evo India Podcast

The Audi Q3 helped Audi India to become the first luxury car maker to breach that mark. In 2015, Audi hit 11,192 units. By 2020, that number was 1,693. The Q3 was the difference both times. Now the third-generation Audi Q3 is here, and Balbir Singh Dhillon, Brand Director of Audi India, sat down with Ed Sirish Chandran in Goa to talk through everything.This conversation covers the complete Audi India story, how a single car can make or break a luxury brand, what goes into a product launch three to four years before the first key is handed to a customer, and what Audi's most ambitious product offensive in India looks like from the inside. The Q9 is confirmed for India, with Balbir explaining why it will not just be a niche halo car but a volume model. The Q7 is coming, the work is on, and announcements will happen. The Q6 e-tron pricing problem, why CBU pricing killed resale values and what Audi learned from it is addressed directly. The India-EU FTA duty structure is explained in full — 35 per cent to 30 per cent on ICE and hybrid cars above the import price threshold, 2,500 non-homologated cars split across the entire VW Group including Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Skoda, and why rupee depreciation may absorb much of the benefit before it reaches customers.Balbir also talks about the pricing war in the entry luxury segment — nobody wins it, but everyone has to fight it. Pre-owned luxury cars as the strategy to widen Audi's customer base — from seven showrooms in 2020 to 27 today, selling one pre-owned car for every new car. Running Audi India through COVID without letting a single person go. The Audi RS model he most regrets not bringing to India. And the car he loved most — the R8, which customers still call him about.

This weekend on the evo India podcast we are digging deep into everything you might want to know about hybrids. Where did the story start? Was the Indian government really ahead of its time in its introduction of the FAME policy? Why was it short-lived? What’s the scene like and why the immediate future is going to be all about the hybrid car. All these, and answers to more.

We start at the beginning with a quick run through of a 20-year map of how the Indian automotive market has shaped up. From being 70% petrol dominated in 2006 to the diesel domination of ten years ago to the rapid decline of diesel and the rise of alternatives, including EVs.

The plan was to transition to hybrids before a pure EV future but the Indian government jumped a step. The net result was the rise o EVs but incredibly, in spite of the E20 confusion and tax benefits, the EV market is still small and penetration remains in single digits. Plagued by inadequate charging infrastructure and strange norms in certain parts of the country. Despite hybrids now not only working at the bottom and middle of the value chain but also at the top with incredible performance cars.

So, if we don’t want a diesel but want low running costs and emissions (an Achilles’ heel in the diesel story) then incredibly enough CNG appears as a viable alternative. We wrap this up with a buyer’s guide that will hopefully help you decide. But before we pull the curtains we also take a look at the proposed CAFE III norms and what it means for the Indian automobile industry.

Agree or disagree with us? Let us know in the comments below.

Mitsubishi sold its last car in India in January 2020. Four years later, a post about the Pajero got 4,000 likes and 80 comments in four hours. That is the Mitsubishi story in India — great products, massive goodwill, zero strategy.

In this episode of the evo India Podcast, Sirish Chandran and Aninda Sardar go through the complete Mitsubishi India journey. The Lancer that arrived in 1998 with independent rear suspension on a rally-derived chassis and beat the Honda City in every handling test — just not in engine feel. The Mitsubishi Cedia that shared its platform with the Evo 6 and 7. And the chairs are actually from the rally car that Sirish drove. The Pajero whose two-tone red-and-white paint job was not a design choice — the paint booth at the Tiruvallur facility was too small to fit the whole car, so the doors were painted separately. The Pajero Sport, which had more power and more torque than the Toyota Fortuner, cost ₹5 lakh more and never had a chance. The Mitsubishi Outlander had column-mounted paddle shifters borrowed from rally cars, a Rockford Fosgate sound system, and a CVT gearbox that killed it. And the Evo 10 — India's most beloved performance car, the one that beat the Mercedes-AMG CLA45 in a back-to-back comparison and upset Mercedes considerably in the process — priced at ₹60 lakh and sold in numbers so small Mitsubishi had to discount the remaining units into oblivion.

Sirish also talks about the five days he spent waiting in Coimbatore for Mitsubishi to bring the Evo 10 to the track, his Cedia rally car that gave him the foundation for everything he knows about car dynamics, and the honest verdict on whether Mitsubishi will ever come back to India.0:00 Precap

