About TopGear India

TopGear India: The Indian Edition of the BBC's Motoring Magazine

Overview

TopGear India is the Indian edition of TopGear, the British motoring magazine associated with the BBC. It is a monthly print and digital magazine published in English from Mumbai, Maharashtra, aimed at automobile and motorcycle enthusiasts across India. The title is a licensed publication of TopGear, the automotive media property of BBC Studios UK, and it describes itself as one of the most recognised and creative motoring publications in the world. After its original launch in 2005, the magazine entered a second phase in India in 2020, when the Exhibit Group acquired the rights to publish the title for the Indian territory. Since then it has been published by Exhibit Technologies Pvt Ltd, with Ramesh Somani, the founder of the Exhibit Group, serving as chief executive, editor-in-chief and publisher.

Origins: The British TopGear Brand

The TopGear magazine brand originated in the United Kingdom, where the magazine was launched by BBC Worldwide in October 1993. It went on to become the UK's leading automobile magazine and, according to the launch announcements made at the time of the Indian edition, a trusted buyer's guide read by around 1.5 million readers worldwide. The brand grew into an automotive and lifestyle property with a presence in around fifty countries, built on a distinctive editorial voice that combined authoritative road testing with a witty, irreverent style. The Indian edition inherited that identity, mixing international TopGear content with reporting produced specifically for Indian readers, drivers and buyers.

Launch in India: The Worldwide Media Joint Venture

TopGear reached Indian shores in 2005 through Worldwide Media Ltd (WWM), a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and the Times of India Group. The launch of the Indian edition was announced with considerable fanfare: the inaugural issue was unveiled by the film star Ajay Devgn, himself a noted car enthusiast and reader of the international edition. At the launch, Ian Watson, director of WWM, described TopGear as the flagship brand of the company and pointed to the potential of what was then described as the world's fastest-growing car market. Vineet Jain, chairman of Worldwide Media, said the title would raise the standard of Indian motoring journalism with strong stories, leading cars and a fresh look at the world of automobiles. The Indian edition carried a mix of Indian and international content from the start.

The Worldwide Media Years: Editors and Milestones

In its early years in India, the magazine was edited by Vardhan Kondvikar, who held the editor's chair around the time of the title's third anniversary. Tarun Rai served as chief executive of Worldwide Media during this period. The third anniversary, celebrated in October 2008, was marked with a 350-page mega issue that hit newsstands in the first week of the month, and the issue introduced a new section, TG 2Wheels, aimed at motorcycle enthusiasts, with coverage of new bikes entering the market. The anniversary issue sent the TopGear team on drives across India, from Rajasthan to Bhimbetka and Tranqebar, and on a run from Mumbai to Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh and back. Regular contributions from well-known British columnists, including Jeremy Clarkson and James May, formed part of the magazine's content in this period.

The Fifth Anniversary: India's First 3D Magazine

For its fifth anniversary in India, celebrated in October 2010, BBC TopGear India produced what was billed as India's first magazine issue in 3D. Readers and subscribers could view the special issue's three-dimensional content using 3D glasses supplied with the magazine. Girish Karkera, who had taken over as editor of BBC TopGear India, said the magazine had tried to break the stereotype of conventional auto magazines and wanted to go further with the anniversary issue. The publisher, Debolin Sen, announced that the cover price was raised from Rs 100 to Rs 150 for the substantial added value of the issue. The fifth anniversary issue included drives to Kargil, Darjeeling's Makaibari tea estates, the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway and the outskirts of Aurangabad, along with posters and a free DVD of the James Bond film Casino Royale.

Eighth Anniversary and the 2016 Redesign

The magazine's eighth anniversary in India, marked in 2013, was built around the theme of V8 engines, with an anniversary issue of more than 250 pages including posters, priced at Rs 150. Editor Girish Karkera said the magazine was reaching out to the aspirational Indian reader who liked driving and reading about cars and bikes, and he identified any blog, website, magazine or paper writing on cars and bikes as a potential competitor, with Autocar and Overdrive named as the nearest rivals. The title was reported to have a strong market in urban centres such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, targeting readers in the 22 to 28 age group described as aspirational. The magazine celebrated its 100th issue in December 2013. In August 2016, BBC TopGear India, then published by Worldwide Media Pvt Ltd, underwent a refresh with a new look and new sections, including an expanded Drives section for detailed road tests of cars and bikes yet to hit the market and a data-focused section called Number Cruncher.

The Exhibit Group Era

In 2020, the Exhibit Group acquired the rights to publish BBC TopGear for the Indian territory, beginning what the magazine's own about page describes as its second innings in the country. The Exhibit Group, founded by Ramesh Somani, is a Mumbai-based publishing and influencer-marketing company whose core publication is Exhibit, a technology and lifestyle magazine founded in 2005. Under the new ownership, Ramesh Somani took charge as chief executive, editor-in-chief and publisher of BBC TopGear India. He has been in the publishing business since 2005, having begun with Exhibit. Cyrus Dhabhar serves as managing editor at the Exhibit Group and BBC TopGear India. The magazine continues as a monthly print and digital title published by the Exhibit Group, positioned as one of the most sought-after titles in the Indian automotive media space.

Print, Digital and Social Presence

BBC TopGear India Magazine operates as a monthly print and digital magazine, with the digital side of the operation growing in importance. Its website, topgearmag.in, carries the latest automotive news and exhaustive vehicle reviews, while the TopGear India YouTube channel publishes automobile reviews in video form, combining strong visuals with reviews that the company describes as technically sound and backed by facts verified by its experienced team of road testers. As of January 2025, the brand reported around 454,000 followers on Instagram, 1.6 million followers on Facebook and 77,100 followers on Twitter, a combined audience of committed automobile enthusiasts. The magazine's offices remain in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and its editorial output covers cars, motorcycles, industry developments and automotive culture in India and abroad.

The BBC TopGear India Awards

The magazine runs an annual awards programme, the BBC TopGear India Awards, which recognises the best vehicles, innovations and automotive achievements of the preceding year. The awards are regarded within the industry as influential honours that shape consumer perception and reinforce the credibility of the recognised models and manufacturers. At the 2026 edition, for example, the all-electric VinFast VF 7 SUV was honoured with the EV SUV of the Year award in the Editor's Choice category, with the award presented by managing editor Cyrus Dhabhar. The annual awards have become a fixture of the Indian automotive media calendar and a significant part of the magazine's brand activity alongside its publishing operations.

Readership and Market Position

Throughout its run in India, TopGear India has positioned itself as a title for the engaged motoring enthusiast rather than the casual buyer alone: readers described by successive editors as people who enjoy cars and bikes, appreciate design and photography, and respond to an editorial voice that is authoritative yet entertaining. Its reported strengths in the major metropolitan markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai reflect the concentration of premium car buyers and motoring culture in those cities. The magazine competes in a crowded Indian automotive media market that includes long-established domestic titles, but its licensed association with the global TopGear brand — one of the world's most widely recognised names in motoring media — gives it a distinct positioning that it has carried from the Worldwide Media years into its current phase under the Exhibit Group.