Sonalika International Cars and Motors Ltd (ICML) is best known for their tractors. Of course, there was the Rhino MUV that looked like a cut price Toyota Qualis, but nobody cared. But here’s a shocker. ICML once got famed Italian design house Pininfarina to design a car for them.
The car, called the Sonalike EVO, was spotted on display at the Sonalika headquarters at Hoshiarpur in the state of Punjab. The EVO, billed as a ‘world car’, didn’t see the light of day becuse the project never took off. But that’s a real shame, because the EVO doesn’t look like anything that Sonalika will ever make.
The first thing that comes to the mind upon seeing the Sonalika EVO is BMW’s first-gen X6. Co-incidentally, the German SUV-Coupe went on sale in the very same year that that the EVO project was commissioned – 2008.
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Obvious resemblances to the BMW X6 aside, the Sonalika EVO still looks contemporary for a decade-old design. That isn’t surprising, because Pininfarina designed it. The proportions are well-balanced and its stance looks confident.
There’s chrome on the nose, the sleek headlamps host projector illumination, the fenders are pleasingly sculpted and the subtly flared arches are filled with tasty 5-spoke alloy wheels. A taut, rising shoulder line emanating from the front fenders culminate into the rear – the most interesting part of the design.
The wraparound, LED tail lamps look way ahead of their time, and so does the treatment given to the rest of the EVO’s derriere. There’s no word on the proposed power-train options, and the interiors stay elusive as well. Maybe the project never went past the exterior designing phase, considering this display vehicle is a dummy with no interiors or running gear.
The Sonalika EVO was supposed to launch in 2012 for a little above INR 10 lakh. But ICML’s investors thought otherwise. In October 2012, Sonalika sold a 12.5% stake in ITL for $100 million (around Rs 520 crore) to US-based private equity player Blackstone Group.
It is believed that Blackstone really did not want Sonalika to pursue its passenger car dream and wanted it to concentrate on its tractor business. The Sonalika EVO was kept a secret until now.
via Motown India
