[Cyrus43]

@ivor, MAruti Did not do a Shoddy Job. Hell No!! It was the people there doing whatever they wanted that ruined everything. I was there from 8 and I left at 1. so I know what I am talking about. You should have seen the way people behaved "greedily" But What is the point in arguing when no one will bother to obey guidelines!

Also, I am in no way related to MAruti, so dont even go there!

@Noidaboy, Bro, the world record for max number of cars to participate in a rally is 239 made by Renault. The record has been broken in all three cities with Bombay clocking the most number. I believe it is somewhere near 700!

[sjcherian]

Originally Posted by gvivek75

Attachment 358455
Oh and here is the smart one - the azure grey one on the right

I think it was the same Grey car that almost ran me over since he was taking a corner (two corners before the spot where the photo was taken) at full speed at-least 60+ diagonally !!!!!

[iamswift]

To me it looks like Maruti selected Delhi to be world record venue. It was just around 300 in Delhi whereas in Chennai and Mumbai it crossed 650 mark, yet Guinness officials recorded "world record" at Delhi.

[sjcherian]

The number that showed up was not the record being attempted. The record was for largest number on Parade - for that all participants should be driving as per rules at specified speeds without the rash hooliganism seen on MMSC track. I think the Chennai and Mumbai events didnt qualify for the record because of the lack of order. Not one of the organisers dared to mention it at the venue - they vanished.

[humyum]

Ivor @ I had been for the event too and there was a Guiness staff aka a lady present there. The event got ruined only in the end because of impatient people who wanted everything at the speed of light.

This event was all about fun, showing our support to Maruti, seeing so many Swifts together bla bla. The fuel etc was just a bonus. No one had to fight for all that and unfortunately people did.

I came there with the sole purpose of seeing so many Swift's together. That I did. My life is made.

[Epic]

Hi all,

I was part of the Mumbai event and agree that the event was mis-managed and especially at the end but let me assure you that the behaviour of the participants only added to the chaos. As mentioned by many, there was no traffic sense and we can all pass the buck and put the blame on Maruti for the lack of pilot cars and stuff but before the flag off for the parade, there were very clear announcements made in English, Hindi and Marathi that "this is a parade and not a race so do not overtake or race and only follow the car ahead of you...." But as usual most driver behaved like illiterates and were racing and overtaking and adding to the chaos.

Also, I can understand that participants would be upset that they didn't receive their free gifts like petrol vouchers and certificate and I am one of them, but the approach has to be civilized. One can simply go up to an organizer or a Maruti official and ask the procedure for getting the same and that is what I did. The Maruti official was very courteous and kind enough as he was collecting everyone's coupons for the free gifts, pertol vouchers and certificate. He also apologized for the mis-management and also shared his name, mobile number and email address and said that we would receive the goodies in 10 days.

But instead of being civilized, there were many participants who were demanding their gifts on the spot and abusing the organizers and Maruti officials. If you can't treat others with respect, why should you expect anyone to treat you with respect? It is that simple!! And forget about gifts like petrol vouchers and goodies, there were people fighting with and abusing officials because they wanted the free umbrella even after an announcement was made clearly that the free umbrellas were for ladies and kids only!!!

Mods : I agree with most as to please remove the word 'scam' from this thread.

[designersf]

From Chennai event. Mistake on organisers for briefing the rules only to forerunners and not those in the middle and back. So overtaking was evident and this being a race track, things just went completely out of control, thanks to several teenagers

[noidaboy]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

@ivor, MAruti Did not do a Shoddy Job. Hell No!! It was the people there doing whatever they wanted that ruined everything. I was there from 8 and I left at 1. so I know what I am talking about. You should have seen the way people behaved "greedily" But What is the point in arguing when no one will bother to obey guidelines!

Also, I am in no way related to MAruti, so dont even go there!

@Noidaboy, Bro, the world record for max number of cars to participate in a rally is 239 made by Renault. The record has been broken in all three cities with Bombay clocking the most number. I believe it is somewhere near 700!

Yup, I agree with cyrus.Making people follow guidelines is one hell of a job. Controlling 300+ cars and people at one place sure will be. Mumbai event must have been mismanaged but SCAM? On national level with so much of publicity and big sponsors.I dont think maruti needs it.

