AUTOMOBILES - CARS AND MOTORCYCLES IN INDIA AND ABROAD

The new Tata Sumo Victa

The only people who seem to have seen this new Sumo till now seem to be those journalists Tata Motors invited over to their plant in Pune. BS Motoring has a short driving impression of the Sumo Victa. Click here to read that.

Overall, the Sumo Victa is a definite improvement. Looks are definitely better. It still does not match up in that department to the Chevrolet Tavera or the Mahindra Scorpio though.

The Victa has better headlights, a new chrome-plated grill, better-looking running boards and handles and a much better looking rear. Interiors are also spruced up, and the new facia is a lot cleaner with its brushed steel look. 

The Tata website has still not been updated with pictures and details of the new Sumo. Their website always has been hard to use with its flash animations and navigation difficulties - nothing is intuitive there. So to find a picture of the Victa, one has to scour the Web. Sad. Open offer to Tata Motors - if you want someone to manage your website, let us know! 

New Maruti Esteem

The new Maruti Esteem looks very good in the photographs. But when we were watching their TV ad, I noticed the Esteem windows - yes, they still look like they don't belong on the car. A tad too big.

The new Esteem's Baleno-like grill is a definite improvement and makes it look a little more butch. The clear lens headlamps look good, the bonnet seems to have been worked on and improved a bit and rear gets a touch-up too. 

The Esteem has always been a pretty reliable car and has been around for 15 years (or more ?). Looks like Maruti intends to extend its lifetime by a couple more years at the minimum. Combined with the reputation of the car and the price-cut of approx. Rs 40,000/- offered by Maruti, the new Esteem definitely is a good buy.