Its latest attempt at making a quadricycle however, is anything but admirable. And I am not talking about the product here as nobody has driven it and hence nobody has the right to say anything on it. What irks me however is the way the company has hijacked the issue of formulating rules for quadricycles as a special segment of vehicles.

The genesis of Bajaj’s version of a quadricycle–the RE60– is as muddled as the product itself. Initially, the Pune based firm wanted to make a low cost car using its expertise as a proficient two and three wheeler manufacturer. Those were the days when Tata was finalising the Nano and the world was hopeful about the prospect of frugal functional four wheelers.

That is what lured the Franco-Japanese alliance of Renault Nissan to tie up with Bajaj promising to bear the cost of sales and marketing. On paper, it looked like a win-win situation. Since the Nano was made here, it was logical that a similar car can emanate from India alone. Nobody would have thought Bajaj, a rank outsider to making cars, can do what so many including Suzuki, Hyundai and General Motors had flatly refused to. Yet, Renault-Nissan’s association raised hopes that this was something more serious than what it looked like.

The fact that it was not, became clear eventually. Bajaj first showcased a concept version that was nothing more than a skeleton. A poor copy from various small cars already on the road, the company did not let anybody get near the car for fear of somebody clicking pictures of the engine and reverse engineering it. In reality, it never had an engine.

Then the project started getting delayed and a shadow war commenced between Rajiv Bajaj and Renault Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn over its pricing. While Ghosn wanted a car at $ 2500, Bajaj often refused to play ball reiterating that he was looking at fuel economy and not price while making this car. That continued for several years and finally it was clear that the partnership was all but over.

Bajaj eventually showed what it actually designed and developed, last year in January. What we saw then was a joke in the name of a car. The company itself admitted it wasn’t really one but a four wheeler intended to replace the 5 million odd three wheelers on the road. Clearly, the attempt to make a car had come a cropper and what remained was an afterthought now being pushed as a revolutionary modern day quadricycle.

There is a tinge of irony when Bajaj goes about lobbying for its labour of love to be treated not like a car but as a quadricycle. A decade ago, when another Indian two wheeler maker TVS wanted to make quadricycles, Bajaj was one of its foremost opponents.

As the debate raged, the car companies were pissed. They wanted for RE60 to either meet all the legislations of a car including safety and fuel efficiency norms or not be sold as a private vehicle at all. Bajaj on its part has been going all out trying to convince anybody willing to listen that this vehicle is an innovative masterpiece. IIT professors have written papers on how safe and environment friendly this vehicle would be while sundry experts are gushing about the functionality of the vehicle. I doubt if any of them have actually driven the vehicle.

The problem is not to make a path breaking vehicle and then lobby hard to get rules formulated to assimilate it. The issue is when one tries to hijack a subject just to make a particular vehicle digestible. Agreed that four wheels is safer than three and that is exactly what Bajaj intends to do with the RE60 – prompt three wheeler owners to upgrade to a safer and more modern four wheeler.

In that case then, it should not resent if the government does not allow it to sell to individual consumers. After all, no individual today would buy a three wheeler as a personal mode of transportation. And at the same time, it would do Bajaj’s image a whole lot of good if it proactively decides to stop making three wheelers itself. As it stands, Bajaj is the largest three wheeler manufacturer in the world and its three wheels bring more profits than two. I am not sure, the company would do that.

It is also ironical, that this discussion is happening at such a late stage. Ideally, should someone aspire to make a vehicle a definition for which is not available, it should lobby to get the rules framed first before investing crores and making the vehicle. Sadly, it has happened the other way round. As a result, all efforts are now being made to ensure that at least the RE60 cuts the ice as far as a quadricycle is concerned. No benchmarks are being looked at, no other markets studied, no clarifications sought.

To define a new segment only to cater to one product itself makes this whole exercise meaningless. But since you and I won’t even get to drive it, why should we care.

The lower fuel economy has a direct impact on actual emissions for these cars, a more critical issue in developed markets. BMW for example reported emissions figures for its vehicles on average 30% lower than those found in actual use while Volkswagen AG’s luxury unit Audi had the second widest disparity, with reported emissions some 28% below actual use. Mercedes showed a gap of 26%.

ICCT said the malaise is all encompassing. Figures for emissions from Toyota vehicles were found to be about 15% less than in real use and Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen’s published data was about 16% lower than for vehicles on the road.

An exercise like this has never been conducted nor attempted in India but that does not take away from the fact that the certified fuel economy figures for cars here are equally misleading. In fact these figures that are based on so called “scientific test runs” conducted by Pune based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), are nothing but a farce. A sick joke at the altar of consumers.

The divergence between actual fuel consumption figures that an everyday commuter gets and what the experts at ARAI claim varies across brands. Sometimes quite wildly. The Maruti Swift, Honda Brio and City, Toyota Innova and Skoda Fabia are for example reported to be nearly as fuel efficient as ARAI would want us to believe. Similarly, a Hyundai i10, Nissan Micra, Renault Scala and Ford Figo are often found to be at the other end of the spectrum.

I must reiterate here that these are not scientifically collated figures but random observation from real car users across automotive portals in cyber sphere. Unlike ICCT in Europe, none of the research firms have the capability or the guts to highlight these issues.

The voluntary disclosure of fuel economy figures that began in 2009, was itself an act of posturing by the industry rather than any honest endeavor at transparency. Back then, there was a lot of heat on the industry by various genuine and dubious stakeholders to form guidelines on a star rating system for cars..aka consumer durables like air conditioners, refrigerators and television sets. In its bid to thwart the government from forcing the star rating down its throat, the industry decided to make the actual fuel economy figures under test conditions public. “Voluntarily.” ARAI was only too happy to oblige.

Fuel economy figures by itself are a messy debate. In the paranoiac US market, many car companies have entangled themselves in law suits over bloated claims. The latest that comes to mind is Hyundai Kia absorbed in settling a class action suit in the US that is expected to cost the Korean giant a hefty $ 450 million.

Ironically, despite being a hyper sensitive market when it comes to fuel efficiency and cost of ownership, Indian consumers do not enjoy these benefits. You cannot take your company to court on the ground that your car is returning a mileage figure that is half of what the ARAI induced company claims. They are all saved by the proverbial asterisks that these figures are derived under specific test conditions. What these conditions are: the consumer does not know and the company will not tell. It may as well be going round and round a desolate well paved patch of tarmac at the backyard of ARAI’s office.

Yet, my hunch is a lot many of us know it all too well not to believe in these bogus claims. But for the sake of those who do not, perhaps there should be a full stop to this farce.

Following the government’s decision to decontrol the prices of petrol, its cost had gone up by over 33% between July 2010 and 2012 (see graph). It however remained indecisive on diesel, which meant prices barely nudged 3%. This resulted in an almost immediate and dramatic impact on sales of cars and SUVs around the country. Entry level small car sales slipped in favour of bigger versions that had diesel options and SUVs. From barely 32% in July 2010, share of diesel vehicles in overall automobile sales in the country rose to over 50% by the first half of 2013.

Since then however, the cycle has been reversed. In less than one year, diesel prices have gone up by over 20% since July 2012 largely due to a phased price decontrol. Prices of petrol on the other hand have gone down by almost 8% in the same period as a result of the fall in international crude prices. The cost differential between the two fuels, now at Rs. 13.4 per litre, is at its lowest level in 3 years.

The impact of this on the ownership matrix of a diesel and petrol car spread over 5 years is dramatic. At July 2012 prices, you would have saved nearly Rs. 80,000 by opting for a diesel car if you drive on an average 60 kilometres a day or 22,000 kilometres a year. Today, that benefit has been cut to a meagre Rs. 2,500, which means the 10% higher maintenance cost of a diesel engine would make petrol cars a more attractive bet.

