 |
 |
| Kareena Kapoor at the launch of designer Dilip Chhabria’s car Tia; Priyanka Chopra poses on the Jaguar Land Rover’s Range Rover LWB during its unveiling |
The once-in-two years mega show of wheels in India was due this year. As I planned my annual holiday, I thought I would probably be giving it a miss since I had decided to be in warmer climes during the harsh winter days, a decision prompted by my arthritic bones. But that was not to be. There is this strange pull between me and the wheels. I thought it just worked one-way.
The 12th Auto Expo 2014 was scheduled in the more hospitable month of February in Delhi and the venue too had been shifted from the forever clogged Pragati Maidan to the back of beyond, India Expo Mart in Greater Noida. This was done ostensibly to avoid traffic snarls and perhaps lessen the maddening crowd. But on both counts, the move had failed. By the time I left the venue in the dying hours of the last press day on February 6, the footfall to the 12th Auto Expo 2014 had already risen to 60,000. Of course, the Kareena Kapoors and Priyanka Chopras do help push ’em up.
 |
| Audi unveiled the next big Audi, the A3 sedan, with Ravi Shastri and Ileana D’Cruz in attendance |
The curtain-raiser
The auto industry has been in recession over the last couple of years and has shown little signs of recovery, but there was no dearth of enthusiasm either on the part of the consumer or the manufacturer or the organiser. The show began even before the expo with companies lining up their launches in Delhi two days ahead.
On Monday, February 3, Ford, buoyed by the success of its compact SUV, EcoSport, one of the few vehicles that made an impact on the Indian market in 2013, tried its luck further in the compact segment by launching the Ford Figo Concept, a precursor to the compact sedan that the company may bring to Indian shores.
“B-segment is where the action is, with 3 million cars selling in this segment alone,” said Ford India president Nigel Harris. “With families, young couples and singles looking for their first vehicle, the interest in sub-4 metres compact cars is growing. These buyers demand greater fuel efficiency and low cost of ownership. What they might not expect is sophistication, a host of features, design etc, which we have all put together in this Concept,” said Harris who promised the car in less than two-and-a-half years.
On Tuesday, February 4, Hyundai showed off its compact sedan, Xcent, that will replace the first sedan from the Korean auto maker, the Accent. “Accent was introduced at the beginning of the Hyundai journey in India. It was a very successful product, selling 4 lakh units. With it, we made a strong statement in the sedan segment. We discontinued it in June 2013. We now want to build on its brand equity and so our new compact sedan has been named Xcent for the youth,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president, marketing and sales.
 |
| The talk of the expo was the Datsun Go — Datsun being a cheap and affordable brand from Nissan |
First day first show
The first of the press days was kicked off, as according to tradition, by Maruti Suzuki India. They unveiled their Concept Ciaz and SX4 S-Cross while still keeping the wraps on its new small car, the Celerio.
My next stop was the Renault hall which showed off the quirkiest Concept in the expo this year, the KWID. For the first time in its history, Renault has showcased an all-new international concept outside of Europe. Called the KWID, another in a long line of unusual names, it stands for “What” in Latin. The Concept comes with a drone that helps the driver navigate congested stretches and also find parking slots!
The newsmakers
The newsmakers at the expo this year were the Fiat and Datsun brands. While Fiat has been around for a while in the country, it has made absolutely no progress though it made the best-looking cars. This was largely because of its policy of sharing dealerships with Tata Motors. However, it seems to have got its act straight. The company announced its go-alone policy late last year and has built up a sizeable dealership network. The next thing to do was to bring its global products to India. On that count, it showed promise at the expo by showcasing the Fiat Avventura, again a Concept, with a global debut in India. The Avventura is what they call a CUV, Contemporary Urban Vehicle, that is really aimed at people with an active lifestyle, living in urban areas. Fiat is also bringing its Abarth brand to India, a brand with a racing lineage. It showed the Abarth 500, its flagship Abarth model, and also a facelifted Linea. Way to go, Fiat!
Apart from the Maruti Celerio, the other small car that was the talk of the expo, was the Datsun Go. Datsun is a cheap and affordable brand from Nissan that will concentrate on high growth markets in India. The Datsun Go is the first model from its stable. Next up will be the Go Plus, an estate version of the Go. And the redi-GO Concept was showcased to assess reactions.
 |
| Renault showed off the quirkiest Concept in the expo this year — the KWID. It comes with a drone that helps the driver navigate congested stretches and also find parking slots! |
The luxury slugfest
The bling of the 12th Auto Expo started from 4.40pm as the three Geman luxury marques held their press shows one after the other. Mercedes, in its 20th year in India, revealed its 2020 Mercedes-Benz gameplan with its super performance vehicle, the CLA 45 AMG. The CLA is the compact sedan, powered by an AMG engine. It also drove in the M-Guard SUV, that will offer special protection to exclusive customers. And finally, it teased the crowd showcasing the European version of the GLA, brought straight from its factory at Stuttgart. The GLA is a compact SUV that hopes to help Merc regain its number one position in the luxury segment after being outnumbered by first BMW and then Audi. However, in 2013, it has posted an outstanding 32 per cent growth clocking 9,000-plus units, prompting Ola Kallenius, member of the divisional board, Mercedes-Benz Cars, responsible for marketing and sales, to declare that “India will be among the top 10 markets for Mercedes- