IT'S ALL IN THE FAMILY

How do you pick a winner between two almost identical cars? Our job is getting harder and harder!

- SIRISH CHANDRAN

COMPARISON TESTS USED TO BE SIMPLE. YOU had seven clear buckets to rate the cars on. Styling, interiors, build quality, powertrain, comfort, dynamics and of course price — add up the points, and you had a winner. And then came the Hyundai Motor Group to make our lives difficult. What you are looking at are two identical cars. And it’s a testament to the smarts of the engineers and planners at the aforementioned Group that, while identical, they look as different as apples from oranges! How can two cars that evoke such markedly different reactions to their styling look, feel and drive the same? Therein lies the rub.

A platform that has no name

I called the engineers. I, obviously, Googled it. I called the communication guys. And I got no answer. No, wait. I did get an answer. “It has got no name.”