What does it mean for a prospective consumer? Should the market now ditch diesel for petrol?

Not entirely. A comparison between the respective running cost of a comparable petrol and diesel car would suggest that for somebody who travels over 70 kilometres a day, like in big cities and metros, diesel still makes more sense. However, it does not quite hold true in small tier II and III towns where the distances as also the affordability of cars is relatively less.

By nature, a diesel car is 20% more fuel efficient than a petrol car, and alongwith the cheaper fuel helps negate its higher cost (see table). At current prices, somebody who drives 60 kilometres a day will be able to break even save some money in a diesel car in 5 years. If you drive less per day, say 40 kilometres on an average, the break even time balloons to seven and a half years. Some other factors like cost of maintenance that tends to be higher on diesel vehicles also load the dice in favour of petrol cars.

The reversal in the pricing of the two fuels and its corresponding impact on the ownership matrix is finally being felt in the market. After a two year bull run, sale of diesel cars are at the cusp of a negative spiral while that of petrol cars is witnessing an uptick in demand.

There is speculation that prices of diesel are likely to go up further as the government undertakes its final few steps at a de-control. At the same time, there is a school of thought that the international crude oil prices is now at the low end of its cycle and will start going up soon. In effect, petrol will become dearer henceforth. The uncertainty over prices renders any such calculations that bets on the price differential between the two fuels to stay by and large at the same level, useless.

The best solution is…trust your instinct and follow your hunch. Nobody is a pundit in this game.

For one, they are SUVs and the more successful ones at that in recent times. XUV five double ooh, Mahindra’s most ambitious vehicle till date, was such a rage at the time of launch that even the most optimistic official in the company was surprised. The Duster on the other hand was saddled with the burden of expectations. It was a make or break vehicle for Renault and the company was hoping it will pull it out of the rut. How well it has done that and more.

And as you analyse the success of these two vehicles, a striking trend comes to the fore. It is centred on one simple fact. After a glorious run of almost 18 months, XUV seems to be losing its lustre. At the same time Duster, now in its 10th month, is only going from strength to strength. The contrast is so obvious that it begs the question. Is the Duster eating into XUV’s clientele?

Sample this. Since November last year, XUV sales have failed to cross the 4,000 mark, a figure it was easily coasting along for many months. Its sales have only gone southwards to below 3500 units at first and more recently even below the 2500 mark. Last month was a new low for the nameplate with only 2253 takers.

Many on the other hand, thought the Duster would flounder when its sales dipped temporarily to 3500 odd units in January. Many non Maruti, non Hyundai cars in the past have registered slumps after the initial 6 months of bonhomie. Never to recover. Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo, VW Polo, Vento, Skoda Rapid and Toyota Etios are live examples. The Duster was expected to join that list.

Instead, January was just a breather. In the next three months it has found on an average over 5700 customers every month. And the indications are that the long bleak summer will not have a major impact on its fortunes.

It will be a little naive to believe that a 5 seater like Duster is a serious challenger to a 7 seater like XUV. But there does seem to be some competition between the two. Duster comes a tad cheaper than the XUV and offers a ride that is better than the Mahindra vehicle. Both the cars suffer from the same problem of uninspiring interior design and have similar strengths–good road presence and the image of a sturdiness. It is not preposterous to think customers may be choosing the smaller vehicle over the bigger one.

The real test for the Duster as also the XUV however is ahead of us. The launch of the Ford EcoSport would mean Renault will get its first direct competitor. At the same time, the sagging sales of the XUV would not be lost with the powers that be in Pune. SUV and utility vehicles is a segment that Mahindra understands the best. And it remains very capable to pull one of the tricks out of its hat to resuscitate XUV’s fortunes.

If at all, this is just the start of what promises to be a long drawn and yet intense rivalry. For now, the French have claimed round 1.

Not that all of them have horror stories to recount. But that eerie feeling of not having a spare tyre in the boot combined with the bad roads in India instills such insecurity in a driver’s mind, it is not amusing.

