A ground-up redesign of Autocar India's app — shaped in conversation with editor Hormazd Sorabjee — rebuilt around three readers: people buying a car, people who love cars, and people who already own one.
Autocar India has run authoritative car journalism for two decades — but its app read like a PDF of the magazine, not a destination. None of its three readers had a reason to open it between issues.
The brief I set myself: make the everyday app worth opening, and surface the revenue the current structure was leaving on the table.
It stopped being "make the app nicer" and became "give each reader a reason to open it on a Tuesday, not just on launch day."— Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India
The old app was the print issue in a reader shell — a storefront for a monthly PDF. The redesign leads with a live daily feed and folds the subscription into the flow instead of making it the first thing you see.
Issues, price tags and a “Try for FREE” wall, powered by Magzter. Nothing to do between issues.
A live home feed — launches, reviews and “Hot shots this week,” with subscribe folded in, not front-and-centre.
None of these numbers are Autocar's own — they're the industry backdrop that made the three priorities below worth designing for.
One app was serving very different intents at once — separating them by persona made the prioritisation call possible.
The real test isn’t a screen — it’s whether each reader reaches, in a tap or two, the thing they came for. Here’s how one home feed does three different jobs.
Its edge isn't more listings — it's editorial credibility nothing else in this table can claim.
| Capability | Before | CarDekho / Cars24 | Redesign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent road tests | Print-first | Limited | Daily, home feed |
| Side-by-side comparison | No | Partial | Yes, with 3D view |
| Inspected pre-owned listings | No | Partial | Autocar Certified |
| Editorial brand trust | High, underused | Low | Applied to Certified |
The app monetised almost entirely through print subscriptions. Mapping personas against existing content surfaced four workable revenue streams.
Numbers and 3D views instead of paragraphs — a buyer should never read a review to find a horsepower figure.
If a screen only mattered once a month, it moved off the home feed — daily content is the retention strategy.
Scored on impact against effort. The fourth needed data infrastructure Autocar doesn't control yet — parked, not designed, in this pass.
Five features carry the shift from monthly to daily — all of them things a reader actually touches on or around the home screen.
Launches, reviews and motorsport refresh daily on the home screen — the retention engine that replaces the monthly issue drop.
A red flashing ticker signals a live event and OEM launches stream in-app — a revenue stream the old app couldn’t carry. Slides away when it’s not needed.
Pick up where you left off — up to three magazines on the go — and Save any article to finish later from the top bar.
Shortlist cars side by side, drag each model to spin it, scroll the specs, and tap through to the full review and a dealer enquiry.
Updates, live video and article snippets at a glance from the iOS home screen — one tap drops the reader straight into the Live section.
Buyers had no way to weigh cars against each other — only separate reviews. A dedicated comparison screen puts shortlisted cars side by side, with a draggable 3D view of each.
Enthusiasts had little reason to open the old app outside a new issue dropping. Launches, motorsport and long-form reviews now live on the home screen, earning daily visits instead of monthly ones.
Autocar Certified pairs dealer inventory with Autocar's own inspection checklist — turning a listing into something a buyer will pay a premium to trust.
20+ years testing cars
Existing classifieds partners
Buyer pays a trust premium
Owner tools tested well, but depend on integrations Autocar doesn't control yet — RTO records, insurer data. A phase-two candidate once the app proves it can hold owners' attention.
Home feed, comparison, car detail and Autocar Certified — built out end to end in Figma.
Open the Figma prototype