Redefining Public Transport

Call it a masterstroke of a genius or sheer luck mixed with perfect timing or a normal idea over-hyped and exaggerated or just whatever you like it to be called. I am referring to the decision of Volvo to go ahead with the launch of luxury buses in India as early as 2001. I remember reading the news about the impending launch in Autocar India with the picture of a white B7R with blue and pink stickers (Wow what a memory capacity I possess!!!) over it's body. On reading it and knowing the price of the bus thereafter, I thought Volvo was digging the death-knell for itself in a very price-sensitive market dominated by the erstwhile Tatas and Leylands.

A few years down the line, Volvo has proved me wrong and has established itself as the undisputed leader in the Indian luxury Commercial-Vehicle segment. Especially in buses, Volvo has become a name to reckon with in our country and commands a Brand-Image equivalent of Mercedes-Benz or BMW in cars. As a matter of fact, Volvo ruling the roost in India has prompted many dormant companies to go ahead with the launch of their own luxury buses. Mercedes-Benz has just joined the bandwagon and has tied up with Sutlej for building it's luxury coaches.

As an auto-buff, I am one of the greatest fans of Volvo buses. It's not only because of the fact that it's modern, beautiful and fast compared to our old buses, but also because of the improvements it has brought about in our Transport System as well. Volvos have single-handedly raised the bar for safety of the travelling public, reduced the travel time considerably between cities and have made other companies like Tata, Ashok Leyland and even smaller individual coach builders follow the trend it has set. More importantly, it has made the job of the driver much easier than before. Just ask a Volvo driver about the vehicle he is piloting and he will start raving about his machine.

Though Volvo has met with such an unprecedented success story in India, all the above statements holds good only for a privileged few. But the refreshing fact is that the Government organizations like KSRTC and APSRTC are embracing and supporting Volvo and are setting the path for other transport  corporations to follow. Even the usually conservative Chennai (MTC) has started endorsing "Brand Volvo" in a big way and is taking the lead set by Bangalore (BMTC) by introducing the 8400 B7R LE buses in increased numbers and frequencies. All this means that people like me will be having a field day watching these beasts in action doing intra-city and inter-city duties.

At last, a well-deserved and special thanks to the new Volvo 9400 Multiaxle bus, which I saw for the first time in Chennai last week and was stunned by it's mammoth size and which prompted me in coming up with this piece of writing. Hail the Volvos !!!

A new Segment in Motoring

There are sports cars (Porsche, Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini, etc.) and there are sports sedans with exhilarating power and performance comparable to sports cars (Mercedes AMG, BMW M, Audi RS, etc.). Now a new segment is coming up in automobiles which combines the above two and it's getting me very excited. No prizes for guessing it right though. Yes, I am talking about the latest craze which all the sports car makers are having - four door sports cars of this world. All the manufacturers who were hitherto making only sports cars have either launched or showcased their version of this fast-emerging segment.

Porsche has already launched the Panamera in the market while Aston-Martin will soon follow with their Rapide. While Lamborghini's Estoque concept is not going to see the light of the day, I expect Bugatti to launch the production version of the just recently showcased Galibier Concept. All these cars have 4 doors, an usable boot, can seat 4 and still can drive and perform as much as if not better than the true-blue sports cars (like Gallardo, 911, DB9). Its the way how these cars are combining practicality and fun that makes me terribly interested and excited about them. They will satisfy their user's needs for daily commuting too and when it comes to sheer, flat-out performance, they don't disappoint.

Having said that and giving due credits to the companies, I personally feel that only Lamborghini and Aston-Martin got the styling right for this all-important segment of cars. The Lamborghini Estoque concept looked drop-dead gorgeous and the Aston-Martin Rapide is the most elegant of the lot without loosing an ounce of its sportiness. The Porsche Panamera has got it wrong in the rear proportions and I think trying to emulate the classic coke bottle shape of the 911, it has ended up spoiling the original design. For me, the Bugatti Galibier concept looks downright ugly. Its hard to believe that this car has come from the makers of the Veyron (the World's fastest production car). Let's hope that the production version looks different (and hopefully better) than this.

Coming to the first casualty of this lot, it makes me sad to hear that Lamborghini has confirmed that the Estoque is not going to make it to production. Having scripted good success stories with its Murcielago and Gallardo, Lamborghini can very well score a hatrick with this stunner. And there are rumour mills going around that, Porsche's new owners VW are going to stop the Panamera with the first generation itself. Someone needs to tell these companies that there are good market for these cars and there are even greater chances of making good money from these cars.

They say "Dream Big; Achieve Bigger". I am not sure about the second half of the above statement, but I fully believe in the first half. Its just that my "Big Dream" has now changed. Having dreamt of getting to drive (not own) cars like 911, Gallardo, etc., I have now started dreaming of cars like Esoque, Rapide, etc. with sincere hopes that the latter half of the quoted saying will become true one day.

Spotted #2: Porsche Cayenne

First, let's go through the facts in a quick glance. This is the first SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) from an auto manufacturer that has hitherto produced only sports cars. One of the cars that the company makes is the legendary, ultimate 911 in all its iterations (S, Turbo, GT2, GT3RS, etc.). Guessed the maker? Most of you would have and yeah, its "Porsche" and the car in picture is the Cayenne!!!

The Cayenne is based on its successful cousin, the VW Touareg. The launch of Cayenne raised many an eyebrow and was doomed with negative speculations that Porsche would be better off making its sports cars instead of diluting the brand's image with a vehicle like this. Dashing all the speculations, the Cayenne has become a big success and has brought in the much needed volumes and profits for Porsche. Though the car itself cannot be termed as an exotic in any sense, I would still classify it as one because of the badge it wears (Porsche).

Though I have seen quite a few in Chennai, only this one had the destiny to get snapped by my lenses. The snaps are quite old (taken a year back) and I am posting these only for the following reasons - I don't want the results of my hot pursuits on road to go waste (try taking snaps of a very rare car when you spot one on road) and the other is I know people like to see exotic cars in action. Wish to see many such things on Indian roads soon...