And when that is the state of affairs with somebody who spends upwards of Rs 30 lakh on a car, it is tragic? The saving grace…most of them have a chauffeur to suffer on their behalf.

So what are these “run flat” tyres? Basically, these are tyres that can run for a specified distance at a reduced maximum speed when the tyre is flat with negligible or no air without damaging the wheel. BMW says if the tyres go completely flat, the car can be driven for another 150 kilometers with a maximum speed of 80 kmph with little or no loss of stability.

Manufacturers including BMW argue that it does away with the need of spare tyre helping it reduce the weight of the vehicle and improving its performance and fuel economy. The German car maker even extends the argument to the point that it says one day almost all major manufacturers will be forced to adopt this technology as the fuel economy norms are made more stringent.

The flip side of these tyres however is that while it improves the handling and braking of the vehicle it leads to a comparatively jerky ride. More importantly, as many BMW owners in India have opined in various blogs, website and grievance columns, these tyres are ill-suited to the poor road conditions in the country.

A flat tyre in India does not quite happen on a bad day but is a mundane phenomenon. As a run flat tyre cannot be fixed by a roadside mechanic, nor even by an authourised BMW dealer, and can only be replaced. The high cost of these tyres mean increased expenditure and more hassle. Imagine if you are stuck with a flat tyre on a deserted stretch in Ladakh where the nearest dealer is 500 kilometers away. You may be in for a few very long arduous nights.

The cacophony against these tyres is increasing even in developed countries in Europe where the roads are much better paved and more suited to it.

Sample this. Satisfaction is declining among customers whose vehicles are equipped with run-flat or low rolling resistance tires, according to the recently released J.D. Power and Associates 2013 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study.

Overall satisfaction among owners of luxury vehicles with run-flat tires was 728 (on a 1,000-point scale), compared with 739 among those who own luxury vehicles with standard tires. The gap is even more pronounced among owners of performance sports vehicles, among whom overall satisfaction is 665 with run-flat tires versus 732 with standard tires.

Part of the gap in satisfaction is due to the necessity of having to replace run-flat tires more frequently, compared with standard tires. Nearly one-third (31%) of customers whose vehicle is equipped with run-flat tires have had to replace at least one tire, compared with just 19% of those whose vehicle is equipped with standard tires. In addition, customers with vehicles equipped with standard tires replace their tires after an average of 36,100 kilometres – more than 9600 kilometres beyond the average life of run-flat tires.

Customers with vehicles equipped with run-flat tires are nearly twice as likely as those with vehicles equipped with standard tires to have to replace a tire due to a flat or blowout.

“Owners of performance sports cars with run-flat tires say they ‘definitely will’ recommend their tire brand to friends and family only half as often as those whose car is equipped with standard tires (14% vs. 28%, respectively),” says Brent Gruber, director, global automotive division at J.D. Power and Associates. “That has a potentially tremendous financial impact on tire manufacturers.”

For long considered to have ushered in a revolution in the global tyre landscape prompting companies like BMW to not only adopt them but also design vehicles around them, run flat tyres are fast losing their sheen.  As far as India is concerned, it is way ahead of its time anyway.

One such gentleman was Minush Patel from Surat in Gujarat. Mr Patel has a large family and wanted a vehicle that would comfortably ferry them around and make minimal fuss about it. His first mail specifically said–”8 people should sit on the car and price no bar.”

After some diligence, I wrote back saying the Toyota Innova seemed to be the best choice. It was spacious, fuel economical, reliable and sturdy. It was also, a Toyota. Over the next four mails we discussed the Innova at length and compared it to the new kid on the block — XUV5OO. Mr Patel was obviously enamoured by the looks of the Mahindra vehicle but I reminded him that the Toyota was far more reliable and for everyday family use, one may look at that more closely than anything else.