Anways IVOR the record has been made so if that makes you happy.

Record in delhi was made with 342cars. Declared yesterday.


as HUMYUM says

"This event was all about fun, showing our support to Maruti, seeing so many Swifts together bla bla. The fuel etc was just a bonus. No one had to fight for all that and unfortunately people did."

Thats the fact.God knows if this will ever happen again. The goodies were a Token of appreciation after the event got over.People were impatient for sure because for some it was just about the fuel and the goodies.Even in delhi we had to wait for 1-1.5 after the event to get everything.Here at delhi there were games and prize's for the participants as well. And the general participation was from working people who came with families and elders

[faithless_1984]

@Ivor - You posted your review along with your own verdict.
I did the same ,i felt that the scam part should be removed so i suggested that to the mods.
Did you really have to get SO emotional about this ?

So the mumbai event was not properly managed ,BooHoo.!
Its not my fault that the delhi event was better ,the organizers took care of everything which you said were missing in the mumbai event so i gave them credit for that.

According to some other mumbai members who attended the meet the crowd was equally responsible for the chaos ,they should have behaved themselves.

The event is over and a record has been made ,can we just move on now.!

[whizzkid_ram]

What this participation certificate would do? Increase the resale value of the car? . I thank Almighty for not making me to turn up to this superb event.

[slipstream]

Those who are prepared for a long read...

I was one among the unfortunate few who had participated in the event. I went there as an enthusiast and expecting a fun day what with Maruti organizing the event and having had people call me about 6-7 times on Friday wanting to confirm my participation. Worst part was that I had tagged along my wife and 5 year old daughter to the event. I reached the venue at 8.20 a.m to be tagged as Car No.504. I lined up behind a sea of other swifts and must admit that it was quite a sight ! I was shown the direction to the breakfast stall and the 3 of us were treated to some yummy and piping hot south indian breakfast. So far so good. I went around enquiring on the registration process and was told that I could wait in my car and the organisers would come to me for registration. So I went to my car and waited...and waited......and waited. The Chennai heat was acting up and I had to increase the A/c blast from 1 to 2 to 3 and then to 4. And then it was 11.30...I went looking for refreshments (they were handing out Nimbu's earlier) only to find that they had run out of stock. So we began sipping from my daughter's water bottle. I noticed some blue colored kit bags being handed over to some of the cars in the lane next to mine and thought things are moving. Half an hour later, I find cars scrambling for positions from across all lanes, all of them trying to squeeze into a 2 car wide opening..I wonder whats happening, ask around and am told I need to pick up a packet from the organisers desk. I head there and am zapped to find a cart load of numbered packets heaped on a desk. I was told to look out for packet No.504 from the bunch. I did find it after a 10 minute search and saw that it contained a couple of stickers with Competition (?) No.504 on it. I quickly pasted the stickers onto the car and joined the mayhem in getting past that 2 car wide opening. Yay ! I got through and after a short drive, am in pit lane.

Pls join me as I take you through a flying lap

15 mins in pit lane and we are finally let loose on track...and when the cars were let loose on the track, all hell broke loose...there were wannabe schumi's, alonso's and the kind all over, cutting across each other, handbrake manoevers and all. C2 and a couple of cars went off...and they were in no mood to let go of their "positions" and were racing along the grass in excess of 80 & 90. There were a couple of wise ones who had parked their cars right "on" the corners and one bold one in particular who was attempting to park his car diagonally on the track and take a pic ! Mayhem till just before the bridge complex where all 600 odd cars had lined up behind each other, to the left, right and centre of the track. I noticed that there was not 1 single official in sight to direct or prevent the cars from this unruly behaviour. And then we waited...and waited...and none of the cars were even inching forward. Its 1.15 p.m (a good one hour wait under the blazing hot sun right on the track) and I notice a few guys ready to break open the gate at the exit of the bridge. Some senior officials from Maruti arrive at the gate and soon they are surrounded by a mob of furious swift owners demanding to know why the cars arent moving forward. The officials dont seem to have the answer. All they say is "people who want to leave can leave through this gate but no vouchers or any thing at all for them" I immediately saw about 30+ cars exit the gate like bats out of hell. "What the heck ?" I thought. "I'm a proud owner of a swift and I'm here to help Maruti create a record. I didnt wait all this long to quit now !" And so I decided to wait...and wait...moving like one inch in half an hour. My wife and daughter were totally restless, hungry & thirsty. I could notice people in other cars with aged parents & infants, all just as restless as my people were.

