FLAG BEARER!

Driving Indian cars on foreign soil is a first, and an experience that has us beaming with pride

As someone who's spent over a decade and a half testing automobiles, travelling to foreign countries to drive or ride new cars and motorcycles isn't something new to me, rather, it's just part of the job. But while all these years I've travelled abroad to review automobiles that have been engineered abroad and launched internationally before making it to our shores, my trip to South Africa this Independence Day was a lot more than just my maiden trip to the country. Unless you've been living under that proverbial rock, you'd be aware that Mahindra has 'hijacked' August 15 as its big day since 2020. Despite the pandemic, the year had Mahindra launch the second generation Thar in grand fashion on Independence Day, which was followed by an even grander launch for one of its most ambitious offerings yet, the XUV700!