Top Auto Newsmakers of 2019

2019 has been a roller coaster ride for the Indian automobile industry. For a large part of the year, the auto industry was in distress and sales were dwindling in almost all segments be it, passenger cars, two-wheelers and even commercial vehicles. But it wasn't all sad and gloomy! The industry saw two brand new car manufacturers coming in, Kia and MG, and not only did they start selling cars in India but shook up the compact SUV segment in a big way. Rudratej Singh, President, BMW India and RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki too made headlines in the passenger car segment.

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On the other hand, few of India's foremost motorsport personalities also were in news. Bengaluru based Aishwarya Pissay become the first Indian to win a world motorsport title. Aditya Patel and Armaan Ebrahim, two of India's finest racecar drivers brought a new racing league to India with a novel concept. And finally, Gaurav Gill, India's best rally driver won the coveted Arjuna Award and was also in the news for an unfortunate incident in INRC Rally of Jodhpur. Here are the top auto and motorsports personalities who made big headlines in 2019.

1. Aishwarya Pissay - Rally racer, TVS

(Aishwarya Pissay became the first Indian motorsport personality to win a motorsport world title)

Indian rally racer Aishwarya Pissay became the first-ever Indian to win the FIM Bajas World Championship. The TVS backed rally racer participated in the Women's Category and led the leader-board having secured podium finishes in two out of four rounds in the championship. The last and final round of the championship was held in Hungary over the weekend and saw the 23-year-old finish fourth. Having started the Hungarian Baja with a seven point lead, she managed to maintain momentum all throughout and completed the race after gruelling 590 kilometres of special stages. It was indeed an incredible feat considering this was her maiden attempt in the championship and the 2019 Dubai Baja was her very first international rally.

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2. Gaurav Gill - Rally driver, Arjuna Award Winner

(Gaurav Gill, receiving his Arjuna Award from President Ramnath Kovind)

Gaurav Gill had one of his best and worst years, professionally, in 2019. The ace rally driver became the first Indian motorsport personality to win the Arjuna award, which is the highest civilian award for sports that one can get in India. The Arjuna Award is awarded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to recognise the outstanding achievement. Gaurav Gill is a three time Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) champion, six-time Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) champion and has competed in World Rally Championship (WRC2) as well. The Indian government began including motorsports for consideration in the Arjuna Awards only in 2015.

But right after his triumph of winning the Arjuna Award, came his worst nightmare! In the INRC rally of Jodhpur round where he crashed into a family on a motorcycle, who disregarded their own safety and trundled onto a live rally stage, just a few metres away from the finish line of the special stage. The three people were killed on the spot and the Jodhpur round had to be cancelled. In fact, Gill and his navigator, Musa Sherif was booked for culpable homicide as well. Although, all charges were dropped against him in due course!

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3. Rudratej Singh - President, BMW Group India

(Rudratej Singh joined BMW India after spending four years at Royal Enfield)

Rudratej Singh was the president of Royal Enfield for four years when he left the iconic two-wheeler company. He was coming off a strong year where Royal Enfield launched its first ever modern parallel-twin engine motorcycles and that too at a fantastic price point. But in June 2019, it was announced that Rudratej Singh would take over the mantle as the President of BMW Group in India, replacing Vikram Pawah, who was formerly of Harley-Davidson India. Rudy, as he is fondly called, oversees BMW's car and bike operations in India and right after he joined, BMW had a slew of launches too which he oversaw. It was one of the bigger movements within the Indian auto industry.

4. Nitin Gadkari - Minister, Road Transport & Highways

(Nitin Gadkari did acknowledge the fact that the Indian auto industry is in distress)

Nitin Gadkari, India's Minister for Road Transport & Highways, too made headlines in 2019. Earlier in September this year, he finally acknowledged the fact that the Indian auto industry is indeed under severe distress and also took up the industry's cause to the then finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in a bid to reduce GST on cars and components and provide a temporary relief (although that never happened). He clarified that there is no deadline set by the government to move to electric and the fact that petrol and diesel cars will not be banned either. Gadkari also suggested incentives for exports so as to push sales of automobiles. Although, his intervention amounted to little as far as the revival of the auto sector goes.

5. RC Bhargava - Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Limited

(Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava announced that Maruti Suzuki will not sell diesel cars after April 1, 2020)

Veteran auto industry statesman, RC Bhargava, Chairman at Maruti Suzuki, is usually prefers to stay away from the limelight. But with the industry in doldrums and speculation regarding Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) norms, he dropped a bomb in April 2019, announcing that Maruti Suzuki will stop selling diesel cars from April 2020. The company has stated as the BS-6 norms kick in from April 2020, Maruti will mainly focus on upgrading its petrol engine line-up. RC Bhargava was also the biggest proponents of the idea that the government reduce the Goods & Services Tax (GST) but ultimately that never happened.

Explaining the reason for the company's decision to phase out diesel cars, R. C. Bhargava said at a press conference in April 2019, "Any vehicle is phased out if the assessment is that it will not sell. The conversion cost of a BS4 to BS6 diesel car has a certain amount of money involved, which is quite significant. If you do that on a small diesel car, the percentage increase in the selling price of the car becomes significant. Now the viability of such a car also depends on the relative prices of petrol and diesel. If the gap between the two is large then customers will pay a higher price for a diesel vehicle, because overall it works out. But, if the gap between petrol and diesel is small, then it doesn't work unless you drive 5,000 km a month which very few people do. So today the gap is very low, and with the price increase which is involved in the conversion to BS6, and the petrol-diesel price, our assessment is it's not going to be a viable product, which customers will buy."

6. Armaan Ebrahim & Aditya Patel - Founders, X1 Racing League

(Armaan Ebrahim & Aditya Patel, started the world's first city-based motorsport championship, the X1 Racing League)

In a first-of-its-kind motorsport initiative globally, the Xtreme or X1 Racing League made its debut in India this year. The X1 Racing League is a city-based championship and is the brainchild of Indian race car drivers, Armaan Ebrahim and Aditya Patel, both having represented the country in multiple international racing championships. The new racing series has been backed by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). The founders say that the unique model of the league will make it commercially viable, and provide a platform for younger racers to nurture their talent. The X1 racing league also is one of its kind series in India where male and female Indian and international drivers will race alongside.

7. Rahul Bajaj - Chairman, Bajaj Auto

(Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto, took the government head on and expressed his displeasure against the ways of the government)

Rahul Bajaj, a veteran of the Indian two-wheeler industry and Chairman, Bajaj Auto, made headlines after taking a jibe at the Modi government that led to heated argument on social media. He accused the current government of bulldozing those who have opinions against the establishment and categorically said that 'people are afraid to criticise the current Government'. His remarks weren't taken kindly by members of the current government. Rahul Bajaj has built his reputation on his forthrightness and 'no nonsense' attitude and this was yet another example of him coming forward and speaking his mind, nary a care!

8. Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra

(Anand Mahindra will step down as the executive chairman of Mahindra Group from April 1, 2020)

Anand Mahindra is one of the industry heads who is not only hands on but has a lovely sense of humour and takes his philanthropy as seriously as his business! He is known for his strong governance and vision and come April 2020, he will step down as the executive chairman of the Mahindra Group in April 2020, but continue to serve as a non-executive chairman and will continue to serve as a mentor to the management in terms of strategic planning, risk management and other areas. He will also be available to give feedback to the Managing Director of the company on important issues as well. Mahindra Group will continue to harness the sharp business acumen of Anand Mahindra after he steps down.