After a month or so and in his fifth mail he informed he actually went ahead and bought the Scorpio instead. And again, specifically, he mentioned his reason for not going for either the XUV or Innova. The waiting period on the XUV put him off and his family was not quite keen on the Innova as it was perceived largely to be a taxi. Which got me thinking. Does it really matter if a vehicle is used extensively as a taxi and does that turn off potential customers?

If we look around in India, we will find Patel and his family is not alone. There are legions of consumers who have side-stepped cars like Indica, Indigo, Omni and Tavera only because they are synonymous with taxis, cabs and cargo vans. It is this perception to a large extent that has stunted the growth of these models.

The Tavera for example sells under 2000 units every month. This is good if you compare it to a Xylo, another contender for the long haul taxi crown, but when you see an Ertiga doing 6,000 unit plus, you do understand the chunk of consumers that does not even look at the Chevy twice.

Or look at the Indica and Indigo cousins. For long, they sold and handsomely at that as they were the only cheap diesel cars available. But that made them attractive to the cabbies as well. Tata, happy to find a steady stream of demand in the commercial segment, did little to discourage them either. Over time though that has come back to sting them. And how. Today, the Indica and Indigo are such underperformers that it has baffled everybody. Poor technology and fit and finish are to be blamed too but Tata has shown signs of improvement in the recent past. Consumers refuse to buy it though. Once a taxi always a taxi it seems.

Globally though, it is a different story. World’s largest selling car –Toyota Corolla, is a massive example. It sold over 1 million cars worldwide, only 2 cars achieved that distinction, and the bedrock of its demand has always been the taxi segment. Hard to believe in a country like India where it is sandwiched between executive and luxury sedans but go to any big city in a developed country–New York, Tokyo, Beijing, Dubai–and you will find a fleet of Corollas ferrying people around.

And Corolla is not alone either. Hyundai’s two largest selling cars–Elantra and Sonata– that sell 1.3 million units annually between them are big on the taxi sector as well. So are the Ford Focus, Nissan Altima and Sunny, Toyota Prius and Volkswagen Jetta. Even in the luxury car industry, manufacturers often fight within themselves for fleet operations. A Mercedes Benz C Class for example is exclusively used by Emirates for airport transfers around the world. And Mercedes is far from embarassed. It is infact proud of it.

These manufacturers have no qualms in supplying their cars for taxi use. Neither are they bothered if their cars are customised and painted in different colours and go around cities as such. Instead, some offer customisation themselves.

To them, the fact that the hard nosed cabbie is buying a Toyota or a Hyundai car for a taxi is a good appraisal of the product. For one, a car needs to be spacious and durable for it to be a good taxi. Besides, no other car is driven as much and in as varied terrains as a taxi so it needs technology too.

Some of it is now visible in India too. The Etios sedan and its hatchback version Liva are now being aggressively pursued in the taxi segment. So are the Hyundai Accent, Nissan Sunny, Evalia and Swift Dzire. Maruti has infact even evolved a new brand the Dzire Tour based on the old 4 metre plus size Dzire especially for fleet use. Individual buyers will always outnumber fleet operations and these are hardcore commercial car makers but it is no longer true that a car as a taxi is a taboo.

The catch lies in which are the fleet operators are using these cars. If it is an organised chain like Hertz, Avis, Meru, EasyCabs or QuickCabs, consumers would be more likely to not mind the choice of the car. But if it is your neighbourhood friendly cabby, you may not want him to be driving people around in the same car that you bought yourself.

At first, you only see him from behind as a giant crane slowly lowers a container with Land Rover boldly embossed on it. Slowly the camera pans into the container completely as it touches the ground with a thump.

In it, is a gleaming red, a little pinkish at that, Range Rover, resplendent in glossy paint. The camera then pans out for a full view. It is a dock in US all right.

The next moment, he is inside twisting the key as multifarious lights roll up on the instrument panel. The first glimpse is of the eyes in the rear view mirror, a sure shot giveaway. It is indeed Bond.

