What’s revving at the Auto Expo 2014?
Auto Expo – the Motor Show 2014, kick started on the 6th of February 2014 and will go on till the 12th February at the India Expo Centre and Mart in Greater Noida. The event, which used to be held in the first week of January has been given a month push keeping in mind the Detroit Auto Show, as a number of top global auto executives had expressed their failure to attend the expo due to their commitment in Detroit Auto Show.
Vishnu Mathur, Director General, SIAM, says, “The venue shifting move will surely be appreciated by the Indian auto industry fans as industry insiders had in past expressed many shortcomings in facilities at Pragati Maidan, mismatching with the comprehensive standards. Moreover, there have also been lack of sufficient crowd control measures resulting in restriction of visitors’ entry in the show.” Space constraints forced the organisers to split the 12th edition of the auto expo. The motor show is being held at Greater Noida and the auto components exhibition is at Pragati Maidan in Delhi.
Braving the chilly weather and long distances, more than 1 lac people visited India's flagship automobile show on Sunday, forcing organisers to periodically close entry to one of the display halls. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) the show had attracted more than 60,000 visitors on Saturday. The Uttar Pradesh police had a tough time managing the rush, especially at the entry point of the exhibition area. Despite having an online ticketing system, long queues formed at the ticket counters during the day. Ticket prices have been kept at Rs 200 and Rs 500.
Contrary to the perception that big cities are driving up the growth of luxury cars, manufactures such as Mercedes Benz India and Audi India are actually seeing strong increase in numbers coming in from smaller towns and cities of the country. “Our sales from smaller cities grew by 20 per cent, which is higher than the overall growth in sales. We realise the need to increase our presence in smaller cities and expanding our retail presence in smaller cities. That’s where the future is,” said Joe King, head of Audi India.
On the other hand, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said, “I have never seen at a situation where (demand slump) is unrelated to your pocket spend or the recession, there is enormous money out there. But people are saying they want to wait.” It is not only investors and analysts who are waiting for elections but consumers are also saying they are going to wait, he added. Everyone is in a state of limbo.
The Delhi Auto Expo saw the launch of Maruti Celerio at Rs 4.96 lac, Toyota’s crossover Etios Cross and Triumph Motorcycles India’s Daytona 675 — priced at Rs 10.15 lac, Mahindra Reva’s electric sports car Halo, Refurbished M&M Mojo, JBM Group’s low-floor city bus Citylife. Superbikes hogged the limelight on the second day of the 12th Auto Expo as companies announced more launches and investments to attract buyers and revive the market. Harley Davidson, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto showcased premium two-wheelers as Harley Davidson launched Street 750 at Rs 4.10 lakh, while Hero and Bajaj displayed concept bikes, the former a 375cc Pulsar and the latter a 620cc Hastur.
