My favourite car Era was 2012-2018 Figo S diesel, Ecosport, Punto Abarth, City Vtec 4th gen, Swift, Polo GT TSI/TDI, Baleno RS, Civic Diesel, Rapid DSG, Polo GTI, Octavia vRS 2nd Best was 2007-2012 Lancer, Accord, Civic, CRV, City, Cedia, Octavia, Laura, Swift
The BS VI was the worst decision in India's automotive history. It just killed small engines with emission norms. It was more of an activism led decision than a business driven one. Cars just became ridiculously expensive after BS VI.
you're forgetting both the old (2006) and new (2012) Fiesta sedan. Out of the entire lot of cars named above, it was the best handling by a fair margin.
As a Malaysian.....who likes cars..... I find India automotive history to be interesting. So much better than Malaysia auto history. Get your dream cars or bikes boys and girls before every car, every bike and everything goes electric.
As CA Student in 1989 Got the chance to Audit Fiat plant of Kurla and Dombivali Mumai Maharashtra the walchand group.Most of the indian first car in 1985 to 2000 was mostly Maruti.🙏
Hormazd, long time back you had a program where viewers could ask questions about cars and bikes and have their problems solved. I would like you to please again start a program on those lines in the near future.
Please bring details of what goes into making a car and why not all manufacturers are unable to compete with features at same price point. Hyundai Vs Maruti Vs Mahindra Vs Tata Vs Citroen
Even Maruti 800 had a waiting period of 2-3 years. People used to sell used 800 cars at the price they bought after using them 2-3 years. New cars had a premium like crazy & you needed to have a connection to get your car early. Later Maruti tapped the Premium market itself by launching TK (TatKal) model at premium price 😊
Dear mr hormazd and mr. Sergius, thank you for another wonderful podcast. the first diesel engine (Perkins make) was introduced in the Mahindra cj 500 d Jeep and fc 260 d pick up in 1977. In Feb. 1984 the hm Contessa was launched with the 1489 cc petrol engine with 4 speed manual gearbox from the ambassador. In 1988 the Contessa classic was launched with the 1817 cc Isuzu petrol engine and 5 speed gearbox. this power train was installed in the ambassador from 1996 to 97 onwards.
Today's Podcast was better. Both of you guys especially Sergius made good attempt to keep the show balanced. Hormaz was definitely driving the show. Suggestion regarding few Topics Many Automobiles company launch product which fails to capture Audience both in city and rural areas. Few Examples - Tempo Dreirad Bajaj PTV, HM Contessa, Fiat Sienna, Mahindra Xylo, Nuvo. Young India vs Modern Indian Audience taste has evolved. What are the various challenges in front of Automaker whose cars stood the test of time and aged gracefully. Because keeping happy the Three to Four Generation of people while designing cars and meeting regulations is not easy.
Growing up as a kid in Kolkata with an Amby, a Premier 118NE and the original Maruti Zen, this episode was very nostalgic. I drive a Punch EV now, so really fortunate to have witnessed the evolution of motoring in our country. Delightful talk this was. Thank you.
In 1994 I was doing a marketing project at Hindustan Motors in Calcutta..those days many HM dealers were shifting from HM dealerships to other brands gradually… Management’s one reply was why would we invest in R & D when we are selling all we are producing
I remember my father reading Hormazd's reviews on Indian auto journal in the mid 1980s. His review of a red BMW 3 series in the 1980s was a dream for me
Fantastic walk down memory lane! Personallly, having lived through most of the post Independence Era, this podcast was a panoramic view of the Indian auto industry's evolution!
I remember the 50th anniversary of Indian independence when in auto car when he had made a edition from fuel price in india during 1947 to every thing.
Even Autocar has history with the automotive industry. We want more like these on each indian companies. We want to know more inside stories. Thank you both for this podcast 🙏
my 5 fav cars till date:- Gen-1 Honda City (vtec) Toyota Qualis (Facelift) VW Jetta (2016) (TDI) Maruti Suzuki Kizashi Toyota Innova Crysta (Pre-facelift) (2.8) Fiat Punto Abarth Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS Maruti Suzuki S-Cross (1.6) Honda Civic (pre-facelift) Honda Accord (V6) 2nd Gen Maruti Suzuki Swift (1.3 DDiS) Ford Fiesta(1.6) Ford Ecosport (1.5 TDCi) Ford Ecosport (1.0 Ecoboost) Ford 2nd Gen Endeavour (3.2) Mahindra Scorpio (2010) Mahindra ScorpioN (2.2) Mahindra XUV700 (2.2) Mahindra Thar 2nd Gen (2.0 Diesel) and many more, ik I can't name 5 :)) , I am a car enthusiast, I have missed many cars in the list. pre-covid era was the best era was the best era for us.
Maruti 800 Maruti 800 with small changes 118 ne Standard 2000 Contessa Dolphin sippani Telco estate and Sierra Maruti 1000 Maruti zen Maruti esteem Hyundai santro Daeweoo cielo Eclass 124 Ford ikon Tata Indica Honda City Crdi accent Toyota qualis Mahindra Scorpio Skoda Octavia Toyota Innova The cars that changed the Indian automobile launguage
Really you guys are doing God’s work here!! Passing on, so much knowledge to us young car enthusiasts. Really a huge fan of this podcast, please keep the videos coming!😁
Hi sir nice Nostalgia about auto industry post Independence but why did you guys missed out on Sipani automobiles Dolphin and Montana - India’s first diesel hatch Pls love to hear love to hear thr CKD story during 1982-1984 “ Dolphin” aka Reliant Kitten imports into India while Maruti was gearing up for a launch
Wow !!!!! what a wonderful video on Indian automobile industry before independence.Superb! facts shared on automobile industry specifically cars.Please do similar way on two wheeler too.But one thing you both will agree that ambassdor back seat comfort and suspension was so good looking to roads we were having in 1950 to 1985.🙏
Wow! Another very interesting podcast! Loved the old pictures of Hormazd Sorabjee and the cars! At 02:28, his great grandfather's car dealership had a telephone number of just #1560! 😂
Dear Shri Sorabjee, please consider addressing the impact (or not) of car models availability here due India being an RHD market (while most of the world is LHD).
