The Billionaire Poonawalla Family & The Cars They Drive
Snapshot – The Poonawalla family, worth a few billion dollars, lives in the plush Koregaon park in Pune, and has interests in diverse businesses, ranging from life saving serums, to horses and hospitality. The family also has a passion for exotic cars, and scores of them. Today, we take a look at what the men of the Poonawalla household favour when to comes to getting around town. Welcome to the Poonawalla garage.
Cyrus Poonawalla
Billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla wanted to build a sporty car aimed at the privileged in India. He even built a replica of the delectable Jaguar D-Type as a proof of his concept. However, destiny had other plans for this race horse and car lover, who went on to build Serum India.
Serum India’s status as a monopoly for a certain period of its history meant that Dr. Cyrus made enough to buy himself plenty of bespoke automobiles. From Rolls Royces to Bentleys, the Poonawalla patriarch is seen a large range of automobiles that even include the very sporty Ferrari F430. Now, that’s a colourful life.
Adar Poonawalla
Adar Poonawalla, the son of Cyrus, is a car enthusiast himself. He just bought his little son a Batmobile replica fashioned out of a Mercedes Benz S-Class.
When not seen in his Rolls Royce Phantom, he’s usually seen in a Bentley Continental GT.
His wife Natasha, a well known socialite, is also seen in either of the two ultra luxurious cars.
Ultra luxurious cars apart, Adar is known to enjoy high speeds. The Ferrari F430 Spyder is a convertible that he uses to zip around to satiate speed cravings. The Maserati Quattroporte is another car that usually accompanies the Ferraro F430 with a driver in tow, just in case the weather gods decide to play truant.
Yohan Poonawalla
Yohan Poonawalla is the big daddy of cars when it comes to the Poonawalla family, outshining uncle Cyrus and cousin Adar in the process. Yohan’s garage features a mix of classic and modern automobiles. A keen car collector, Yohan’s Rolls Royce vintages are a major draw in classic car exhibitions across the country. From a Mercedes Benz 190 SL to a Rolls Royce Phantom III, this man has quite a sizeable collection of classic cars.
Among the modern, high performance cars, the BMW 760 Li, the Porsche Cayenne and the Mercedes Benz S600 serve as daily rides while more bespoke offerings such as the Rolls Royce Phantom and the Bentley Continental Flying Spur are also brought out regularly. Among high performance cars, the likes of the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG and the Lamborghini Gallardo occupy pride of place in the Yohan Poonawalla collection.
[Image courtesy TimesofIndia]
Is the Hyundai Creta compact SUV overpriced?
Creta has now been out for more than a month, and it was a sales hit in its first month. While some feel that the Creta does justify the price at which it has been launched, others are busy drawing comparisons to what they feel offers better value. We take a quick look at whether the Creta is overpriced for what it offers.
Petrol
The petrol base variant of the Creta starts at 8.6 lakh rupees, going up to 9.57 lakh rupees for the mid S variant, while the top-end SX+ trim sells for 11.2 lakh rupees. Given that these prices are introductory, the base variant of the Creta does offer good value currently, considering that it has the segment topping 6 speed gearbox, ABS as standard and contemporary looks. With its rivals looking a generation older, the Creta does have looks on its side. The top end variant, at 11.2 lakh rupees, does seem pricey though, when you look at the competition. EcoSport’s petrol EcoBoost (top end variant) is available at Rs 9.7 lakh ex-showroom, and offers 6 airbags and a 125 Bhp-170 Nm engine with better fuel efficiency. The Duster’s petrol top-end variant – after discounts of Rs 50,000 – costs Rs 9.2 lakhs.
Verdict: Creta base variant makes sense easily, but top end variant of the Creta makes you take a serious look at the other two options.
Diesel 1.4
The base diesel 1.4 variant of the Creta, at 9.46 lakh rupees is good value, especially since it offers ABS as standard for this kind of money. You get a very refined turbo diesel motor that is reasonably efficient too. Moving up the variant chain, Hyundai has chosen to prioritise creature comforts over safety, especially on the 1.4 diesel S trim. So, a buyer who wants additional safety has to fork out much more for the SX+ variant, on the larger 1.6 liter diesel engine. The higher variants of the Diesel 1.4 don’t represent good value, especially in comparison to the discounted competition that offers more for less.
Verdict: Base variant, good value. Higher variants? Not so much. But the extra safety, looks and features are reasons to consider Creta.