Over the next three and a half minutes, the car twists and turns at the docks, blazes past Brooklyn bridge with a crimson Manhattan skyline looming large in front, enters the maze of cross sections, gets stuck in traffic and then wades through a blocked flooded tunnel on its way past Penn station in front of Madison Square Garden, the venue for so many similar grand spectacles in the past, to appear before us through a black curtain. Right in front.

A recorded film juxtaposed beautifully with the real Daniel Craig driving on cordoned streets in the heart of Manhattan, arguably the busiest street in the world.

video-2-the-drive.mp4

When it all ended, he never stayed with the car for more than 2 minutes. But for a change, James Bond world’s most famous if not prolific private detective was not driving his favourite Aston Martin. However, he did drive something almost equally special.

I have never been a fan of the Bond movies. If truth be told, I have never even seen one at full stretch. A bit of Goldeneye here, a Casino Royale there and a Tomorrow Never Dies somewhere in between.

The idea of a superhuman sleuth destined to survive all sorts of cunning schemes and deceptions and capable of riding everything from a yatch to a supersonic jet, beats me. I would rather a Superman or Spiderman instead.

The James Bond show at Manhattan however underlined what an impact a celluloid superstar can have on the fortunes of a car. Even, on a car as capable as a Range Rover Sport. I had to admit, Bond is something special. And if he is driving a car, it will be anything but ordinary.

Never mind that the Aston Martins he actually drives on the big screen, do not find too many takers these days.

Surely now it will. He was driving a Lamborghini Gallardo Valentine Balboni special edition, a car that costs more than what you and I can ever make in life. Unless we win at KBC.

Lal was the cyclist who got hit by the car and succumbed to his injuries after 2 days. The state he was in after the accident, it is god’s mercy he died.

Had he been alive, his life would have been worse. Though we don’t remember him, Lal was the real tragedy in that accident.

A year hence, all of that is history and we have moved on. Not that we had stopped by to hold candle-light marches for Lal anyway.

How can you charge the dead for the misdeeds committed when he was alive?

The “we miss you” advertisments by the “well wishers” of Rishi however, got my goat. And hence this post. Bear with me dear readers, or if you find this too nonsensically imaginative, move on to the sweeter pleasures of cyber world.

Lal was 55 when he died and for the last two decades of his life was a security guard in a South Delhi primary school.

Such was the commitment towards his job that he asked his son to pass on keys to his colleague from hospital bed at the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

Such was the gratitude of his employers that nobody paid one visit to him at the time when he deserved it most — on his death bed. Not the least — Rishi’s parents.

The bigger issue however, is why should people like Lal pay with their own lives for the fancy lifestyle the high and mighty enjoy?

It came out into the open later that Rishi’s parents themselves were not aware he had such an expensive fancy car to boot. Plausible? If so what kind of a society or value system is this?

And another embedded issue that is more related to this forum is whether, knowing how careless we are as drivers, it is correct to have such super cars in the country.

A Lamborghini, Ferrari or Porsche are no run off the mill machines. These are mean, high energy, trigger happy beasts that can exhilarate and kill in the same breath.

0-100 kph in less than 4 seconds, top speed of 350 kmph. These are not mere numbers. If handled carelessly, these are weapons of mass destruction. The damage that they cause is hardly amusing.

Lal’s family lives in almost abject penury. Every day they ask whether it would be a good thing to leave Delhi for good.

The emotional vacuum is irreplaceable, but the financial duress is more pressing. Such compulsions do not, for sure, hound Rishi’s family.

It may be naive or childish to say it, but perhaps we are better off without these cars for now. Let there be no Lamborghinis and Ferraris on the road.

Let us make no distinction between who can drive and who cannot. For it does not need to be proven that those with the power and connection can drive anything. Those without, are vulnerable even on foot.

Cliché? Yes, very. But sadly, a poor man dying at the wheels of a speeding car has also become a cliche today.