I personally feel that the Daewoo influx with the Cielo + Matiz, Mitsubishi’s Lancer, and the entry of Škoda with their product line starting with the Octavia perhaps has been the real turning point of the Indian market. To show that India can appreciate global products and quality. Would not agree though that the Indica was a iconic product. It was the most terribly engineered product in that day and age. The product only sold due to its price point and the attractiveness to the Taxi drivers! To own one personally felt like Customer doing the R&D for Tata! Tata post acquisition of JLR took at least 10 years to bring a great product! I would think the single most iconic product from the Tata stable has to be the Sierra!
Great Podcast. As interesting as it was reading AUTOCAR issues. So very nice compilation. The miss according to me was Honda City which established them as the best Sedan Car Co. Was able to Built that overall trust of Quality, Cabinspace luxury & Realibility of Engine. Man maximum & Machine minimum. City Success had reverse effect, Honda became arrogant & did not offer according to competition or customers demand. Would say off Sync with Indians market & aspiration. Till date it's the same. So they got blame themselves for their poor market Share & position they are today.
I still wonder why we dont have Global models in India, agreed that due to the tax structure and also sub4meter making cars more affordable to Indian masses, we wouldve loved a few Global models here bu sadly, our roads are a pain to drive on, with traffic conditions and road quality getting worse by the day (I live in Mumbai) and another prime example would be the Mumbai - Ahmedabad highway..what a disgrace! We did however have global models in the past with the amazing VW-Skoda models of the Superb, Passat, Octavia, Polo, Jetta to say the least..not to forget Fiat Punto, I remember seeing the VW Phaeton which launched in 2005-2007?? not sure but it was a large car and all these models mentioned are really successful globally but they deserve Good roads to ply on..buying these and maintaining them in India, with the poor infrastructure and road quality is really a hassle.... Now people might disagree saying new expressways are being built, new roads are being built.. my point is if yes, what about the quality used in building them? Are they gonna be well maintained and smooth throughout scorching summers and monsoons with our trucks plying on it, will it sustain? No it wont.
Loving these podcasts. Can you please do a podcast on Forgotten Indian cars. Like the Jaya Mayura, Jayaram GT, Aravind 3 , Rajah Kazwa and many more unknown gems. These were genuine attempts on indigenisation but failed due to government policies
Without hearing it out, i'm sure the license raj was the absolute worst period, especially as the world kept moving forward. Imagine having to consider cars from 3 decades back as the only two options, and thats if u were one of the lucky few to be able to afford a car. Even getting a scooter required some planning and years. Atrocious times for sure!
Dumb boy thats the reason we have all the brands having manufacturing plants for cars in today's times. Otherwise we would have been pakistan way, only importing cars even now no manufacturing plants in that country. Small Brain
Even apolitical person knew how ✋ govts wasted 44 yrs to build industry after Indian independence. Even though they got gud funding (privy purse) for independence movement from privateers. They simply not interested in private sector participation of nation building.
The congress government made a lot of mistakes but not opening up India to the so called private player participation is a lie, they did allow private player participation, they didn't let them control the market for their profits or allow more stronger or powerful multinational players to take over what little I Diane industry had. If you read Indian history, you'd understand that the British when they were leaving not only devalued Indian currency but pegged it that way to continue looting India even after they left, and much of the west looked at that as an opportunity to come in and loot India further. Most post colonial countries that allowed private player participation don't have strong homegrown industries whereas India has corporations that are able to compete with other foreign multinationals
Hi, I am planning to buy Kia Sonet for a long term perspective. I wanted to buy X line diesel version but looking at current vision of government on diesel which is not good, I am confused that should I buy diesel or turbo petrol. As Kia sonet petrol is 1 litre engine with dct gearbox therefore not sure how reliable it will be for time period.
It also comes with IMT in turbopetrol...for long term usage I believe IMT is better than dct... recently I bought venue nline n6 it has same turbo petrol engine and comes with proper manual transmission
I have Sonet HTX diesel Auto & it is a fun car to drive. Diesel Ban concerns me too but I like to enjoy the moment & enjoy the drive. 10 years is enough for long term.
It's sad to see that we're again going back into a regressive era 😢. EVs are not there yet and petrol and diesel cars are taxed to high heavens and fuels adulterated with ethanol! Basically becoming draconian again.
we miss the HM Ambassador Nova (HF4) 1.8 I4 4-Dr Executive Sedan (RHD) . . . the Ambassador Mk3 - Mk4 was near impossible to drive on mountain roads, the 1.5 I4 just didn't have enough power to drive up inclines especially with paxs & luggage . . . overheated engine & doggy 4-speed manual transmission especially the steering mounted column shift . . .
This new era of car is like regulations n taxes. Govt just becomes fascinated with Euro emission norms n decides, we should also do so cz need to show the Europeans. Cars becoming very expensive
Understanding the situation after independence, I feel that socialism was a great solution to bring the population to a level, but the corruption has screwed up the whole story of implementation…
