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...

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 beginn...

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 inde...

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...

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 mak...

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, a...

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 Superbik...

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 cl...

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 large...

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...

This week on the evo India Podcast, Ed Sirish Chandran and editor-at-large, Adil Jal Darukhanawala, remember two legends of Indian motorsport — Sanjay “Hardy” Sharma and Hari Singh. In a deeply personal conversation, they look back at their lives, their legacy, and the impact they had on Indian rallying and motorsport as a whole. Sanjay Sharma was more than just the man behind JK Tyre Motorsport;...

The 1980s were a completely different time for Indian motorcycling, when scooters had waiting periods of years, motorcycles were raw, mechanical and unforgiving, and machines like the Bajaj Chetak, Yamaha RX100, RD350 and Bullet became legends. In this episode of the Evo India Podcast, we have Editor Sirish Chandran and Assistant Editor for Bikes, Karan Ramgopal deep diving into 80s scooters and m...

In this episode of the evo India Podcast, we talk about one of the biggest changes in our journey so far — evo India is no longer a traditional magazine. Before you panic, print is not dead. Far from it. In fact, we believe print can be stronger than ever, but only if it evolves. That is exactly what we are doing with the new evo India mag-book format: a more collectible, more immersive, more prem...

This week on the evo India podcast, Ed Sirish Chandran and Executive Editor, Aatish Mishra talk through all the cars from February — from the new Mercedes-Benz CLA electric and the Mercedes V-Class to the updated Tata Punch EV, the brilliant Skoda Octavia RS, the Mahindra XEV 9S , the Jeep Meridian which leaves our long term fleet, and even the wild Porsche Cayenne Electric. We also kick things of...

Audi is entering Formula 1 in 2026, but this story dates back to the 1930s with Auto Union in Grand Prix racing. In this episode of the Evo India Podcast, we sit down with Adil Jal Darukhanawala to trace Audi’s incredible motorsport journey — from the legendary Auto Union Silver Arrows of the 1930s to modern-day dominance in rallying, Le Mans, touring cars, and now one of the new teams in Formula...

In the latest episode of the evo India podcast, we sit down with Tushar Shelke, Chairman & Managing Director of MotoHaus (Kolhapur), which is one of India’s newest two-wheeler manufacturers/OEMs, to understand how he’s building a “house of brands” with Brixton Motorcycles and VLF. We talk about what it takes to bring a global brand to India: CKD assembly, setting up a factory, homologation, su...

In this podcast with Vivek Srivatsa, Chief Commercial Officer at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, we dive deep into the real life of a high-ranking executive in the Indian automotive industry. From early years at Maruti Suzuki, to Renault and then 10 years at Tata Motors we talk about the career graph, decisions, pressure, and vision that shape a company at scale. Speaking to editor Sirish Chandr...

In the latest episode of the evo India Podcast, Executive Editor Aatish Mishra is in conversation with Ranjit Gadgil, Programme Director at Parisar — a Pune-based NGO that works on environment awareness and road safety issues in India. Together, they deep dive into one of India’s biggest everyday issues: road safety. From why our roads are becoming more dangerous, to what actually needs to change,...

Renault Duster, VW Tayron, Kushaq facelift and all the new cars coming in 2026 are discussed in the first evo India podcast of 2026. Sirish Chandran, Editor of evo India, and Aatish Mishra, Executive Editor, discuss the most important car launches expected in India in 2026. From the upcoming Tata Punch facelift to the highly anticipated return of the Renault Duster, the duo breaks down why January...

In the latest episode of the evo India Podcast, Executive Editor Aatish Mishra is in the studio with Assistant Editor (Bikes) Karan Ramgopal. Aatish as you all know is a jury member for the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) and Karan is the newest journalist to join the jury of Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY). In this episode, they deep dive into the ICOTY and IMOTY judging process, explaining...

The best cars of 2025 is the subject of this week's evo India podcast with editor Sirish Chandran and executive editor Aatish Mishra. The duo, who also serve on the jury for the Indian Car of the Year drill down into the shortlist for the prestigious 2026 ICOTY including Premium Car of the Year and Green Car of the Year. ICOTY 2026 shortlist: Hyundai Creta Electric, Hyundai Venue, Škoda Kylaq,...

In this episode of the evo India Podcast, Editor Sirish Chandran sits down with Hikaru Ikeuchi, President of Lexus India, for an in-depth conversation about the brand’s journey, strategy and future in the Indian luxury car market. Ikeuchi-san shares his experience from joining Toyota Motor Corporation to leading Lexus India, his passion for the Lexus RX, and what it means to build the Lexus brand...

There are a number of cool cars sold worldwide that aren’t sold in India. In this episode of the evo India podcast, Sirish and Aatish comb through international markets like North America, Europe, Japan and the Middle East to figure out which cars from those markets would make a great fit for India. From the likes of Hyundai’s full blown N models to the Civic Type R, from the extended Land Cruiser...

In this video, Sirish and Aatish deep drive in to Honda Cars India’s big plans for resurgence. At the centre if it is the new Zero Alpha SUV, an electric SUV based off the Elevate. Honda is planning a compact SUV, has big hybrid plans, is considering the Super One and is even evaluating a halo car like the Prelude for India. With 10 new cars planned, of which 7 are new SUVs, Honda is set for a ful...

In this Tokyo Motor Show 2025 Special Episode of the evo India Podcast, Executive Editor Aatish Mishra and Assistant Editor (Bikes) Karan Ramgopal break down everything unveiled at this year’s show in Japan. From Honda’s big India plans, including the Honda 0 Alpha Electric SUV Concept, 10 new car launches by 2030 out of which 7 are SUVs, and the Super One EV, based on kei car, to Toyota’s new Lan...