10th Indian Auto Expo: More small cars are coming your way
In 1998, Tata Indica dazzled the Indian Auto Expo. Ten years later, Tata Nano, the cheapest car of the world stole the limelight. At the 10th Indian Auto Expo, we will not see such showstoppers but there will be many launches, especially small cars. Maruti Suzuki alone will display seventeen cars. It will unveil ‘Eeco,’ a small car sporting 1200 cc petrol engine. The car will be priced at Rs.400,000. Then there is the Concept R3, a compact multi-purpose vehicle.
This year, Tata Motors booked the largest space in the show; 5,500 square meters. This is followed by Maruti Suzuki with 4,700 sq meters. Toyota will unveil its new EFC (Entry Family Car). Toyota’s small concept car, codenamed 800 L, will be unveiled at the expo. Till now, I have been reading in news reports that Ford is not going participate in the show but Hindu Business Line reported that Ford will display its Figo small car which was unveiled by the company’s president, Mr. Alan Mulally, in New Delhi, few months ago.
In India in 2009, car sales is set to jump at least 16 per cent to 1.4 million vehicles in India, the second most populous country in the world. Three quarters of the Indian car market is made up of cars shorter than four meters. Passenger car sales, which showed tremendous growth so far, will rise by 14.5% to 2.4 million cars annually by March 2014.