There has to be an end to this. Even one life lost due to the callousness of a brat is a colossal waste. An irreparable one.

Spare a thought for Lal and his family and for those who run the risk of joining that league every day. If it means a ban on superlative machines to avoid these tragedies, I would imagine it is not a bad bargain.

A few years back, 2006 to be precise, the budget gave us a new definition of what is a small car. It had to be shorter than 4 metres in length and can have engines not bigger than 1.2 litre for petrol and 1.5 litre in diesel. It reeked of prejudice from some quarters and malice from others but by and large and with the advantage of hind-sight, the government got it right.

Yes, it did force manufacturers to prune some of their vehicles and cut the engine sizes. The erstwhile Chevrolet U-VA for example was ready with a 1.4 litre engine. But General Motors had to go back to the drawing board and concoct a smaller engine. Ditto for the Honda Jazz, which is powered by a bigger engine the world over. In these cases, it made these cars less potent as compared to what they should have been but that is a compromise that one has to factor in. The idea to discourage bigger cars as they take more space and are less fuel efficient was, by and large, a correct one.

This year, the government gave us another new definition. That of a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). Here is what the government thinks it is:

* Anything that is more than 4 metres in length.
* That has a ground clearance of more than or equal to 170mm
* Engine size of more than 1.5 litre petrol or diesel
* Should not be a 9 seater or more. So the sundry small buses are ruled out.

To qualify, a vehicle has to meet all the four criteria. The reward for such qualification is 3% more excise duties or an effective rate of 30%. This will make the vehicle fall into the highest excise bracket. Only imported luxury cars attract a higher rate of taxation.

The need to define a SUV has been felt for long and for reasons best known to them, the industry has shied away from it. I had written about it just a couple of months back on how it suits them to not do it. Read here

That the government would turn its attention to this was a sitter. Utility vehicles was the only segment to report a robust set of numbers throughout the last year, up over 50%, when every other segment like most of the economy was tanking (down 5%). A cash starved government thirsty for any extra dough and the vagueness of what is an SUV, exposed the industry to the risk of the policy makers indulging in some hara kiri.

And what a brilliant example of ignorance it has been. For once, nowhere in the world is an SUV defined as such. Yes, length can be a criteria. But 4 metres is a little too short. So can ground clearance. Again 170 mm is hardly anything. Read on and you will know why. Engine size? What has that got to do with a vehicle being an SUV or not. The most important aspect of an SUV–its off roading capabilties has been ignored in totality. Hence, no mention of a four wheel drive option.

So what it has done instead is that there are enough loop holes for some unsuspecting sedans to fall under this category. At the same time, some vehicles largely perceived to be SUVs have escaped.

The SX4 for example, is now an SUV according to the babus. Quite a few of them are driven around in them, maybe thats why. It has a ground clearance in excess of 170mm and an engine that is bigger than 1.5 litre too (for the petrol variant). So too are the Civic and Corolla. In reality, these are anything but SUVs.

The Duster, Quanto and Ertiga however, escape the cane. I do not consider the Ertiga as an SUV either so though unintended, no qualms there. But the Duster is built and marketed as an SUV not only in India but globally. So too the Quanto, which again I think does not make the cut. But Mahindra remains insistent that it is every bit an SUV as a Land Rover. The Duster escapes as its engine size is smaller than 1.5 litre for the diesel variant. The Quanto, because it is shorter than 4 metres.

Having said that, while the industry’s discomfort with this definition that is forced upon them is justified to some extent, I for one, am not complaining. It is a foolish definition but one that this industry deserved. Well done North Block.

For one, it is somewhat neutral in nature. Switzerland does not have an automobile industry of its own but is nestled within a bustling hub.

The Germans on one side–Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, the French on the other–Renault, Peugeot and CItroen, the Italians–Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Fiat, the scandinavians–Volvo, and the Brits–Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini.

It does not give an edge to anybody unlike similar events in Frankfurt, Paris or Milan.

