Quality Time

The way media drives are held in our land need to undergo some restructuring to suit the end consumer. I add the ‘consumer’ bit for my own greed!

Let me be clear, this column isn’t about economics, or the goings-on of the automotive industry. It’s more of an observation, or a behind-the-scenes look if you will, at how we put together certain aspects of the motoring reviews you see on these pages.

Whenever I bump into people, more often than not, they respond with enthusiasm and excited words after they gain knowledge of my profession. They say I’ve got the most exciting job in the world – perhaps second only to that of a fighter pilot’s! I agree with every word they say, thank them, and promise to keep doing better stuff with every issue, and move on to mind my own business. And, to keep doing a good job, we must be committed towards unbiased, extensive, and evaluative reviews and tests – which we are.

My guess is that driving is more than just a necessary chore for most people who read this. Folks who pick up autoX are, most certainly, tuned into the excitement and thrill of motoring. Even for us, it’s more than just a job.

We get invited by automotive companies to drive and evaluate their products – a very nice gesture that. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been on quite a few such media drives. The auto manufacturers host us in the most exquisite hospitality destinations across the nation, and abroad. They have us dance and enjoy ourselves, while also allowing us the freedom to do get drowned in our respective poison on the day. More often than not, the actual drive event happens the following day – and that’s where my reservation comes in.

You see, in almost all cases, 2-3 journalists have to share one car. I see this as a 3-way problem. Let me explain why. The drives – which aren’t exactly 1,000-kilometre-plus affairs, mostly take place on very smooth, straight roads pre-charted by the events team of the manufacturer – don’t allow the journalist / reviewer to fully enjoy the machine, and the respective photographers have to shoot at almost the same locations as everyone else. So, every magazine has broadly the same backdrops, even though the treatment and composition of the image may be different. I’m certain that my friends at other motoring publications would agree to this. This, then, leads to arguments with the designers and illustrators who work on their computer stations to put together the pages that you see here.

Naturally, most manufacturers don’t quite organize their media drives keeping the photography and design of the publications in mind. More importantly, they don’t keep the fun aspect in mind – it’s much more of an obligation, I think. However, if every publication team gets one car to them, and there’s freedom of the route to follow, things can be vastly better. This will also provide ample time to both the reviewer and the photographer. The road tester gets a much better real-world feel for the vehicle he or she is testing and can, therefore, put together a more objective report – which is in the benefit of the manufacturer as well as its prospective customer – and the photographer can be more inventive with his or her choice of shot.

So, to all you manufacturers out there – you go through such an effort to launch a new vehicle, and you invest millions. If you would, next time please ensure that there are enough media cars to go around so your future buyers get the benefit of a better quality review and more engaging layouts.

So, one publication team per car + freedom of route = everyone happy! Am I asking for too much? Have I been rubbish, again? Damn!