0:33 Introduction: Mitsubishi's journey in India

2:09 The history of Hindustan Motors and the JV with Mitsubishi

7:12 History of the Mitsubishi Lancer

10:14 Mitsubishi's motorsport history

10:52 Sirish's memories of the Mitsubishi Lancer

12:35 Mitsubishi Lancers rallying in India

17:01 Mitsubishi Lancer Invex

18:22 Mitsubishi Lancer stopped and in came Cedia

26:13 The arrival of Mitsubishi Pajero

29:28 The Mitsubishi and Jeep connection

30:45 The variants of the Mitsubishi Pajero

34:56 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport

35:37 The moment when the Montero was stopped and reintroduced

36:22 The missed opportunity at a Fortuner rival

38:01 Mitsubishi Outlander

41:31 evo India's own Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X

48:42 Mitsubishi has an India website

50:11 The sad ending to the Mitsubishi story in India

51:22 Mitsubishi in the Renault-Nissan alliance could bring the Pajero back

53:14 Mitsubishi and TVS tie-up

Mahindra has just unveiled its Global Pickup - the Scorpio Lifestyler (just Lifestyler in international markets). But the lifestyle pickup phenomenon has not really caught on in the last 19 years; Mahindra thumbstarted the segment way back in 2007 with the Scorpio Getaway. Since then we have had the Tata Xenon, Isuzu D-Max and V-Cross and of course the Toyota Hilux. Toyota, in fact, just launched the updated Hilux. But the segment remains at less than 5,000 units a year. Editorial Director Sirish Chandran and Senior Editor Aninda Sardar dive deep into the pickup story in India. In this episode:•⁠ ⁠What the Mahindra Scorpio Lifestyler is•⁠ ⁠Where the pick up story started•⁠ ⁠Remembering the Tata Mobile and what happened to it•⁠ ⁠The Scorpio Getaway story•⁠ ⁠Mahindra pick ups in the international market•⁠ ⁠Limitations of the Getaway, revealed to Sirish by an international cricketer•⁠ ⁠The Isuzu pick up story and why it failed to make a dent•⁠ ⁠The aftermath of pandemic and emission norms•⁠ ⁠GST and registration plate challenges for the pickup segment •⁠ ⁠The flourishing commercial pickup story•⁠ ⁠Can the lifestyle segment in India be cracked at all, and who can do it

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer sat down exclusively with evo India and confirmed it — the Volkswagen compact SUV is coming to India next year.Thomas Schäfer also addresses VW's electrification roadmap for India — a localised EV platform is a must for CAFE compliance and the group is actively working on what that looks like. CNG is back under consideration. Diesel is not ruled out — the FTA makes it viable for certain models. On the FTA, Schäfer confirms Volkswagen has already exported from India to over 40 markets, including Mexico. The last time the GTI arrived in India it sold out in minutes. On partnerships with Indian manufacturers — discussions are happening; they are serious, and nothing is closed yet. 0:00 Introduction: Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer0:23 Views on VW's India 2.0 1:07 When does Volkswagen's Kylaq launch?1:56 Differentiation in the Kylaq and the VW subcompact SUV3:26 VW's Electrification roadmap for India?5:02 VW cars in India to get CNG and diesel?6:05 VW's strategy on the India-EU FTA?7:10 Will India get more VW GT and GTI cars?7:56 Addressing rumors about partnerships in India8:57 What do the next 5 years look like for the VW brand in India?

What does Dolby Atmos actually mean in a car — and why does it matter more in a car than in your living room?

In this episode of the evo India Podcast, Karan Grover, Senior Director at Dolby Labs, sits down with executive editor, Aatish Mishra to explain exactly how Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision work in cars, why a car is actually the most perfect listening environment Dolby has ever worked with, and why India is doing things in car audio that have never been done anywhere else in the world.

The conversation covers the detail that will stop most people cold: AR Rahman composed 1,100 individual chimes for the Mahindra BE6 and BE9, all mixed in Dolby Atmos — so when a warning sound tells you there is an obstruction on your left, it genuinely comes from your left. That is not a gimmick. That is object-based audio design applied to a car's entire sound ecosystem.

Karan explains how Dolby Atmos goes from a recording studio to a streaming platform to your car's speakers, why the car is the only listening environment where every speaker position and every seat position is fixed — which makes it the ideal space for Atmos tuning — and how Mahindra Auto became the first manufacturer in the world to put Dolby Atmos on a 4-channel non-branded speaker setup in the XUV 3XO. Mahindra also pushed Dolby to deliver Atmos on the Thar, previously thought impossible at that speaker configuration. Both were firsts. Both happened in India.

The episode also covers the Mercedes-AMG GT63 Electric's synthesized V8 sound and whether it is tuned in Dolby Atmos, how EVs are changing the science of sound design because there is no engine masking the audio environment, why Apple CarPlay supports Atmos playback and what Android's recent update means for wireless Atmos in cars, and where car audio goes from here — including the possibility of film premieres in cars and Dolby Atmos eventually reaching buses, tractors and auto-rickshaws. He also talks about the various cars which have Dolby Atmos like the XUV 7XO, the Maruti Suzuki Victoris, Tata Sierra and more.

Dolby currently works with 38 automobile manufacturers and over 150 car nameplates globally.

Norton is back. And the company that saved it isn’t British — it’s Indian.

In this episode, evo India Editor Sirish Chandran and Executive Editor Aatish Mishra go deep on one of motorcycling’s most unlikely comeback stories — how TVS Motor Company acquired a bankrupt Norton, poured serious money into it, rebuilt the factory, the workforce, and the engineering, and then produced the Manx R Superbike as proof that it worked.

