Yet Another Milestone
This month we celebrate the 19th anniversary of Car India. In 2005, when NextGen Publishing were contemplating the launch of a new automobile magazine, the simplest route for them would have been to launch one that would cover everything from motor cars and two-wheelers to commercial vehicles. However, the management took a bold step by launching a stand-alone magazine for cars and, after 19 years , Car India continues to be the only magazine in the country dedicated to motor cars.
The trend of sport utility vehicle (SUV) coupés was started by BMW with the X6 and, thereafter, quite a few luxury car manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon. Now we get the first mass market SUV coupé from Citroën: Basalt. The first drive was held in Goa (please turn over to page 66 for our report). The front end of the Basalt has a nice stance. While the side profile is a mix of an SUV and a coupé, the rear end aptly complements the rest of the design of this car. The quality of the interior is good with a lot of space and the seats are nice and comfortable. The adjustable rear-seat bolster to give tall people under-thigh support is a good idea.
There is a lot of talk about giving an impetus to infrastructure and new roads, but, sadly, the quality and workmanship are not up to the mark. We witness (and suffer from) a lot of water-logging and the road surface deteriorates horribly within a year’s time; so much so that what we encounter while driving or riding are not mere potholes but veritable craters.
On this special occasion, I would like to thank the back-end workers like the designers, the copy desk editor, and the marketing team, without whom we would not be able to bring out this magazine. Last but not least, I would like to thank our readers and the manufacturers for their constant support over the past 19 years.
EDITOR – ASPI BHATHENA
