BHPians share how their 2023 was from an enthusiast's POV

Plenty more exciting cars like the Maruti Fronx 1.0 turbo-petrol, the Hyundai Verna turbo-petrol and the Maruti Jimny were launched in the Indian market.

2023 is coming to an end, so here's a chance to reflect on the year that's been.

From my point of view, as an automotive enthusiast, 2023 was quite a happening year. While I did not go out on any noteworthy personal / family road trips, attended many media drives and some of them were really fun. The most memorable one would have to be the Toyota Hilux drive, which happened in Uttarakhand in March. The drive involved driving along a river, driving on gravel tracks through a national park and even proper off-roading.

The off-roading bit was organised by an old friend and long-time BHPian, which made it great fun. The beauty of the location made it truly unforgettable. I was happy to be back in Uttarakhand after more than a decade and I must say, this was one of the best media drives I have ever attended.

A little later in the year, I got a chance to test what is likely to be my next car purchase  . Once again, the location was Uttarakhand.

Plenty more exciting cars like the Maruti Fronx 1.0 turbo-petrol, the Hyundai Verna turbo-petrol and the Maruti Jimny were launched in the Indian market. Higher up the ladder, there was the Volvo C40 Recharge which blew my mind with its performance. Make sure you check out the full list of Best Enthusiast Cars in India, 2023.

Now let's have a look at some of the big developments in the Indian car scene during 2023.

Return of the Delhi Auto Expo

January saw the return of the Delhi Auto Expo after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted proceedings over the past few years.

While not quite as exciting as the previous editions of the Expo, enthusiasts still had an opportunity to get up close with some of the most eagerly awaited products in the industry. Hyundai, Kia, Maruti and Tata among others had huge line-ups of cars.

BS 6.2 emission norms implemented

The Bharat Stage 6.2 (or BS 6.2) emission norms were implemented in April 2023. The transition to BS 6.2 meant that Real Driving Emissions (RDE) came into effect. This in turn meant the death of some more engines. While petrol engines were easier to upgrade, upgrading diesel engines was not economically viable for some companies. Hence, diesel variants of cars like the Honda City and Hyundai Verna among others, were axed.

E20 Fuel rolled out

India started the rollout of 20% ethanol-blended petrol this year. This was supposed to make fuel more affordable, but the price remains similar to that of regular petrol.

While some manufacturers are making E20-compliant engines, people are still on the fence about using the E20 fuel with their old E10-compliant engines (Related Thread).

Launch of Bharat NCAP

India got its own New Car Assessment Programme called the Bharat NCAP. In fact, the Tata Harrier and Safari have become the first cars in India to receive a Bharat-NCAP 5-star rating for adult and child occupant protection. The focus on safety has also led to manufacturers adding more and more safety features to their cars. Some started offering 6 airbags as standard while some mainstream cars also got ADAS features.

Looking forward to reading what BHPians think of the developments in the Indian Car Scene as well as some of their personal highlights!

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Damn good year for me as an enthusiast:

• Completed all my Thar modifications

• Decided to hold onto my 10-year old 530d for another year or two, and put the car funds into investments instead. She is still in very good shape

• Drove some amazing cars on the highway & road-trips: Jimny, Elevate, Seltos 1.5L Turbo, GLC, Innova Hycross, Fronx 1.0L Turbo MT, Hilux & many more.

• Witnessed a month where all previous car sales records of India were smashed. God bless our country

• Witnessed 3 months where Team-BHP broke its all-time high traffic records. In one particular month of 2023, we had 51-lakh monthly visitors & over 2-crore pageviews !

• Started moving out of home without my wallet (oh, the convenience), thanks to FASTag, UPI, Digilocker & MParivahan Apps (have my driving licence, RC Book with insurance PUC etc. all in there)

• Hosted some extremely talented people from the auto industry at my terrace lounge, including the CEO of a car company (or two). Truly crazy car conversations with these overachievers & geniuses.

• Have the EQE parked down my house right now, so stepping out for a spin

Here's what BHPian gauravdgr8 had to say on the matter:

2023 for me was a blast. Drove crazy kms from Jan to Nov on some of the best highways. Did criss crossing across the country literally. From Ooty to Mohali to Bombay to Pune to Ooty to Hyderabad with a ton of Mysore - Bangalore in between. Tried some of the best cuisines on the way.

And finally to end the year, booked the facelifted Harrier.

Eagerly waiting for 2024

Here's what BHPian rakesh_r had to say on the matter:

2023 has been game changer for me, hectic, jam packed yet very rewarding:

• Fulfilled my dream of owning a Gurkha

• Bought a preowned Wagon R

• Finally witnessed the Aero show at Bengaluru, been trying to attend since quite some time

• Bought my own house, again was a long term dream.

• Got blessed with a baby boy: This will always be the most important event of my lifetime, where we got blessed with a charming prince.

In a nutshell, our lives drastically changed (in a good way), for which 2023 will always be a special one.

Here's what BHPian Rajeevraj had to say on the matter:

From a driving perspective was a regular year with a bunch of highway trips. Highlight was my Vento TSI completing 10 years. Had a good time looking back and summarizing the 10 years of ownership which I documented in this thread

The other highlight was getting a new bike-The KTM Adventure 390 which has now rekindled the joy of longer highway rides. Over the last 10 years was just using the bike as a commuter. Less than 2 months with the KTM Adventure, have covered 2000km including a 3 day 800km round trip. The first time in my riding career of maybe 60-70,000km that I am doing this kind of a trip. Just today me and my wife did a 120km breakfast ride for no real reason. That is the kind of change that the new bike has caused. Ownership review detailed here.

Here's what BHPian dileepcm had to say on the matter:

2023 was best and worst at the same time.

• Jan 1st: I was lucky to spend 1st of January in Prague. Drove from Netherlands and that happened to be my last long trip in my 3ish year of ownership of Golf 1.6 TDI station wagon.

• Feb 11th: Exchanged Golf for a used Lexus NX300h with 175k on odo which is my first SUV, first Automatic and first Japanese car – what a day! Ownership experience so far is updated here
• Mar 9/10: First trip with Lexus to Paris, it was more of getting to know the car. To this date, Its been a fantastic journey together as I get closer to hitting 25000 kms.
• May 18-20: Next trip to our ever favourite location – Black forest in the south of Germany. Really enjoyed.
• Rest of summer until August went with day to day chores.
• Aug 4th: Flagged off myself for the longest solo trip ever. Drove from Netherlands in EU to Morocco in Africa and back. Though I had to return sooner than originally planned, this was an amazing trip for many reasons. Its documented here.
• First week of September is when things went upside down. I lost my cousin after he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was about to be just 50. More than a being cousin, we pretty much grew up together, we shared the best friendship ever in my life, we created great memories, we drove to tons of places, he was the one who was always there for listening to me when there were hard times. But things took the wrong turn and I am left alone from that friendship for rest of my life here on earth.
• Got back to work and regular day to day life after a month or so. However its still hard getting back to normality. Rest of this year had no big trips.
• Work kept me busy pretty much the whole year with official trips within EU, to BLR etc. Team grew, organization grew, I also grew. My growth was not just in terms of professional next steps, but was also in terms kilos I added to myself which led to the next big thing of 2023. I am on a controlled weight loss journey. Started at 92ish, right now I am somewhere around 78. More to go.
• Nov 20: My Indian license expired after long 20 long years. That takes me to being 40 very soon. Life starts at 40 is what people say. I am looking for being healthy, being kind, bigger adventure, bigger moments in 2024 and beyond.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.