It was 2.20 when I could exit by the first gate after entering the pit lane. There were security guards directing the cars out but no official in sight. But quenching our thirst and hunger were now top priority and so I decided to give a hell to the fuel/amusement park coupons /Record Certificate and so revved out.

I saw our McLaren1885 with his baleno on my way out but was too tired and exhausted to even stop to talk (if you're reading this, sorry buddy !)

Something went wrong..actually almost EVERYTHING went wrong...terribly wrong. And Maruti albeit unintentionally, has ended up completely messing up the goodwill of a 600+ swift owners who would have probably otherwise had a relaxed Sunday in the comfort of their homes.
But the bottom line is that as I hit the highway on my 1 year old DDIS, I was smiling again !

[GTO]

From the official press release:

Maruti Suzuki sets new world record with Swift parade

NEW DELHI, May 30, 2010: Maruti Suzuki, the country’s number one car maker, has set a new Guinness Book of World Record by bringing together 342 Swift cars at a ‘car parade’ in Gurgaon.

The congregation of such a large number of cars of a single brand has never been attempted before in India. Similar ‘car parades’ were held today simultaneously in Sriperumbudur and Mumbai but the world record was set at Gurgaon. As per the Guinness World Records, the earlier world record for maximum number of cars of a single model was set with 249 cars in New Zealand in October 2005.

Maruti Suzuki planned the feat to commemorate the Swift’s fifth birthday celebrations. The Swift was launched on May 25, 2005.

At Gurgaon’s Leisure Valley Complex, there was a dazzling display of 342 Swift cars. An equally enthusiastic gathering of Swift owners was witnessed at Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex grounds and at Sriperumbudur Test Tracks, near Chennai.

In each of these three cities, hundreds of Swift owners along with their families joined the unadulterated Sunday morning revelry and interacted with fellow car owners. For participants, Maruti Suzuki had several incentives, including free fuel and free service/accessories coupons for Swift owners. The accompanying families, meanwhile, had a good time at the several interactive games kiosks at the venue.

Maruti Suzuki Managing Executive Officer (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said, “In a short period of five years, the trendy Swift has transformed the Indian car landscape and established itself as a ‘cult car’ of India. People across age groups and gender rate it as the most stylish and sporty car. Today’s world record is a testimony to the ever-growing popularity of the Swift. The new record is a victory for all the 4.5 lakh Swift owners.”

Swift: The Undisputed Market Leader

The Swift’s tryst with records started even before it was launched; the super-car had received an astounding 16,000 pre-launch bookings even before the car was unveiled or its price announced.

• Best selling car in premium A2 segment
• Over 4.5 lakh units sold in five years
• Only premium A2 segment car with over 1 lakh units annual sales for two consecutive years
• Monthly average sales in current year : Over 12,000 units

[slipstream]

"For participants, Maruti Suzuki had several incentives, including free fuel and free service/accessories coupons for Swift owners. The accompanying families, meanwhile, had a good time at the several interactive games kiosks at the venue".

They must be kidding I met up with at least 5 other Swift owners at the restaurant near the track who also confirmed that none of these had been handed over to them.

Is there someone who could take this to press ? The above comments are far from the truth and I could bet that every single swift owner who attended the Chennai event would vouch for this. There were NO interactive games at the event at all !

I, for one, have expressed my displeasure on the event to maruti via email. Waiting to hear from them.

[designersf]

At the track, many owners put up a fight for the coupons and my mom witnessed people who were non-owners fighting for the coupons as well. (they came in for a second time and got the coupons - free fuel and park tickets). With the words that they used, the organisers had no other option but to distribute them. Sorry on their part too. This is one reason why genuine participants did not receive the coupons.

[ACM]

Seems like there was 1 good event at Delhi with team fro guniess attending, Mumbai and Chennai events seem to have bombed / been badly planned. There does not seem to be any mention of a record monitoring team at the other two locations.