They cover TVS’s investment and what Norton actually did with it, how the brand was upgraded from the ground up, which Indian components are on the Manx R, styling and first ride impressions, the V4 engine history and what makes it special, performance impressions from Spain, India launch plans, motorsport ambitions, how former JLR design boss Gerry McGovern is involved, and why Norton’s revival matters to India.

This is just the beginning.

evo India is India’s leading automotive enthusiast magazine and podcast — covering cars, motorcycles, motorsport, and the culture around them.

Callum Nicholas spent 10 years as a senior power unit assembly technician at Red Bull Racing — building and servicing Redbull F1 race engines, a part of the pit crew on three world record pit stops, and living through the most intense championship battle in modern Formula 1 history.In this episode of the evo India Podcast, Callum Nicholas talks about what Max Verstappen is actually like behind closed doors — why winning by 10 seconds is never enough for him, why he never stops pushing, and what makes him different from every other driver on the Formula 1 grid right now.He takes us inside Abu Dhabi 2021 — the safety car, the 15-second radio call, and where exactly Callum Nicholas was when the most dramatic finish in F1 history unfolded. He breaks down the world record 1.8-second pit stop at Brazil, the Sergio Perez stop in Russia that went badly wrong, and what a sub-two-second stop actually feels and sounds like from the garage floor.He also talks about Red Bull Powertrains building a Formula 1 engine from a gravel car park from scratch in four years — now outperforming manufacturers with 75 years of F1 engine experience — and why 2022 meant more to him personally than 2021.0:00 Precap

0:14 Introduction

0:25 Who is Calum Nicholas and his role at the Red Bull F1 team

1:31 Being a part of the world record pit stop crew

3:00 The feeling of an under 2sec pitstop

3:57 One pit stop that will stay with him forever

4:51 Are injuries common during pit stops?

6:05 Working with Max Verstappen

6:31 What is Max Verstappen's secret sauce

8:38 Any other driver that is close to Verstappen's mindset

9:54 The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021

12:50 The whole moment when the safety car was deployed to the end of the race

16:05 Was that the most cherished championship

16:57 Current F1 regulations

19:08 Red Bull powertrains

20:03 Was there a base from Honda for the engine?

20:47 A road car with a Red Bull powertrain?

What does it actually take to run a multi-brand dealership group? In the latest episode of Boss Talks, we have Vasanthi Bhupathi, Dealer Principal, Kun Exclusive BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and Anup Venkatesh in conversation with Ed, Sirish Chandran. The Kun group represents 12 brands across 110 touch points, sold nearly 38,000 cars last year, and serviced half a million vehicles, making them the largest dealership group in South India and one of the most respected in the country.

In this episode, the guests talk about how Kun group started with one Hyundai dealership 27 years ago and grew to Rolls-Royce, BMW, Mini, Porsche and beyond. The real margins in the car business and why service is not the goldmine people think it is. How EVs will fundamentally change the dealership model and what happens to service revenue when cars stop needing oil changes. The brutal truth about starting a dealership today, from the capital required, why so many fail, and what manufacturers actually look for in a dealer partner. Vasanthi also shares a special story about Hyderabad Gold, how one customer's Rolls-Royce colour is now in the official Rolls-Royce global catalogue. How Kun kept all 6,000 employees on full salary through COVID and why that decision changed everything. Career paths inside a dealership group, from receptionist to top BMW salesperson, from Hyundai fresher to luxury brand CEO. And the one thing every outsider gets completely wrong about the dealership business. If you are considering buying a car, working in the automotive industry, or thinking about starting a dealership, this is the most honest conversation about the business of owning and running a car dealership you will find anywhere.

Is Mercedes-AMG about to dominate Formula 1 again? And how has Aprilia Racing managed to outpace Ducati in MotoGP? In the latest episode of the evo India Podcast, Editor Sirish Chandran sits down with Adil Jal Darukhanawala, editor-at-large at evo India, for a deep dive into everything we have seen from the 2026 F1 season and the 2026 MotoGP season so far.

In Formula 1, Sirish and Adil break down the sweeping new F1 regulations. Are they good for the sport, good for racing, or are they simply turning Formula 1 into a pure engineering championship? They discuss how teams are having to fundamentally rethink their approach to energy harvesting, deployment, and utilisation in both qualifying and race conditions. They go deep on the form of Mercedes-AMG, McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Ferrari, and Alpine across the Australian Grand Prix 2026 and the Chinese Grand Prix 2026, and what the early F1 constructor standings 2026 tell us about where this season is headed.

In MotoGP in 2026, the story so far has been Aprilia. Adil and Sirish explore why Aprilia Racing has been quicker than Ducati across the opening two rounds, breaking down the aerodynamic philosophy and setup choices that are making the difference. They also discuss Marc Marquez's struggles, the underperformance of the Honda and Yamaha, and what it will take for the Japanese manufacturers to close the gap to the European teams.

The episode closes with Adil's predictions for both the 2026 F1 championship and the 2026 MotoGP championship and his early read on what the F1 2026 regulations could mean for the grid. If you follow Formula 1, MotoGP, or both, this is the motorsport podcast episode you need to hear. Buckle up.