Overdrive

About Overdrive

Overdrive is a monthly Indian motoring magazine covering cars, bikes and motorsport, published from Mumbai. Launched in 1998 by motoring journalist Adil Darukhanawala, it grew into one of the nation's leading auto publications and the centrepiece of a multi-media brand spanning print, television and the web. Published by Infomedia18, a Network18 group company, the magazine built its reputation on definitive road tests, authoritative comparison tests, dramatic photography and features written with evident passion for automobiles.

Overdrive distinguished itself from its rivals with an enthusiast-first editorial voice, celebrating the emotion and adventure of motoring alongside the data. Its anniversary issues became legendary in Indian publishing for their scale and ambition, and its expansion into television on CNBC-TV18 and a Hindi edition in 2011 made it one of the most widely recognised automotive media brands in the country.

Origins and Launch

Overdrive was launched in 1998 by Adil Darukhanawala, a veteran motoring journalist who had previously edited the Car & Bike section of Auto India. Darukhanawala assembled an editorial team that included talented young writers such as Sirish Chandran and Bertrand D'Souza, and set out to create a magazine that spoke to India's growing community of car and bike enthusiasts with energy, expertise and style.

The late 1990s were fertile ground for a new motoring title. India's automotive market was opening up, new cars and motorcycles were arriving in quick succession, and a generation of young, affluent Indians was discovering the pleasures of driving and riding. Overdrive tapped directly into this enthusiasm, positioning itself as the magazine for people who loved machines, not just bought them.

The Infomedia18 Backdrop

Overdrive was published by Infomedia18, described as India's leading publishing major and a subsidiary of the Network18 group. The association gave the magazine formidable corporate backing and, crucially, access to Network18's television and digital assets, including the business news channel CNBC-TV18 and the web company Web18.

This cross-media ownership shaped Overdrive's destiny. While rival magazines remained print-only operations, Overdrive was conceived from an early stage as a brand that could live across television, the internet and print, an ambition that the Network18 ecosystem made uniquely possible. Infomedia18's other automotive titles included the B2B magazine Auto Monitor, giving the group coverage of both the consumer and trade sides of the industry.

Editorial Philosophy

Overdrive's editorial philosophy balanced rigorous testing with raw passion. As editor Sirish Chandran explained at the time of the magazine's 11th anniversary, the team chose not to chase exclusives or crank out road tests like any other magazine, but to put together issues that readers would enjoy curled up with on a rainy Sunday. Besides reams of testing data, he argued, a car and bike magazine is about raw passion, enthusiasm and entertainment.

This philosophy expressed itself in ambitious, adventure-driven features: taking nine Indian hatchbacks into the mountains of Ladakh, driving an Audi R8 flat out against a Suzuki Hayabusa on the dusty roads of Jaisalmer, or experiencing 300 kmph in a Lamborghini. The magazine's writers were encouraged to be storytellers as well as testers, and its features dripped with a passion that readers found infectious.

Road Tests and Comparisons

At its core, Overdrive was built on the classic disciplines of motoring journalism: definitive road tests, authoritative comparison tests, first drives and news. Its testers evaluated cars and motorcycles on Indian roads, measuring performance and efficiency while also judging the subjective qualities that make a machine enjoyable, steering feel, engine character, ride comfort and design.

The magazine's comparison tests were particular reader favourites, pitting rivals against each other in dramatic, real-world scenarios rather than sterile test tracks. Its reviewers prided themselves on being unwaveringly honest in their evaluations, a stance that earned the trust of enthusiasts and buyers alike and became a hallmark of the brand.

Anniversary Issues and Specials

Overdrive's anniversary issues became landmarks in Indian magazine publishing. For its 11th anniversary, celebrated with the September 2009 issue, the team clocked 47,000 kilometres across the country testing cars and bikes worth Rs. 19 crores, spending 236 man-days on the road, travelling from sea level to 16,000 feet above sea level, from the 41-degree heat of western India to the minus-2-degree cold of Leh and Ladakh. The result was a power-packed 436-plus-page adventure special.

The 12th anniversary issue in 2010 was billed as the magazine's biggest ever, designed to encourage readers to get out and explore the country, with anything from a Rolls-Royce to a Nano or even a 100cc bike. These mega-issues, supported by high-impact marketing campaigns across TV, print, web and social media, demonstrated the magazine's ambition and its ability to execute at extraordinary scale.

Overdrive on Television

Overdrive expanded into television with a weekly half-hour show on CNBC-TV18, India's leading business news channel. The programme was led by the channel's star anchor Shereen Bhan alongside Overdrive's editorial team, including Sirish Chandran and Bertrand D'Souza, combining the magazine's editorial and research strength with television's reach and immediacy.

The show later also aired on CNN-IBN, with weekend slots carrying exhaustive stories based on the magazine's features. Spanning television, the internet and print, Overdrive positioned itself as the definitive benchmark for auto news and information in India and the preferred destination for the country's auto community, a seamless multi-media world for viewers and readers.

The Hindi Edition

In January 2011, Infomedia18 launched Overdrive Hindi, India's first dedicated auto magazine for Hindi-speaking markets. The launch recognised that auto enthusiasm was no longer the preserve of the elite English-speaking metro reader: a huge share of vehicle sales was coming from Tier-2 cities, and 42 per cent of Indians spoke Hindi as their primary language, a vast audience no motoring magazine had served.

The Hindi edition hit newsstands on 7 January 2011 with a 50,000-copy print run, a cover price of Rs. 75 (Rs. 50 for the introductory edition) and around 160 pages per issue. Its sections included Sampadakiya (editorial), Motoring News, Drishtikon (columns), product features, Salah Mashvira (help desk) and a car and bike price guide. The content followed a similar pattern to the English edition without being an exact replica, with the Hindi editorial team offering its own views and reviews.

Digital Presence

Overdrive's website, overdrive.in, became a major destination for Indian auto enthusiasts, featuring video, image and story content that complemented the television and print offerings. The site carried news, reviews, features and videos, extending the brand's reach to readers who consumed automotive content primarily online.

The brand also built a strong on-ground presence through properties such as speed tests, road shows, car-buying camps and an annual auto industry award, culminating at the end of each year. Across the magazine, television show, website and events, Overdrive became India's largest automotive media brand by reach and influence, with what its editors described as the most loyal fan following in the business.

Legacy

Overdrive played a central role in the maturation of Indian automotive journalism. It proved that a motoring magazine could be both rigorously journalistic and unabashedly passionate, that comparison tests and adventure features could sit alongside hard data, and that Indian enthusiasts deserved world-class automotive media in their own languages.

Its multi-media model, spanning print, television, web and events, anticipated the converged media landscape that would follow, and its Hindi edition broke new ground in serving the vast audience beyond the English-speaking metros. For over a decade, Overdrive was at the forefront of Indian automotive journalism, and its pledge to meet and exceed the expectations of the Indian enthusiast remains its defining statement.