Which is also a reason why it is never missed by inter-continental rivals–Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Lexus or even our very own Tata.

And you can always be assured of a wide assortment of production as well as concept cars that tell you where you are and where you would be in times to come.

It is a little different this time though. The European automotive industry that held up well after the 2008 economic turmoil is now battling a crisis considered to be the worst in decades.

And that has had an impact on the overall mood, enthusiasm and products on display in such events.

Barring a Ferrari here and a Lamborghini there (trust the Italians to always come good), there are only a handful of models that deserve a must see. Here are a few of them.

LaFerrari

A Ferrari is a Ferrari is a Ferrari. Replete with the blazing red, prancing horse and “you can’t miss me” looks. Okie, they did miss out on the FF a few years back but they can’t be expected to go wrong everytime.

The one that comes to Geneva is special anyway. For a start, it is the first hybrid car that Ferrari has produced. Who would have thought that was possible?

And yet, it is humongously powerful. It has a 6.2 litre V12 engine that belts out 790 bhp power and revs to a superlative 9250 rpm. The electric motor has an output of 160 bhp giving the car an overall power of 950 bhp.

The total torque available is over 900Nm. The sad part….only 499 of these would be made and almost all of them are already accounted for. Slowdown?? What slowdown?

Lamborghini Veneno

Outrageous to some, outlandish to most and even downright ridiculous to some others.

But it is a Lamborghini, and the adjectives sit easy on it. Poisonous to the core (poison is the name in Spanish), it is all chiselled sharp beauty….err…whatever. It is difficult to fall in love for it in one go. But Lambo is never in a hurry.

Even when it can scoot off at over 350 kph. The power?? 750 horsepower. The price? $4.6 million (Rs 25 crore plus). And only three people on this planet will ever get that. Yup…Lambo says…499 for Ferrari…just 3 for me.

Rolls Royce Wraith

Basically a GT coupe version of its Ghost sedan, Rolls takes a direct swipe at arch rival Bentley’s line up of Flying Spurs.

At service is a 12 cylinder 624 horsepower engine that enables this heavy metal machine to sprint to 100kph in just 4.4 seconds. It will still cost you a bomb…Rs 1.65 crore.

But there is no limit to how much they can produce. So you will perhaps see a few of these in India.

Skoda Octavia

The fact that the Octavia nameplate returns to India and replaces the Laura is reason for celebration enough.

I dont know how many people grimaced at the name (Laura) after buying it in India and how many more customers Skoda lost due to the same reason.

It was always in production globally and is not a big draw here but as a vehicle that still commands tremendous brand equity in India, the return of one of the first European sedans to hit the streets here is good news.

Volvo V40 cross country

Volvo’s big bet to crack the Indian market, and it comes barely 4 months after its global debut. As a competitor to the BMW X1 and Mercedes B class, the V40 looks better and in a class of its own–both from the inside and outside.

Dimensionally perfect and with a capable powertrain under the hood, the only thing that can go against it is the pricing. Volvo still does not have a factory in India and the cross country will be a fully imported unit as well, attracting a much heftier duty. That does not take anything away from a car that looks delightful and promising.

Volkswagen XL1

The car that can run for 134 kilometers for just one litre of fuel, easily the most fuel efficient car in the world. And it is not a concept alone but a production prototype.

The XL1 is VW’s futuristic hybrid car that has a 803cc parallel twin cylinder turbodiesel engine mated to a 60 cell 230 volt lithium ion pack.

The engine makes 47 bhp, the same as the old Alto, the motor another 27bhp and together the car is run by 68 horses. The same as the Hyundai i10. But, it is no slouch as many hybrids are.

It has a top speed of 160 kph and does zero to 100 in 12.2 seconds. It is reason enough for the crowds to flock here and make a beeline for this vehicle.

The price is not known yet but we know only 250 of these would be made to begin with. In other words, XL1 is on the other extreme end of a LaFerrari.