Mr. Kirloskar - A spearhead and an exceptional human being

I drove the 5th generation of the grand cherokee back-to-back in los angeles and india and this american muscle felt exactly the same in both the soils though 15,000 km apart.

Let’s take a moment and pay our sincerest condolences to Late Mr Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairperson of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, who recently passed away because of a heart attack at the age of 64. His contribution to the Indian Automotive industry is unparalleled. He was the industry’s voice to the government quarters, was also the president of SIAM a few years ago. He is survived by his wife and daughter - Manasi. I went to the Kirloskar residence to offer my regards, having had known Manasi Kirloskar as a friend for a long time. The death was untimely and learnt that Late Mr Vikram was going about his life very actively and in fact, was scheduled to attend the HyCross drive. Such is life, but the family is content that he lived a good life, seen the ups and downs and is leaving behind a huge legacy, being instrumental in shaping Toyota in India. I remember Mr Vikram standing at the gate in Manasi’s wedding four years back, welcoming all of them and ensuring a small conversation with each and every guest. He could have a deep conversation on wines, Maratha history, automobiles or anything else in the world and will make the other person comfortable. An affable leader, touched many lives and surely will be missed.

This year 2022 is about to end and it just happened travelling at high speeds. The Indian automobile industry saw plethora of launches every month including the Toyota Hycross, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Mercedes GLB & EQB, Audi Q3 amongst others. Riding on a big hype wave, Ultraviolette Automotive also finally launched the production- spec F77 – the fastest and the most expensive electric motorcycle on sale in India.

I drove the 5th generation of the Grand Cherokee back-to-back in Los Angeles and India and this American muscle felt exactly the same in both the soils though 15,000 km apart. Jeep has such a deep legacy in USA, that it’s almost a prized catch to own a Wrangler or Cherokee and one in almost every 5th car on roads will be a Jeep. Now the 5th Generation Cherokee has got all tech, safety and aesthetic features that you would expect from a SUV north of INR 80 Lakhs mark. It’s a serious luxury offfroader but it also has serious competition of badge value around it. Will be interesting to see how the Grand Cherokee turns numbers for Jeep or will it make for a strong case for the Meridian. Only time will tell and until we meet again on the other side of 2022 flipping fresh pages of 2023, stay safe and keep the seat belt fastened.