The Hindu Business Line : Auto cos rev up ahead of expo

The fog cleared enough in the Capital for the sun to peep through for a while, giving hopes that the curtains will go up on the Auto Expo at the Pragati Maidan on Tuesday without too much of a hitch.

The Auto Expo, in the words of Dr Bernd Bohr, Chairman of the Bosch Automotive Group, is taking place in a period of transition.

“In recent months, the world has witnessed the scope of this change as Asia's emerging countries have begun to recover from the recession with unexpectedly high growth rates. And while the boom in India's automotive markets in the last three months of 2009 took many of us by surprise, it can certainly be considered a sign of things to come,” he said at a press conference, when the company announced plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in India over the next three years.

The automobile industry expects to end 2009-10 with a double-digit growth, according to Mr Rajive Kaul, Chairman, Auto Expo 2010. Apart from the spate of small car launches, the industry also expects new products in the light commercial vehicle segment over the next year or two. Just a day ahead of the Auto Expo's inaugural, billed as the largest ever, General Motors India announced the prices of its new small car — Chevrolet Beat — reckoned as aggressive in the industry. The company said the Beat would be available at Rs 3.34 lakh for the base version and Rs 4.34 lakh for the top-end with options such as ABS (anti-lock braking system) and dual airbags. The top end without these options was priced at Rs 3.94 lakh.

The Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dixit, unveiled an electric Renault car, at her residence.

The DEluxe category

At a separate event, Mercedes Benz announced that it would launch its global flagship sport-utility vehicle, GL, at an aggressive price of Rs 69.74 lakh, pitting it against the likes of the Q7 from Audi.

Mercedes also said it would launch its costliest made in India car, the S500L, at a price of about Rs 95 lakh. The vehicle would be assembled at its Pune plant with imported knocked down kits.

On Tuesday, the Indian subsidiaries of the Japanese car makers Toyota and Honda will have the world premiere of their small car concepts, while Maruti Suzuki will unveil its concept multi-purpose vehicle. The expo is on from January 5 to 11.

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