DriveBlog

Funny, in short

Some grin-inducing auto acronyms for your viewing pleasure:

BMW: Brings Me Women / Broke My Wallet
CHEVROLET: Can Hear Every Valve Rattle On Long Extended Trips
DODGE: Drips Oil, Drops Grease Everywhere / Dead On the Day Guarantee Expires
FIAT: Failure in Italian Automotive Technology
FORD: Fast Only Rolling Downhill
SUBARU: Screwed Up Beyond All Repair Usually
VOLVO: Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object
PORSCHE: Proof Of Rich Spoiled Children Having Everything

and my personal pick,
HYUNDAI - Hope You Understand Nothing's Driveable And Inexpensive

In youth we trust

More on the Swift. Hey, don't look at me...I'm just the messenger! =)

In an attempt to 'establish a connect' with potential buyers, Maruti will be using a dedicated, specially recruited sales force of young people to sell the Swift. Called 'energisers', these individuals will do everything from answering initial queries and assisting in the buying process to giving you service reminders and wishing your wife on her birthday!

At face value, the rationale seems to be two-fold. One: MUL ensures that by having such 'relationship custodians', it manages to stay that much closer in touch with the customer. Feedback on a project as vital to them as the Swift therefore becomes easier to source and act upon. Two: the Swift launch seems like it's going to be nothing short of a blitzkreig with Maruti pulling out all the stops, larger-than-life 'launch' included. An endeavour of this scale, crucial as it is, will need to be pulled off without affecting sales and existing customers of their other bread-and-butter brands. The solution? A dedicated, specially trained, fresh and raring-to-go bunch of just-out-of-their-teens waiting to make their mark on the new and exciting landscape that is the Indian car market today. Here's hoping that their enthusiasm turns out to be infectious.

It's also probably a smart move by Maruti to use youth as the 'face' of the Swift. Possibly the first 'attitude' product from their stable, they could be looking at establishing right from the start the perception that the Swift is young, hip and contemporary but means business and knows what it's doing...just like the guy who is selling it to you.

Also see:
Maruti's greatest hit.

One Swift update

OK, this is that post where I get done with posting the stuff that everyone's obviously looking for. It's also obviously the one that's gonna get me loads of hits from Google. =)

Yup, of all the car launches being looked forward to this year, this one, whether the folks at MUL like it or not, is being billed as the biggest. Pressure or what, like I've said before. But what exactly is it about this car that has every other car company chewing its collective fingernails and soon-to-be car owners holding out for just that month longer ?

Is it the fact that the Swift could be, quite simply, the best looking car ever to have to rolled off the Maruti / Suzuki shop floor? Is it that the launch of the Swift will create a new segment altogether, or add some more buzz to a segment that's been grabbing the imagination of the average Indian carbuyer of late? Or is it just that we're damned proud of the fact that for the first time, Indian automobile engineers are actually being involved in the design of a 'world car'?

Well, whatever the reason behind the excitement, one thing seems sure for the time being: you just can't have too much of the Swift.

Pic courtesy: IndiaInfoline.com

Also see:
A pinch of Jazz.
Fab, ya?

More millions for Maruti

It's settled, then...Maruti's 5 millionth is a red WagonR.

And the next time someone asks you how the Indian car passenger industry has changed over the past two decades, just point them towards this simple statistic: Maruti took a little more than 10 years to sell its first million cars. And in the next 10 years, it sold 3 million. It sold its final million (of the 5) in just the last 2 years.

Also see:
The WagonR VXi in a three-way hatchup.

Taxi!

Three reasons why you should watch 'Taxi':

1. Gisele Bundchen frisking Jennifer Esposito.
2. Gisele Bundchen behind the wheel of a getaway car.
3. Gisele Bundchen behind the wheel of a getaway car with a gun in her hand.

Yes, in that order necessarily.

What women want

So the next time the lady of the house expresses the need to be able to drive herself to the supermarket, remember that it's just not about getting from place A to place B. It's about 'mobility, empowerment and independence' (sic).

Love ya, Mom! =)

Also see:
Maruti's move to safen Indian roads.
The Official Maruti Driving Schools Website.

Left, right or up yours?

Madman, who's never at a loss for words, whether he's talking about food, hyperlinking or simply getting stuff off his chest, has an interesting suggestion for a new kind of indicator light on cars. He also can't seem to figure out some car owners' strange proclivity for plastic sheets.

Bittersweet Maruti moment

You win some, you choose to lose some. Just as Maruti Udyog gets set to roll out its 5 millionth car - it could be a WagonR or an Alto - later this month, the company takes a brave decision to completely exit from the diesel passenger-vehicle market in India by stopping production of the Zen D and Esteem D.

Hell Benz on revenge

Quick! Grab a pen and a sheet of paper and write down in 5 seconds, 3 words or phrases that you associate immediately with the words 'Mercedes Benz India'.

Done? OK, if your list doesn't contain any of the following,

cheated, trauma, pathetic, unreliable, plagued with problems, harassed, nightmare, disappointed customer, repairs worth over Rs. 3 lakhs, 164 days OFF the road, falling apart, engine failure, clutch failure, air conditioning failure, software failure, NO extended warranties, dangerously instable braking, 2.85 kms to the litre and hold your breath, German piece of crap.

then it's probably been a while since you had a taste of some reality pie. Call yourself 10 nasty names in the next 5 seconds and then go and read this. (Registration may be required to view / contribute content)

Monday Top 5

If you're on the lookout for a car sometime in the very near future and happen to be someone who's determined to get the mostest out of your moolah (who doesn't, eh?), then here are truly five value-for-money deals - 4 sedans and one shoebox on wheels - that you might not want to miss.

Also see:
BS Motoring does the Maruti Versa (Download the .txt)