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S. Muralidhar

THERE is more news for us automobile fans. Market potential, the maturing customer, economic prosperity... whatever the reason, more and more global car manufacturers are gravitating towards marking their presence here, to whet what seems to be an insatiable appetite for cars and utility vehicles.

Some of these new manufacturers who are eyeing the Indian market are almost apologetic that did not make their forays earlier. Better late than never, and we certainly are not complaining that they are entering an already crowded market. Further, this could be the best possible time to come into India and expand the market with products that may be positioned among the ones that already exist. After all, the car industry here seems to be going through a lull here in terms of new products.

And so it was in this backdrop that the 7th Auto Expo that opened in the Capital earlier this week. The lull that we were talking about was evident in the prominent absence of many of the major existing car manufacturers at the Expo. Those that preferred to watch from the sidelines, rather than participate, included General Motors, Ford, Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Hindustan Motors and Honda Siel Cars.

However, our desi version of the Detroit or Geneva Motor Show, still did not disappoint eager car aficionados. Thanks to a couple of new entrants and a couple of exciting new launches from those that are already household names in the Indian market, the Expo has managed to come alive and retain interest.

But, undoubtedly, the show stealer at this year's Expo was the Mercedes Maybach. The super luxury car marquee, touted to be the world's most expensive and the most luxurious car, was launched quietly at the Expo, but immediately grabbed the headlines. The Maybach — the king amongst luxury cars — priced at Rs 5 crore (including import duties), is also targeted at that kind of a customer.

DaimlerChrysler revived the Maybach brand after many decades and the Maybach twins (two versions with different engines and trim levels) quickly got rave reviews and generated massive interest in the two years to date since their launch in Europe and America. In India, DaimlerChrysler is expected to start taking orders for the car soon and the car, which is more expensive than even the Rolls Royce, is set to grace Indian roads.

The twin "M" logo represents the zenith of automobile luxury. DaimlerChrysler India is hoping to build a special, personal relationship with each of its customers, as is the case with the Maybach's overseas customers. It is a matter of pride that the Maybach has been introduced in India. India is really shining!

The impending entry of two other car manufacturers created a stir at the Expo. One was the Japanese car major Nissan Motors, which has just got a financial re-start under its dynamic new chief, Mr Carlos Ghosn. Nissan is marking its entry into India with the launch of its best selling sports utility vehicle — the Nissan X-TRAIL.

The X-TRAIL is one more of those classy SUVs from the land of the rising sun. "Conservatively sized," like the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V, the X-TRAIL is not as monstrous as some of its peers from the US. Yet, the SUV offers all the innovative packaging and performance benefits that the American mini-trucks (SUVs' American monicker) have to offer.

The other major auto brand to announce plans for an India foray at the Expo was Audi. The German performance and luxury brand, that is part of the Volkswagen group, has said that it is considering entering the Indian market and is hoping to carve out a niche for itself. The Audi brand represents sporty luxury and its products are focussed on providing high performance and luxury. Best known for its TT Quattro, sports coupe and cabriolet, the company is hoping to also bring in some of its other sedans like the A6, A8 and the smaller A4.

Indian car majors Tata Motors and Maruti Udyog were there in force at the Expo. The Tata's unveiled the new estate version of their popular Indigo sedan.

To be called the Indigo Marina, the new weekend variant will hit the roads by mid-2004 and could be priced at Rs 5.5 lakh plus. But the crowd puller at the Tata stall was the concept seven-seater, family van called the Indiva. The concept car, built on the same platform as the Indica, was developed in alliance with their old design partner — Idea Institute of Italy. The Indiva, which was unveiled at last year's Geneva Motor Show, had received good reviews for its design and technology demonstration.

Maruti had three interesting exhibits at the Expo, including the Suzuki Twin, a petrol-cum-electric driven two-seater car and the Suzuki Jimny, a compact SUV. Prominent among the other concept cars at the Expo were the Hyundai HCD-7 and the Suzuki Concept S. Two-wheeler makers at the Expo were focussed on showcasing their high-end bikes from overseas. Yamaha, Suzuki and Aprillia dazzled onlookers with some of their mean machines. The showstopper was the Suzuki Hayabusa GSX 1300R superbike.

Auto snippets

MOST of us in the metros who have bought a new car in the last three years have been driving around much more environment-friendlier vehicles than in the past. Some of the credit for that drop in pollution levels goes to the slew of new cars with new engine and emission-control technologies that were launched after the opening up of the car market. Some of the credit also goes to the country's judiciary, which mandated a complete overhaul of the emission norms that were in place, leading to stringent control over vehicular pollution.

What this judicial intervention led to was the forming of new emission norms that all future passenger vehicles had to comply with. The Indian norms for both two- and four-wheelers were benchmarked against similar emission standards that exist in the developed world, and the most accepted emission standards that have been in existence in Europe.

The Euro standard, as it is commonly referred to, has already evolved into the fourth and fifth stages in terms of stringency and is either in force already or is set to be enforced in various countries. For example, the Euro IV equivalent emission norms are currently in force in Japan, which has been one of the countries at the forefront of the fight against vehicular emissions.

The Euro standard is the maximum allowable emission level prescribed for vehicles. We, in India, have adopted these standards (which go all the way from Euro I to IV currently) and have, in turn, formulated the Bharat Stage I and Bharat Stage II emission norms. Currently, all new vehicles sold in the metros have to comply with the Bharat Stage II emission norms and Euro III equivalent emission norms are set to be in force within the next two years.

The emission norms mandate the maximum permissible levels of the various constituents of the vehicle's exhaust such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulphur di-oxide and nitrogen oxides.

In addition to these, for diesel vehicles, particulate matter is also listed as one of the parameters for emission control. The emission norm for two-wheelers in India is one of the most stringent in the world, what with about 76 per cent of the total of 40 million vehicles on the road being two-wheelers.

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