Most trending cars and bikes of 2017

With the end of the year around the corner, it's time to look back at the months that flew by. The Indian automotive space saw a lot of action this year with launches ranging from the humble Honda Cliq to speed monsters like the Lamborghini Huracan Performante.

Google has released their list of the top trending cars and bikes of the year. And the results are, let’s say, interesting. There are some surprises, and we raised quite a few eyebrows ourselves. Let’s kick things off with the four-wheeled section. 

Topping the trend charts is Maruti’s oh-so-lovable Swift. Interestingly, the hatchback is at the end of its life cycle. The anticipation for the new Swift that debuts next year has definitely fuelled the hatchback’s search volumes. Runners up include Jeep’s blockbuster - the Compass and Tata’s flagship - the Hexa. While the baby Jeep is charting a sales success story like no other for FCA, Tata’s big boy is cementing the brand’s name in the premium end of the market.

And, it’s not just the Hexa that’s making waves online. The Nexon’s in fourth place, followed by the quirky-yet-likeable Ignis. There are surprise entrants in the list too, such as the Volkswagen Polo GTI at tenth. The luxury spectrum saw some action too, with Mercedes-Benz’ CLA and Volvo’s XC60 trending at number eight and nine, respectively. 

The two-wheeled trends are equally fascinating to note. It was the Suzuki Intruder that emerged as the most trending two-wheeler in India thereby confirming the soft spot Indian bikers have for cruiser bikes. The styling of the Intruder is polarising but the first cruiser motorcycle offering from Suzuki did manage to create lot of curiosity among Indian bikers. And the second most searched two-wheeler was a scooter which doesn’t really come as a surprise as scooter sales have skyrocketed. The snazzy-looking Grazia is the most expensive Honda scooter to go on sale India and was the second highest searched two-wheeler. 

What really amazed us was the fact that it was the Indian Scout that was the third highest trending two-wheeler. Yes, the Scout is a beautiful looking motorcycle and also the most affordable in the American bikemaker’s portfolio but so much curiosity for this bike was a bit startling. There were some popular offerings also in the list like the new Royal Enfield 650 twins, and the recently launched TVS Apache RR 310. The new Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT 650 will be the first twin-cylinder bikes to be made in India while the Apache RR 310 is the flagship offering from TVS. 

We were also surprised by the absence of a few well-known names. For instance, popular cars such as the Hyundai Verna, Ford EcoSport and the new Maruti Dzire failed to enter the top ten. As far as two-wheelers are concerned, we were shocked to see bikes such as the Yamaha FZ25, KTM 390 Duke and the Bajaj Pulsar NS 160 not make the cut. 

Notably, none of the cars that trended in 2016 managed to make a reappearance this time round. Last year, the lists were topped by the Mahindra KUV100 and the Bajaj Vikrant respectively.

Source: ZigWheels.com