[narayan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Each & every car magazine has seen their circulation fall. Some have gone down under (e.g. BSMotoring), others are in the process of and some are loss making + surviving only because of cash-rich parent groups.

Also some like Autocar India have re-invented themselves well with active Youtube channels where they make good money.

Originally Posted by GTO

Except newspapers . In India, the morning newspaper read is ingrained into our culture. The sheer circulation numbers are mind-boggling (source). Unlike in the West, the newspaper business is (still) very profitable in India.

A few reasons:
1. Population and regional diversity ! ( our sheer numbers is mind boggling giving economies of scale )
2. Still a massive advertising medium - internet advertising reaches a very small part of our population with access to smart phones + other devices
3. For many of us the morning newspaper is the best and possibly cheapest laxative available

[GTO]

Originally Posted by narayan

Also some like Autocar India have re-invented themselves well with active Youtube channels where they make good money.

Earnings on YouTube are actually poor. In fact, it's way too poor if you are used to making money from magazine ads. Think of it like moving from an S-Class to an Alto.

Because of their high cost structures & dependency on the car industry for $$$, auto magazines find themselves in a huge dilemma today.

[itwasntme]

Looks like a direct copy-paste sourced from the VW corporate communications & marketing teams. Not even one mention of the alarming failure rates of the DQ200s!

https://www.motoroids.com/news/heres...by-volkswagen/

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by GTO

Because of their high cost structures & dependency on the car industry for $$$, auto magazines find themselves in a huge dilemma today.

No wonder even biggies like Autocar India gives in to this popular trend and awards every other manufacturer.

Here's the 2019 ACI Awards list -

2019 AUTOCAR AWARDS WINNERS

Car of the Year: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga
Bike of the Year: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650

Manufacturer of the Year: Tata Motors
Engine of the Year: Mahindra 1.5L diesel
Performance Car of the Year: Mercedes-AMG E 63 S
Performance Bike of the Year: Suzuki GSX-S750
Performance SUV of the Year: Lamborghini Urus
Luxury SUV of the Year: Porsche Cayenne
Midsize luxury SUV of the Year: BMW X3
Compact luxury SUV of the Year: Volvo XC40
Premium SUV of the Year: Mahindra Alturas G4
MPV of the Year: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga
Luxury sedan of the Year: BMW 6-series Gran Turismo
Family sedan: Honda Amaze
Hatchback of the Year: Hyundai Santro
Import bike of the Year: Ducati Panigale V4
Premium bike of the Year: Harley-Davidson Fat Boy
Scooter of the Year: TVS Ntorq 125
Viewer’s choice bike of the Year: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650
Viewer’s choice car of the Year: Mahindra Marazzo
Value for money of the Year: Maruti Suzuki Ertiga
Variant of the year of the Year: Ford Freestyle
Best design and styling of the Year: Range Rover Velar

They managed to award 17 companies in one year - beating AutoPortal also hands down.

[veedub89]

During the launch of the XUV3OO yesterday, ACI had a permanent link to the webcast and an advert on it's homepage for the new car, as well as all other pages of the website. No matter what article you were reading, ACI made sure that the new Mahindra was at the top (pun intended) of your mind.

A simple article would have done the needful, had this been a non-biased approach to Mahindra.

A car manufacturer sponsoring content on a auto website which is in the business of critically evaluating cars is just plain wrong.

[Mukund]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Viewer’s choice car of the Year: Mahindra Marazzo

This caught my attention. Marazzo is most likely our COTY, and seems to be well recieved by autocar readers as well. Hope this reflects in sales as well.

[maven]

Overdrive seems to be doing better off late in terms of seeking a balance in their reviews (after watching them on TV). Quite like Rohit Paradkar now.

The worst reviewer across any medium, hands down, has to be Renuka Kriplani.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by GTO

Except newspapers . In India, the morning newspaper read is ingrained into our culture. The sheer circulation numbers are mind-boggling (source). Unlike in the West, the newspaper business is (still) very profitable in India.

Like the scion of leading newspaper group of Maharashtra, a friend of my Late close friend had once invited him for dinner more than a decade ago. During their talks, the newspaper group scion told my friend that the average cost of printing a single newspaper works out to about Rs 40=00, considering all the overheads. Advertisements bring the costs down to the nil and also lead them to the green channel, due to which profits are made, according to him. The costs recovered from customers for each newspaper as price is a pittance though, as advertisements offset costs and put us in the "Profit (+)" category, he added.

Originally Posted by GTO

Next up is a call from a furious MG Motors. "What about our award?". Answer = "Don't worry, you will be getting newbie of the year award in 2019" .

Each & every car magazine has seen their circulation fall. Some have gone down under (e.g. BSMotoring), others are in the process of and some are loss making + surviving only because of cash-rich parent groups.

