Sedan… a word whose origins are not accurate but its supposed to mean chair (first used in Naples).. Due to the ailment known as COLD (ouch my nose…), I decided to sit back and look at what sedans are in… Brief… and congratulations to Robert Kubica, leading a BMW 1-2 in Canada (Thank God… was F1 getting boring or what)

Sedan is a common body style used by car manufacturers presently with the basic two rows of seats… one for the person who drives… one for the accomplice/friend/(ahem..you know what I means) and the other row for the “backseat” drivers(aka rest of the travel crew)… Currently the four door seems the popular trend. Technically, a three box pattern is the notchback version with the boot being separate from the passenger area.. the roof and boot(trunk..) lid parallel to the ground with a clear rear window angle incorporated .. A fastback follows a two-box pattern with a continuity from the roof to the base of decklid(the cover of the boot doesn’t let u suitcase fly out at high speeds..) Nowadays the word continuity is being put to the test by auto manufacturers with very aerodynamically designed car models appearing in the market(Audi one of the many….) A hatchback takes after the fastback version excluding the trunk lid… means the entire rear of the vehicle lifts up… Chauffeured sedans… (Yes the limousine sedans for the VIP’s to take from place to place)…. Hardtop sedans are now of historic significance considering that they do not have a B pillar(the roof support behind front doors) requiring extra strength for rigidity of underbody… 1980’s saw the removal of weight and strength improvement lending the term pillared hardtops or pillared sedans (four door versions). Since the four door model is the IN THING, a two door model is quite rare to spot(in India, am not sure have seen one till date… if anyone has do let me know..)

Now the current list of sedans available in India is too much to write and plus I don’t want the one reading this to sleep(headache also as… note that..). So let’s just note some recent players.. Suzuki Swift Dzire, Mahindra Renault Logan, Tata Indigo CS (world’s cheapest saloon)… Saloon is a British term for the same but its catching up here in India (both terms are used by various companies)… and ofcourse Honda Accord 2008(tsk tsk I cant buy it, no dough for the biggies…). Ofcourse the Indigo doesn’t offer you the refined ride as the Dzire or the Logan nor does its gearshift make you jump for joy but nevertheless the newer Tata Indigo CS DiCOR is a practical and an improvement over the regular DiCOR… Well I am going now to try the Bugs Bunny line on the doctor(hope I get the right medication after it…..) and yes the new Honda Civic hybrid I cant wait to try out for myself(hope another Toyota Prius does not occur)

Keep viewing this space to know more about sedans… Ciao car lovers.

Well as I sat with my wife in the night after a long day at work, the 9pm news wasn’t very cheery as I wanted to be… The news “Fuel prices to be hiked.. blah blah ”(who cares what came after that I thought to myself…..). I could sense the “gulps” everywhere throughout India for the daily commuter… Looks like riding to work is going to get a bit costly and dear on the pocket (plus taking the wife to the Mall on the other side of town…. The traffic… add to that the tension of petrol burning and the noise….. OH BOY……) and let’s not forget the crazed youths of today who love roaming around at night… Well kids, looks like someone has to park themselves at home and settle for some TV or some computer games… if your real studious, read some Jeffrey Archer novel (note…. I said studious)

Well what’s happening out there in the Indian automobile industry?? The fuel hike could not have come at a worse time for the sector already suffering a setback in the last fiscal year ‘07(note this is going to be technical… sorry folks… but as daily commuters… knowledge of the economics as well as the present scene is required…..) Hikes of Rs 5 per litre of petrol and Rs 3 per litre of diesel … imagine the entire of Mumbai taking the local transport to escape the crisis…. Add to that the increase of interest rates due to the RBI’s hike in the repo rate(that’s the rate at which you the RBI lends to commercial banks…) and you have the auto industry running for cover trying to figure out a strategy for this year….not yet a KO folks but nearly so

Well the Prime Minister did try his best to explain the reasons for the recent hike and well I have to agree… it was about to happen any time… Not unexpected by the auto industry who feels that fuel efficient and compact cars will be the way ahead from now… Well the Tata Nano is a fascinating development in the compact segment but critics are hounding all over the car citing it could be an environmental disaster(and ofcourse the chaos it will create on the roads in the future making a stray animal WAIT to cross the road.. but its still a marvel from Tata Motors). The proposed reduction of excise duties according to the budget from 16% to 12% though still won’t affect the Nano but the positives can be seen inspite of the murkiness caused….

Hyundai plans to release its Accent model in a natural gas variant with Maruti Suzuki offering to offer a new dual fuel variant… run it on petrol of LPG(I wonder what I would do….) This shows that the heavyweights realize the effect the prevailing energy crisis is going to have in the future and I read a very interesting claim by Hyundai that running a car on LPG reduces its running cost by nearly 75 percent(whoa….) Add to that Tata Motors recording a domestic sale increase of 15 percent from May 2007 and Hyundai Motor claiming a 51.1 percent growth from May 2007(wow… good going from the second largest car maker in our country)

What really stinks is the extra tax on the larger vehicles… above 2000cc a duty of Rs 20,000 and from 1500cc to 1900c, Rs 15,000… the claim being to stop people buying the guzzlers(makes sense considering the escalating price of oil in the barrel internationally but… SUV’s and MUV’s deserve much better…a wish perhaps) Add to this the heavily subsidized diesel (Rs 28.58 a liter) compared to the petrol (Rs 16.34 per liter) and my neighbourhood sabziwala screaming his head off when I bargain over a kg of carrot (Gajar Ka Halwa really necessary, dear wife?….. 8.75 percent 7 year high inflation and I hope no more… for my ears sake)

Well are thing going to better?? Can we drive in the morning normally.. Well frankly no.. Not with the grim look of the Indian industry as a whole.. I hate leaving the article on a disappointing note… So hope you know that by 2016, projections show that our automobile industry might contribute 10% of the country’s GDP , almost double as compared to 5% at present). Post liberization(1991)… everyone wants to be in India selling cars.. An achievement we should be proud considering that Ferrari are considering a move into India by 2010(oh boy goodie… at least my son can see the gleaming scarlet red Ferrari… (Keep dreaming some would say) and the possibility of Proton coming to the Indian markets in the near future…

So if the above info does give you sleepless nights, hey don’t shoot me or curse me…(please… ) Lets just keep our fingers crossed and well… small cars, fuel efficiency… if I do buy one of these “mini” cars, hope they have enough leg room so that I don’t squash my kid in the backseat while adjusting it… and if I fit a family as well as the in-laws….(silence)

Till next time, put a smile on your face (oh just do it remember it takes more muscles to frown…) and drive through the same traffic but save energy wherever possible…..