110 years after Ford first set up an assembly line, automakers have finally figured it out...

‘The AutoX Show’ premiers on BTVI at 11am on the 10th of November, and will be a weekly feature thereafter. So, mark your calendars.

Yup, we’re coming to a TV screen near you. Yes, I know, you all have smart TVs and already stream our content into your homes via the AutoXTV YouTube channel (I hope), but we’re now coming to you via your Tata Sky, Airtel Digital and DishTV set top boxes. 

Right, big announcement done, now it’s time to reminisce. You see, a full dozen years after our first issue hit the stands, what you’re holding in your hands is all 250-pages of our 12th anniversary issue.

Who knows what I was thinking all those years ago when I had the bright idea of starting a car magazine? They say love is blind. Well, it’s also deafening and obstinate apparently, because I’ve been laughing in the face of reason for over a decade now. So, who’s to say what I’ve been thinking in the intervening period either? You get older and wiser, they say – well, I know the former to be true anyway! 

Now, as for this issue itself, well – like each of the 143 issues that have come before it – this is a labour of love. The lead story, as is customary, is our mega test – this time with 60 vehicles, each of them evaluated in the most objective and transparent way possible. We rate all the big launches of the year (and there are a lot of them) on various parameters and publish the points awarded to each of them. So, I urge you to go through our 70-page cover story with a fine toothcomb and send me hate mail if there’s anything you disagree with. The reason we disclose these points publicly is so that you know exactly why certain vehicles are deemed worthy of being hailed as the ‘Best of 2018’ – not to mention why others may have missed the mark, sometimes only just. 

The thing is, though, it’s getting more-and-more difficult to find fault with most of the new machines hitting the market these days. It seems that, 110 years after Henry Ford showed the world how to set up an assembly line, automakers may have finally figured it out. Fortunately, or unfortunately, you just don’t see any lemons these days. Fortunate, because that means your automotive purchase is less likely to spontaneously combust as you drive down the road, and unfortunate because it gives us less to rant about. Of course, we’ll always nit-pick, but the truth is that most new cars these days are at a level where – as a consumer – you can’t really go wrong. And that’s progress I suppose. But there’s also a paradigm shift taking place, as the ground shifts from beneath the global automotive industry. 

What’s clear is that this insatiable thirst for oil has to be curtailed, but, when coming up with solutions, we need to be measured. After all, adopting EVs simply because you don’t see emissions coming out of the tailpipe may not be the wisest option. Let’s just say, it makes sense to consider where the energy and the raw materials are actually coming from. Anyhow, that’s a debate for a later date. For the moment, feast your eyes on the finest from the automotive industry as it stands today. And don’t forget to tune in at 11am on Saturday, the 10th of November. See you then…