It’s is that time of the year again when the global motoring press descends into the quiet city of Geneva to participate in one of the largest annual vehicular gatherings. Yes, we are talking about the Geneva Motor Show and this time it’s the 87th edition. This one is a bit special to us as there a large list of India bound cars. So here then is our list of nine India bound cars that will debut at the show next month.
New Suzuki Swift
Suzuki took the wraps off the latest generation Swift hatchback for the Japanese market and had at the same time announced that it would showcase the European spec model at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. Expect its design to be toned down from the Japanese model but be offered with the same feature, engine and gearbox options. This car is expected to be launched in India by the end of this year.
TAMO concept car
This will be the first car from Tata’s new sub-brand and is expected to be a two-door sports car that will have a sporty design and be fitted with new technology developed by Microsoft and Tata. The Tamo brand is to Tata what Nexa is to Maruti Suzuki and so we can expect that during the unveiling, Tata will make more announcements as to how it will take the brand forward.
Jeep Compass
The Jeep Compass will be the new entry-level product from the American automaker and is the first car from them to be locally assembled. It will be offered with a variety of petrol and diesel engines as well AT and AWD. The car that will be unveiled is expected to be the European spec car and will have some additional features over the Indian model but retain the same design traits.
Range Rover Velar
This is a crossover that will slot in between the Evoque and the Range Rover Sport and is expected to embody a coupe SUV body style. Given its positioning, we believe that the Velar will have the same feature list as the Evoque but with premium interiors to separate the two cars. It is expected to come to India by the start of next year and is likely to be locally assembled to keeps costs in check.
New Volvo XC60 and XC40
Volvo is updating its XC60 SUV and at the same time will also bring a new crossover under the XC60 called the XC40. Since it’s a standard practice to have your smaller models looking like the bigger ones, we can expect that both cars will have a design quite similar to that of the larger and quite successful XC90.
Skoda Octavia vRS 245
This is the most powerful Skoda Octavia ever made and as the name suggests it is a 2.0-litre turbocharged rocket hiding under the unassuming skin of the Octavia. With 245bhp on the tap it should be quite the hoot to drive. As a part of the overall design updates, it gets larger wheels, sporty body kit and of course the famous vRS badge!
BMW 4 Series
We got the 4 Series in 2014 in the form of the high performance M4 and now we believe that once the facelift is out, it will be offered in India a few months later. However, this time around it seems possible that BMW may also offer the car as a standard option.
Kia Picanto
This is Kia’s version of the Hyundai Grand i10 but with slightly more butch looks to match the Kia design language. Now with Kia looking to make a break into the Indian market, we can expect that this will be one of the cars that will lead the charge when it starts operations here.
Honda Civic Type-R
Now this is one of those cars that we can only dream of in India. We are expected to get the standard car but this we hope is a surprise addition. Like the vRS Octavia, this too is 2.0-litre turbocharged monster that puts the fun in Front wheel drive both in terms of performance and appearance.