Great OverLand Adventure: How It Came To Be

By Siddharth Vinayak Patankar

1 mins read

Published on September 2, 2015

Highlights

The thing I will never forget is thinking, "Is he serious?" when I first spoke to the marketing head at Mercedes-Benz India about the possibility of us using Mercedes-Benz cars for a global drive I was keen to undertake under the Auto Prime umbrella at NDTV. The reaction was so much better than I expected that instead of just a few geographies in a 5 minute conversation, we had elevated the idea to an around-the-world drive. That suggestion coming from the people whose cars we wanted - was the surprise element for me. From the company's perspective, it shows faith in the capability of the cars in question. From mine, it shows faith in me, the team and NDTV's auto initiatives, and the editorial sanctity that we have been able to maintain and build. So in quick time we realised that to qualify for the tag of 'around-the-world' we had to ensure we would not just clock many kilometres but also cover all continents. Of course, Antarctica was not an option for obvious reasons and so that still left six. I have spoken about the logic we have followed to choose those geographies and indeed the right partners, before too. Also Read: Adventure of Global Proportion I can honestly tell you that I am super excited. It is not just because of the obvious grandeur of the adventure - but also because that this is a first for an Indian crew - with cars that have also been made in India! The fact that you are reposing your faith in us and will hopefully support this crazy idea is also heartening! We will have lots to share, and we will need lots of feedback too. I also look forward to catching up with a lot of you along the way - another reason why I am so thrilled, since some of you will join us on 2 legs of the journey, and experience the adventure along with us. Now, we count the days leading to the D-Day - when we set off on a truly global adventure. Know more about the Great OverLand Adventure here.