera Turbo Executive.   The new Panamera models are planned to make their public premiere at next week’s Los Angeles motor show, prior to a planned start of UK deliveries in April 2017.   The rear-wheel-drive Panamera and four-wheel-drive Panamera 4 are powered by Porsche’s latest twin-scroll turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine. Shared with the Audi S4, S5 Coupé and S5 Sportback, it produces 20hp more than the older naturally aspirated 3.6-litre V6 engine it replaces, with 330hp. ...

Honda has unveiled the new WR-V at the ongoing Sao Paulo motor show. The Honda WR-V is a crossover-hatchback based on the Jazz, and will come to India in March 2017.   Up front, Honda’s new crossover gets an aggressive bumper with muscular touches and a prominent chin. The headlights are unlike the Jazz's and come with black inserts. The grille gets a thick chrome band similar to one seen on recent Honda models like the BR-V.   Moving on to the sides, the WR-V gets muscular front fenders and body cladding on the wheel arches and  doors that flow on to the bumpers to achieve a rugged, SUV-like look. The doors and the rear fender are shared with the Jazz, but at the back, the WR-V  gets a different tailgate with the license plate placed below on the bumper. The tail-lamps are similar to the units on the Jazz, but there are prominent extensions on the tailgate. The muscular theme continues on the rear bumper, and there's a faux aluminum skid pate and thick b...

Skoda today launched the Rapid facelift at a starting price of Rs 8.35 lakh (ex-showroom, Maharashtra) for the base Active variant. The Rapid has three variants on offer starting with the Active, going up to Ambition and Style. The option of an automatic gearbox is offered on the Ambition and Style trims for both petrol and diesel engines. The Skoda Rapid facelift top-spec petrol-manual variant costs Rs 10.44 lakh. The base diesel is priced at Rs 9.57 lakh, going up to Rs 11.66 lakh. In terms of automatics, the petrol model is priced between Rs 10.39 lakh and Rs 11.46 lakh, while the diesel is priced from Rs 11.71 lakh to Rs 12.78 lakh (ex-showroom, Maharashtra). This is the first major update for the Rapid since its launch in 2011. Till end-October 2016, the sedan has sold a total of 69,240 units in India.The car gets Skoda’s new ‘crystalline design’ language which was well received on models such as the Octavia and the Superb. There are more angular bits including the pro...

Honda is readying a mid-cycle refresh for its popular City sedan. The current-gen Honda City was launched in 2013. The updated City is likely to come to India sometime next year. A facelift is likely to share a similar look as the Honda Greiz sedan sold in China. The Greiz is based on the City sedan but gets slightly tweaked styling.    The refreshed City will use the same set of engines that run in India -- a 1.5-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel.   As far as styling goes, the 2017 City will get a more prominent Accord-like nose and a chin with a thick chrome band running across the grille. The headlight inserts will be reprofiled and will come with projector units. Higher variants will get LED headlamps. The front bumper gets a more prominent air dam and fog-lamp enclosures. Moving on to the back, the bumper will see slight changes and the tail lamps will get an all-new look with prominent LED inserts that mimic Honda’s latest design language seen on the C...

Volkswagen has introduced the legendary ‘GTI’ moniker in India with the Polo GTI. It’s the hottest hatchback to have hit Indian shores yet, and retails at Rs 25.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). This makes it costlier than the 105hp Polo GT (Rs 9.07 lakh) by nearly Rs 17 lakh, and its closest competitor, the 147hp Abarth Punto (Rs 9.99 lakh) by Rs 16 lakh. However, what you do get for that asking price is a whopping 192hp of power and 250Nm of torque from the GTI’s 1.8-litre turbo-petrol engine, which lets this 1273kg hatchback catapult from 0-100kph in a claimed 7.2sec. It has a top speed of 233kph. Power is sent to the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox that can be controlled via steering-mounted paddle-shifters. To help the hatchback channel the power on to the road effectively, it even gets a limited slip differential up front and a stiffer suspension setup than more affordable variants of the Polo. Volkswagen has brought in the Polo GTI to Ind...