BMW is back with a bang or rather a bright spark

BMW was the one company that initiated the electric revolution by launching a separate brand as well based on a different concept of making these electric cars – on brand new dedicated platforms using the lightest possible materials put together with other sustainable and recycled material and assembled using renewable energy. And then it lost its way globally while it did not launch its only electric car in India. However BMW is back with a bang or rather a bright spark. It has an electric model offensive planned globally for

India as well. The iX and the electric Mini will be its first two electric car launches in the country and the initial lot of both the cars has been sold out within days of the announcement – and in the case of the Mini, even without the revelation of the price. The iX, is very much a game changer on how it has been conceived, built and what it presents on the inside. I loved it when I first saw it at the Munich Auto Show and it marks a break from the way car interiors have been looked at and opens up to the new possibilities with a dedicated electric platform – much in the way the i3 had first intended to do. BMW has come late to the party but it has come with a bang. We preview the first iX that has come to India at the BMW training center in Manesar.

Also in this issue we put the three premium 5-seater SUVs to the test and follow that up with two unique drives – one to the home of the cricket bat in India with the sporty Hyundai i20 N Line and the other to the glamour and glitz of Las Vegas as well as the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon and the Death Valley in the US, but with Indian made and Indian spec Volkswagen Taiguns.

There is also all the updates from the LA Auto Show as well as EICMA and drives of the AMG A 45 and the Volvo XC60 mild hybrid in this issue along with our take on the new moto-scooter from Yamaha. So as 2021 draws to a close, ride and drive safe, wear a helmet on the two wheeler and belt up in the car, no matter where you are seated. See you in a hopefully pandemic free 2022.