Ford funding the car rental market

In this years latest funding season, Ford Motor Company is seen to be investing deeply in the car rental industry in India by investing a whooping $25 million in the company with Reliance Venture Asset Management and Sequioa Investment being the other minor investors. Ford's initial round of investment saw around $15 millions flowing in for the operational requirements of Zoomcar.

Currently, Zoomcar rules the car rental industry pan India and is one of the few startups running in this niche market that are said to have some hopes for the future. Currently Zoomcar is operational in all major metropolitan cities in the country including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai with its new shop opening in Kolkata soon. The car rental giant also wishes to expand their reach to tier 2 and tier 3 cities in the coming months making use of their new investments.

Zoomcar is said to be highly profitable in the country and is known to become a loss free organisation in the next three months of operation. Nonetheless, it is still the most expensive car rental service provider if you look from the customer perspective comparing its services and ease of use with JustRide which recently closed its operations in Mumbai pertaining to lack of funds and other resources.

The car rental industry in India is expected to have a large scope in the Indian economy in the coming few years, though the industry is also seen to be one of the most fragile ones. 

Tesla Car Crash

The recent Tesla car crash which raised a million questions regarding the safety of self driven cars also raises questions if the concept of auto-pilot in autonomous self driven cars really is the future?
The fatal crash that resulted in one death took place in Florida, USA a couple of months back this year but has been declared to the public recently by both Tesla and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Authority). The accident happened when a person cruising on the Autopilot of his Tesla Model S was hit by a tractor trailer joining the highway from the right end hit the car at a very high speed. The irony of the situation is that neither the drivers instincts, not the sensor's intelligence could detect the arriving trailer resulting in a tragic loss of life.

Later, Tesla claimed as a justification for the event that the Autopilot mode installed in their cars as a part of their much speculated technological advancement, often looked up as the next big thing in the automobile industry, is a driving assistant feature that requires the driver to keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times and the driver needs to maintain control and stability at all times while using this feature.

We understand that some of you might be feelings cheated, specially reflecting to all the buzz Tesla created about their altered new technology and later re-phrasing their sentences to get away with the mess. Though Tesla now accepts that the feature is a part of the beta version being tested however it gets us to a clear realisation that even though we heavily rely on technology, we are still unable to program and predict all types of outcomes that might come up on the way. Technology developments in the field of self driven cars is surely a long way to go. 

The Mustang is here!

The iconic Ford Mustang is finally being introduced in the Indian market with its launch on 13th July coming with a starting price tag of Rs 65 lakhs.

The legendary American muscles is all set to be brought up on the Indian roads as a CBU (company built unit). The power packed 5.0 litre V8 engine churns out a massive 435 bhp power and 540 nm torque, a front end competitor to all the sports car options available in the country today.

Finally it seems that International car brands like Ford have started to see potential for the luxury sport segment in the Indian market.

Enfield stable grows bigger!

Royal Enfield, the iconic Indian motorcycle brand, is all set to come up with a new range of 750cc and 1000cc engines in their Bullet motorcycle which currently comes under the 350cc and 500cc variants and are priced between 1-1.5 lakhs. Though these new and heavy bullets are speculated to be priced between 4-7 lakhs, the Indian economical sphere is sure to allow customers to shell out this amount, considering the presence of global competitors like Harley Davidson and Hyuossang and the fact that customers are ready to spend any amount to get the worth of thrill and enjoyment they wish to have.

Well, Royal Enfield has always held our head high being an Indian motorcycle manufacturer having a global presence and a huge fan base around the world. Introducing of higher volume engines in their existing Bullet franchise is a much anticipated venture we all are looking forward to.

Mahindra, the new champions!

Indian automotive giant Mahindra are in widespread speculation after their epic first win at the 2016 Dutch Grand Prix for Moto3 racing division. Its not an everyday news that a vehicle powered by an Indian automotive player is high octane races around the most challenging tracks in the world.

Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia, currently in contract with Team Mahindra, made an actual photo finish after a fierce battle for victory, winning by a marginal four hundredth of a second claiming his and Team Mahindra's first ever and most iconic win so far. Team Mahindra and Bagnaia, barely 19 years old, started off with a low key start to their racing careers but with their first ever win, that too in a very picturesque manner, have been successful in bagging international attention towards themselves. Since their win, Mahindra takes the leading edge in the 250cc four stroke motorcycle category with the help of their innovative machine MGP30 which actually brought the team the victory it had been craving for, for such a long time.

Way to go Team Mahindra, since its the second time that the population has been excited over a motor sport win after Force India. But a question that still haunts racing enthusiasts is that even after construction of a world class race track in our very own country, why is it that motor sports are treated with such neglect? Why is it that teams like Force India and Team Mahindra are making ground breaking efforts to prove their metal in their respective motor sport leagues yet none are considerate enough to nurture a racing spirit in their own country?

Just like any other sport, we feel that motor sports like Moto GP and Formula 1 classes have a lot of potential for growth in India however the country has always been neglecting this space. Take the example of racers from Chennai who are the sole representation of Indians in motor sports throughout Asia and have the potential to win, yet they struggle to make it to the events since they lack sponsorship by meagre amounts, something which could be like a nothing for a few people.

Hearty congratulations to Team Mahindra, and we hope to see some Indian talent on the international tracks soon!