Diesel 1.6
The Diesel 1.6 variants have a powerful engine that is the torque king of its segment, as the Maruti Suzuki S-Cross is yet to arrive. The SX+ variant is the most rounded variant here, but also quite pricey considering the discounted competition. Hyundai is sticking to its old approach here, of packing in more equipment on board and plush interiors and commanding premium rupee. However, the game now has an equally loaded Mahindra XUV500 on one side and the top-spec AWD Renault Duster on the other. In value terms, the higher variants of the Creta 1.6 Diesel will have a hard task justifying their price tags.
Verdict: Higher variants? Hard to justify the higher price tag when larger SUVs can be had for similar money. The Creta wins in the straight line though.
Diesel 1.6 Automatic
When you have no competition, TINA makes hay. TINA stands for “there is no alternate”. Currently, that’s the position the Creta 1.6 AT finds itself in. With a monopoly on the diesel automatic class, Hyundai has chosen to give the diesel automatic variant a hefty price tag of 13.57 lakh rupees. That kind of money just gets you twin airbags, hill hold assist and ABS as safety features. And that’s XUV territory. Since there are no lower variants available, the buyer doesn’t have an option but to shell out extra money for the “so-called” premiumness on offer. Remember, the Automatic variant of the Creta is sold in SX+ trim, which means that leather trim is out.
Verdict: Do you have an option?
Hyundai Creta Compact SUV Launched in India – Prices Inside
Hyundai India has just launched the Creta compact SUV here. The Creta is the first such vehicle from the Hyundai stable as far as the Indian car market goes. Featuring the Fluidic Sculpture 2,0 design philosophy, the vehicle looks like a mini Santa Fe, and is quite a looker. The compact SUV is offered with three petrol and turbo diesel engine options, spread across 10 variants. Two 6 speed manual and automatic transmission options are also offered with the compact SUV. The Creta starts at a price of 8.59 lakh rupees, ex-showroom Delhi.
Petrol MT
Base – 8.60 lakh rupees, SX – 9.51 lakh rupees and SX+ – 11.19 lakh rupees
Turbo Diesel MT 1.4
Base – 9.46 lakh rupees, S – 10.42 lakh rupees and S+ – 11.45 lakh rupees
Turbo Diesel MT 1.6
SX – 11.60 lakh rupees, SX+ – 12.63 lakh rupees and SX (O) – 13.60 lakh rupees
Turbo Diesel AT 1.6
SX+ AT – 13.57 lakh rupees
Engines and Gearboxes
Coming to the engines on offer, the Creta is sold with 1.6 liter naturally aspirated petrol (121 Bhp-158 Nm), and 1.4 liter (89 Bhp-224 Nm) and 1.6 liter (126 Bhp-265 Nm) turbo diesels. All engines get a 6 speed manual gearbox as standard while the 6 speed automatic transmission is only offered on the top-end 1.6 liter diesel motor equipped SX AT variant. All variants are front wheel driven. Competition for various variants of the Creta comes from the likes of the Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano and the Mahindra XUV500. Hyundai offers a 3 year, unlimited kilometers warranty on the Creta.
Als0 See – Safety features and creature comforts that the Creta offers
And what’s the mileage?
ARAI certified mileage figures for the Creta are as follows.
1.6 Petrol – 15.29 Kmpl, 1.4 Diesel – 21.38 Kmpl, 1.6 Diesel – 19.61 Kmpl and 1.6 Diesel Automatic – 17.01 Kmpl.
Will it fit my parking slot?
At 4.27 meters in length, the Creta is about the size of the Duster. With a wheelbase of 2.59 meters, a height of 1.63 meters and 1.78 meters wide, the new Hyundai is compact enough for most parking slots. With a 190 mm ground clearance, the Creta seems capable of taking the worst that Indian roads can throw at it. 17 inch tyres and alloy wheels are segment leading bits.
Also See – Hyundai Creta Driven
How do I get one?
Hyundai already has over 15,000 pre-bookings for the Creta, which means that the demand for the compact SUV has been very strong. If the booking flurry continues at this pace, expect waiting periods to mount. Hyundai, for its part, is geared up to produce around 5,000 units of this compact SUV each month. Exports are also envisaged in the months to come. For now though, the thrust will be to meet domestic demand. Head to your nearest Hyundai showroom to book a Creta.
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