Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has bought a brand new toy—a Bugatti Chiron worth around Rs 19 crore. The Portugese footballer is known for his exotic car collection which includes vehicles like the Bugatti Veyron, a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin DB9. All Bugatti Chirons are built to suit a customer’s tastes and requirements, and Ronaldo’s Chiron has got ‘CR7’ embroidered onto the seats.
The latest whimsical offerings from Moschino’s Jeremy Scott are the nostalgia-inducing, pastel colored clothing and accessories from the Spring 2018 collection—featuring the beautiful and popular ponies from My Little Pony, which stand amid studs, leather and chains for a pastel-punk look. One of the more striking pieces is the My Little Pony Lunchbox bag, which is a nod to the plastic lunchboxes carried by kids—but created from leather and crafted in Italy, priced at $995. Jeremy Scott has in the past made several nods to popular cartoons and videogames of the yesteryears, and also present ones—from Loony Tunes and Super Mario to the Powerpuff Girls and Candy Crush, the designer has literally ‘played’ with them all.
Donald Trump’s super luxury real estate brand Trump Towers is all set to make its Indian debut, with its launch in Gurgaon coming up in October. A second Trump property will have a parallel launch in Kolkata. The Trump Towers, a bouquet of branded apartments developed worldwide by Donald Trump’s global brand Trump Organisation, is being promoted in India by Tribeca Developers. The Trump-Tribeca collaboration will offer all the signature facilities available at the Trump Towers that includes white gloved services, trump card, concierge and valet services, along with golf course access, exclusive club for the residents and an infinity edged pool. In Gurgaon, the Trump Towers will offer three to five bedroom accommodations in 220 apartments, priced upwards of Rs 12 crore. The Trump Towers project in Kolkata, however would have lower entry prices starting at less than 5 crores. The Trump Towers in Kolkata would be a 120 apartment bouquet with three to four bedroom apartments. Manit Rastogi of Morphogenesis has designed both the Trump Towers at Gurgaon and Kolkata.
Porsche has unveiled the Panamera Sport Turismo with Turbo S E-Hybrid, arguably the quickest Panamera Sport Turismo. Powered by a turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine belting out 542bhp, mated to an electric motor that pumps out 134bhp, this Sport Toursimo gets a total of 671bhp and 850Nm for torque. The all-wheel-drive sprints from 0- 100km/h in 3.4 seconds, which is 1.4 seconds quicker than the regular E-Hybrid model. Mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox the top speed is 309km/h.
The Panamera Sport Turismo Turbo S E-Hybrid employs a 14.1kWh lithium-ion battery that can be recharged in 2.4 to 6 hours, depending on the power outlet it’s connected to. The quickest Panamera can run in full EV mode for up to 31 miles (50km) with a top speed of 87mph (140km/h).
The Panamera Sport Turismo Turbo S E-Hybrid is Priced upward of Rs 1.24 crore.
According to the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) half-year world tourism figures this year reported a 6.4% rise compared to those of last year, with the absolute number being 598 million people between January and June this year. This figure is the largest international tourism figure that the world has seen in the last seven years. Rising business confidence and a strong outbound demand from Britain, China and France drive the growth in tourist numbers, especially in the Mediterranean. Countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey, which had previously seen a slump in visitors thanks to several terrorist attacks are now showing rise in tourism figures, with Mediterranean destinations reporting growth in double-digit figures. North Africa and the Middle East recorded an increase of 16% and 8.9% respectively, while Europe’s tourists rose by 7.7%. Asia and the Pacific posted a 5.7% growth while South America tourism grew at 6%. North America, however, only posted a 2% rise. International tourist arrival figures posted an increase of 3.9% from the previous year to 1.23 billion, and this year the UN expects the figure to grow by 3 to 4 percent.
Paris-based designer India Mahdavi has teamed up with French furnishing house Pierre Frey to create the True Velvet Collection, a polychrome collection of vibrant, beautiful velvets that create illuminating interiors. Velvet being Mahdavi’s signature fabric, the designer calls the collection bot ‘joyful and enveloping’. True velvet offers 80 monochrome shades curated by Mahdavi, and features two geometric patterns, ‘Diamonds’ and ‘Stripes’, which can be used to decorate surfaces for a modern edge. The collection also offers a choice between three different weaves: fine, (cotton), medium (cotton) and bold (cotton and mohair). ‘Queen of Colour’ Mahdavi’s vibrant works stretch from the powder pink interiors of London’s Michelin-starred Sketch restaurant to the whimsical, checkered Ladurée tea house in Geneva.
The Lesedi La Rona is a tennis-ball-sized, 1,109 carat rough cut diamond–the second largest rough cut diamond ever known. Now owned by Graff Diamonds, Lesedi La Rona—literally ‘our light’ in Tswana language—was discovered two years ago in the Karowe mine of Botswana by Vancouver based Lucara Diamond Corp. The gem was put up for auction at Sotheby’s last year but it failed to fetch even half the estimated price of $70 million. Thereafter, Lucara Diamond Corp sold it for $53 million in a private sale to Graff Diamonds. Laurence Graff, founder of Graff Diamonds, reportedy claimed that being the ‘custodian’ of the extravagant stone was the highlight of his career.
Jaguar Land Rover is looking to buy a high-end luxury brand to better face the competition in the market. According to reports, UK-based JLR has the backing of parent company Tata to purchase a premium luxury brand, one which should already have invested in electrification and autonomous driving systems that are going to be vital to JLR’s plans after 2020. Jaguar Land Rover plans to have an electrified variant for every model in its global line-up from 2020 onwards. They have also been working with San Francisco-based Lyft by investing in driverless tech. JLR will also launch its Velar SUV here in India before the end of the year.
Swedish automaker Volvo has now introduced the XC40, a smaller SUV based on their popular XC60 series. Equipped with safety features such as front or all-wheel drive, 200 or 250 hp four-cylinder motors, and 8.3″ ground clearance, the Volvo XC40 interestingly is being launched with unique offers ownership options. Volvo is exploring a monthly subscription service in addition to traditional lease or purchase methods, in a new business model for vehicle ownership. The new subscription service would include insurance and maintenance costs, along with registration fees. The vehicle can even be loaned to an acquaintance at a scheduled time through the online app the company offers. Volvo is looking to extend this service for its other models as well.
American electric supercar manufacturer Tesla is in talks with the Government of India to enter the Indian Market. Elon Musk had already revealed their intent to launch electric cars in India. Reportedly, Musk has now written to the government showing its interest to operate in India. The development comes after Musk tweeted about high import duty and sourcing requirements in the country. Tesla is most likely to enter the Indian market through the single-brand retail window. If Tesla opts for this window, it will have to comply with several riders including mandatory local sourcing of up to 30 per cent of the value of goods sold in India. The government is expected to reply to Tesla in the coming weeks. Looks like Indian roads are all set to welcome Tesla!
