Arnav's Musings

 What is a concept car? Concept cars have always been showstoppers and attention-grabbers at auto shows worldwide. Essentially, a concept car is a prototype vehicle that is built to showcase new styling and/or new technology for the purpose of gauging customer reaction. However, they were historically viewed as nothing more than a car designer's outlandish ideas about the future of automobiles. This was because both car manufacturers and customers believed that it would be difficult, or even impractical, to translate a concept vehicle into an actual production model. Having said that, concept cars aren't actually a recent development. The world's first concept car was the Buick Y-Job, which was designed in 1938 by Harley J. Earl (then head of Design at General Motors). It was a convertible (or open-top) vehicle that came with pop-up headlamps, electric windows, wraparound bumpers, and flush door handles. If you're thinking that those are features most modern cars come w...

After a 3-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most major auto shows have returned this year. While India saw the revival of Delhi Auto Expo in January 2023, North America is seeing the resumption of the Chicago, Toronto, and New York auto shows. However, the ongoing supply chain issues due to the chip shortage have pushed major automobile manufacturers (Audi, BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen) to sit out of certain auto shows. I was at the 2023 Canadian International Auto Show (or CIAS) in Toronto last week, and while it was clearly a shadow of its past (despite celebrating its 50th iteration), the event still saw record-breaking crowds on opening weekend. This clearly shows that the demand for personal mobility, or rather the interest in it, still remains strong! The theme for this year's CIAS was  "Mobility Reimagined" , with a special focus on electric vehicles. The event saw participation from only 20 car manufacturers, with Hyundai-Kia-Genesis,...