The Hindu Business Line : Driving through the Auto Expo

THE biannual Auto Expo in New Delhi, India's answer to the Frankfurt, Geneva, Tokyo and Detroit auto shows, has been a platform for some of the big car and bike launches during the past decade and more. Cars and bikes that have since redefined their segments and set new benchmarks, such as the Tata Indica and the Fiat Palio in the small car segment and the Mercs and Skodas in the luxury sedan category, have all been launched with much fanfare at the Auto Expo over the years.

The Expo has also been the stage for vehicle importers and automobile component manufacturers to connect with buyers both in the domestic and foreign markets.

This year , the eighth edition of the Auto Expo, was no different in terms of public enthusiasm and business opportunities for the participants. But, somehow, it lacked the excitement of some of the preceding editions, what with this year's Expo not having any new product in the mass-market categories of both passenger cars and bikes.

Absentees galore

A few of the major multinational manufacturers, which had a big presence in some of the previous editions of the expo, were conspicuous by their absence.They included Mercedes Benz India, Hyundai Motor India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor and General Motors India in the cars space, and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and Kinetic Motor in the two-wheelers category. By not participating, these companies appear to convey that they either do not have any new product to offer or are confident about promoting their products outside the forum provided by the Expo.

Despite these prominent absentees, this year's Expo again re-emphasised the international nature of the event with some big ticket entrants and a few models of automotive excellence yet to be launched even in the global market. So, there were some cool concept cars and also a few production cars and bikes that may take a long time coming into this market but proved to be more than just eye candy at the show. The most eye-catching was the show put up by Audi and Honda (see accompanying story).

The Maruti stable

Speaking of formula racing, passenger car market leader Maruti Udyog too had a race-car on display. The company had a huge presence at the Expo, and on display were, apart from the Swifts which were the most drooled over at the stall, the Formula Suzuki Hayabusa and the Formula Maruti race-cars. The souped up Baleno and the 1.6-litre Rally Swift were also on show at the Maruti stall.

In addition to these, the Swift Sport 1.6, the Suzuki Escudo compact SUV and the Solio, a Wagon-R-derived car for the `differently-abled', were on display. The Maruti stall also had a number of interactive displays for entertaining the visitors to its stall. To showcase its green initiatives, Maruti also had LPG-driven variants of the Wagon-R and Omni.

Tata-Fiat partnership

The most anticipated announcement at the Auto Expo was of course the nitty-gritty of the potential tie-up between Tata Motors and Fiat India. Both the companies had indicated that they were in talks for a possible tie-up, and in the run-up to the Expo there was considerable speculation over the potential areas that the joint agreement would cover.

Though the presence of the CEOs of both companies added fuel to the already raging fire, the joint announcement turned out to be a bit of a damp squib.

The agreement, which does not appear to cover any financial element, involves joint marketing and servicing of Fiat cars at select Tata Motors outlets. The dealership sharing agreement extends the other way too, where Tata's cars would be marketed by Fiat overseas .

The Cedia launch

The most significant car launch at the Expo was the new Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia. Hindustan Motors, which rolled out the new model, has already commenced production at its plant near Chennai and the new premium sedan is priced at Rs 8-10 lakh depending on the trim level. The new Cedia will replace the old Lancer and is said to offer greater luxury and a more sporty ride than its predecessor.

Snazzy new bikes

Though there were no new launches at the show itself, there was a lot of action on the two-wheeler front. There were some snazzy new bikes on display which, however, will never make it to Indian shores any time soon. These included super bikes such as the YZ R1, the R6, Fazer 600, the YZR-M1 and the Roadliner cruiser from Yamaha Motor India. The super bike that generated a lot of interest was the Suzuki Hayabusa. Suzuki also had the QuadsportsZ400, Burgman 400 and 650 and the GSXR1000 super bikes on display.

Joining the race four years after severing its ties with the TVS group, Suzuki Motorcycle India, the latest entrant into the highly competitive Indian bike market, unveiled two new bikes — Heat and Zeus — that it plans to debut with.

The bikes will be based on the same platform. While Heat caters to the entry-level segment, Zeus will attempt to woo the exe-commuter with value-for-money features and sporty looks.

The Bajaj buzz

The most promising two-wheeler stall at the Expo was that of Bajaj, which announced at least six new models lined up for launch this year. The most exciting of these could be the new Pulsar DTS-Fi, the country's first fuel-injected, petrol-engine two-wheeler.

While company officials refused to divulge other details, the market buzz is that the bike will be launched by the second quarter of this year with a 225-cc fuel-injected engine. Bajaj will also introduce two new scooterettes and another bike in the commuter segment.

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