Editorial
ContEnts
T
ata Motors seems to have learned it the hard
way. While overall cost is important, it can
not be at the cost of convenience and features.
Cheap cars do not do well in India, no matter
what segment they are in. Mahindra-Renault
learnt that with the Logan, Datsun is learning
it with the Go while Hyundai and Maruti-Suzuki
have never even tried to offer a “cheap” car.
Maruti offers its cheap cars in the guise and under the name of an already established model
and then never talks about it being cheap. With
a seasoned Maruti-hand at the helm of Tata Motors now, he should be able to get the positioning
of the, should we say new, Nano right. But, at
the same time, the bigger challenge will be to
get the quality of the product higher. While Tata
Motors may be able to market and position its
products right, where it seriously lags far behind
the competition, that is Maruti and Hyundai, is in
the quality of its cars. There do not seem to be
too many complaints about the Zest and the Bolt
and if the Nano can offer trouble-free service to
its owners then that’s half the battle won.
In addition to the first drive and impressions
of the new Nano, we also have first drives of
the two new variants of the XC60 and the S60,
the SUV and sedan from Volvo. In addition, we
pitch the two stablemates from the Volkswagen
Group, the Jetta and the Skoda Octavia against
each other and also the diesel-engined Octavia
against the Chevrolet Cruze.
There is also all the news and pictures from
the Shanghai Auto Show which is increasingly
gaining in importance as more and more important world premieres are taking place there. We
have the new small SUV from Mercedes, as well
as a number of stunning concepts from Shanghai
in this issue as well as exclusive images of two
new cars from BMW, the next generation 7-series
and also the all new Z5.
Besides, as AUTO BILD in Germany celebrated its 1500th issue, they took the Bugatti Veyron
for a 1500km drive as well as the killer Lancia
formula one car. We have both the
stories in this packed issue.
So enjoy the magazine,
drive safe and we will see
you again in 15 days.
Yogendra Pratap
Editor
yogendra.pratap
@autobild.in
twitter:
@YogenPratap
Top Story
8
8
Seventh heaven You can read all the
lowdown on the new BMW 7-series here
Up-to-date
The new 7-series from BMW is on the
anvil. We take a sneak peek
10 The new TT is here Audi launches the
new TT Coupe in India
20
Tata has
surely given
the Nano a
solid upgrade
11 New Elantra launched Hyundai
launches the face-lifted Elantra
15 Efficiency champ The new Yamaha
Saluto is now available across showrooms
16 Sexy concept from Citroen The French
manufacturer reveals the Aircross concept
18 1-series sedan? You read it right! We spy
the BMW 1-series sedan in the flesh
New Cars
20 Nextgen Nano is here We take the new
Nano GenX for a leisurely drive
24
24 Seriously hot The new Volvo S60 R-Design
Looks like a million bucks, the Volvo S60
is a true blue driver's car as we discover
28 XC90 driven Also, we drive the new Volvo
XC90 R-Design
30 Boxing day Our German colleagues drive
the new Porsche Boxter and are impressed
Road Test
32 Premium perfect The Volkswagen Jetta
battles it out with the Octavia and the Cruze
The premium sedan crown is up for grabs
32
Feature
40 Shanghai knights We get all the scoop
from the Shanghai Auto Show
The Advisor
54 Opening story We tell you how to upsize
the tyres of your car
56 Products We review Gautam Sen's new
book "A million cars for a billion people"
60 General advice We advise you to stay
away from illegal modifications in your car
Cars & Bikes in this issue
Audi TT Coupe
Bentley Mulsanne 'Blue Train'
BMW 1-series sedan
BMW 7-series
Bugatti Veyron Grand
Vitesse
Chevrolet Corvette ZO6
Chevrolet Cruze
Chevrolet FNR Concept
Citroen Aircross Concept
Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
Fiat Linea
Haval Concept R
Honda Concept D
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai i20 Elite
Lancia D50 F1 car
Mahindra Reva e2O
McLaren 540C
McLaren 650S Spyder
10
17
18
8
64
72
32
44
16
69
19
51
46
11
61
74
10
50
72
Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe
Concept
Mercedes-Benz SLC Class
Mitsubishi Pajero
Nissan Lania
Porsche Boxter
Rolls-Royce Phantom
Limelight
Skoda Octavia
Suzuki ik-2
Tata Indigo eCS
Tata Nano GenX
Tata SERVe
Volkswagen C Coupe GTE
Volkswagen Jetta
Volvo S60
Volvo V40 Cross Country
Volvo XC60
Volvo XC90 Excellence
Yamaha Saluto
40
19
19
51
30
11
32
48
58
20
12
52
32
24
12
28
50
15
International
64 Roadtrip in a Veyron Our German col-
leagues take the Veyron on a 1,500km trip
69 Hell's Cat The joys of smoking discovered
with a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
70 Petrol through the years A detailed
infographic on petrol's rise as a fuel
72 Quick bites The Corvette ZO6 takes on the
McLaren 650S Spyder in a road test
Vol. 7, Issue No 21, May 20, 2015 www.autobild.in 3