August 01, 2026

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Premium

MARUTI-SUZUKI BREZZA

The first half of 2026 has painted an interesting picture of India's passenger vehicle market. Maruti Suzuki occupies nine places in the top 15 best-selling cars, reaffirming its dominance across segments. However, one statistic stands out. The Tata Nexon sits in third place, while the Brezza, once among the undisputed heavyweights of this segment, finds itself in 11th. That's hardly a poor showing, but in a segment where fortunes change as quickly as feature lists, it suggests the Brezza was beginning to lose some momentum. It wasn't because the Brezza had suddenly become a bad car. Since it arrived in 2022, the second-generation model has remained one of the most sensible compact SUVs on sale. It looked mature, rode well, offered dependable mechanicals and was backed by Maruti Suzuki's vast sales and service network. But there was one caveat: it never really stirred the soul. Rivals gradually brought more exciting engines and richer cabins, while the Brezza remained firmly on the sensible side of the equation. This facelift attempts to change that, with the biggest update sitting under the bonnet.Maruti Suzuki hasn't radically altered the Brezza's design, and that's no bad thing. The proportions remain familiar, while a revised smoked chrome grille, new bumper, chunkier skid plate, fresh alloy wheels and updated side cladding give it a sharper appearance. The changes are subtle rather than transformative, but they work. There are also `Turbo Boosterjet' badges on the rear three-quarter glass and at the back, which make it clear that this isn't quite the Brezza we knew before. The cabin gets more substantial changes. A new 10.1-inch SmartPlay Pro X touchscreen brings wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while the brown-and-black theme and metallic accents make the interior feel richer. The air-conditioning controls are borrowed from the Victoris, and there's a useful mix of additions including ventilated front seats, 64-colour ambient lighting and a cooled wireless charger.

TRIUMPH TRACKER 400

The Triumph Tracker is one of those motorcycles that makes perfect sense the moment you swing a leg over it. On paper, it appears to be another derivative of Bajaj-Triumph's immensely successful 400cc platform. In reality, it feels like an exercise in mixing some of Triumph's most recognisable ingredients into a single motorcycle. Spend a few hours riding it around Gurugram's roads and you quickly realise that this isn't merely a dressed-up Speed 400. It is something with a distinct personality of its own. The inspiration, of course, comes from flat-track racing. The Tracker borrows the visual attitude associated with dirt ovals and sliding motorcycles, but let's get one thing out of the way immediately. This is not a serious off-roader. Despite the rugged stance and tracker-inspired silhouette, the motorcycle is fundamentally designed for the road. Think of it as a street bike wearing flat-track boots rather than a machine designed to spend weekends tackling trails and mud.Visually, the Tracker sits somewhere between several motorcycles in Triumph's modern portfolio. The starting point is clearly the Speed 400, but the similarities