Most of them have totally bid goodbye to "Vintages and Classics" in their magazines. We miss the old "Indian Auto" and "Auto India" years, when vintage and classic coverage was a compulsory part of their menu. The present day money spinners know that there is no money here and sometimes cover a few events here and there.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by maven

The worst reviewer across any medium, hands down, has to be Renuka Kriplani.

Off topic, but there's another contender for the post now. This guy calls himself an automotive journalist, yet can't wrap his head around the concepts of BHP at the wheels and at the crank. Check out 5:03 onwards in this video.

I know I've been extremely critical of Faisal Khan in the past on this forum, but I cannot understand how people can take an "automotive journalist" seriously when he doesn't even understand basic concepts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66HabFCHTAc

Mods: Aplogies if this is the wrong thread or this post is inappropriate. Please shift/remove it in that case. Thanks.

[Arjun Reddy]

+1 GTO, ACI is currently scratching their heads off. Hope there is some hair left.:



Courtesy: ACI
I wonder how these people give the perfect reviews ? There is absolutely no mention on the safety in the entire article?

I have not seen a single review of ACI on the Trailhawk post the media drive. I am pretty sure you cannot give a verdict on a car with just a planned drive. ACI actually says ' this is it' after the media drive.

I probably have driven the Trailhawk more than most people(media not including Team BHP) before I bought it. I am pretty sure no one will buy the SUV(Compass Trailhawk) with a single drive.

Looking forward to driving the Seltos and also the official review. Glad we take our time on the reviews. It is totally worth it. Hope ACI will prove me wrong. Looks like the perfect SUV has moved from the Creta to the Seltos?

[docprashant]

Bias in reporting is something which is omnipresent be it in the field of politics, automobiles or even medicine. That reiterates our trust in honest forums and not fancy-schmancy so-called auto portals where even a 1.4 on a luxury sedan or 120hp diesel in a full size cross-over is deemed adequate.

To expect the end consumers to separate the wheat from the chaff is currently not possible owing to the ignorance of the aam-janta and the herd mentality to a large extent. However, this blatant misuse/selective use of the opinion generators is unworthy.

On a separate note, no one wants a party pooper, but you cannot hide behind charades of good reviews for long.

In fact how about a forum team-mpg instead of team-bhp in order to satisfy the cravings of an overwhelming majority of automobile customers and our very own number 1 manufacturer..

[Annibaddh]

Originally Posted by GTO

Great post, Ajmat . Going to our homepage.



Today's customers are smarter than the car manufacturers & print media think. And I'm happy that the customer thinks for himself. If the auto brands + car rags think they can influence sales via biased reviews, they should probably stop smoking the heavy stuff.

If only we bought our politics the same way!

But on a serious note, this is so true. And I must admit that our collective comprehension of cars has improved a ton over the last few years. Part of the current slowdown even has likely to do with it, doesn't it? Cars have barely moved an inch in quality and prices have doubled, making it a significantly poorer deal. And the consumer understands that. Hence the slow but steady rise in used car market.

Car after car keeps disappointing - Harrier (Tata messes up a game-changer), Kicks (what were they thinking?), Duster (new gen isn't even on the horizon for India), Civic (the significantly older Octavia is better in every way - if only for VAG's ASS). And, perhaps thankfully, Indian consumer seems to be disappointing the car-makers for a change too.

[praveear]

To give you another example, last friday, Auto Car India published a comparison review of XUV 300 Diesel V/S Hyundai Venue Diesel

Throughout the review, it praised XUV in all aspects but in the end says "It has a small boot and the top end is 1L overpriced than Venue, therefore Hyundai Venue is our winner".

When I commented on the post saying that boot is an unused feature for 80% of the lifetime of a vehicle ,especially for urban consumers/nuclear families/couples- it`s target audience. They just removed my comment.

[Sk8r]

Originally Posted by praveear

To give you another example, last friday, Auto Car India published a comparison review of XUV 300 Diesel V/S Hyundai Venue Diesel

Throughout the review, it praised XUV in all aspects but in the end says "It has a small boot and the top end is 1L overpriced then Venue, therefore Hyundai Venue is our winner".

When I commented on the post saying that boot is an unused feature for 80% of the lifetime of a vehicle ,especially for urban consumers/nuclear families/couples- it`s target audience. They just removed my comment.

They did the same thing when I commented " Where is the mention of 2 star safety rating " on their Swift's long term review

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by praveear

When I commented on the post saying that boot is an unused feature for 80% of the lifetime of a vehicle ,especially for urban consumers/nuclear families/couples- it`s target audience. They just removed my comment.

Originally Posted by Sk8r

They did the same thing when I commented " Where is the mention of 2 star safety rating " on their Swift's long term review

Wow, such biased moderation from Autocar certainly deserves to be publicized more. I wonder if a new thread to discuss this should be created so that other members can share other instances of undeserved censorship for useful feedback on their articles?

A pattern of deleting comments that don't reflect too kindly on certain manufacturers emerges, it can only mean one thing; But I'm left "scratching my head" on what that could be.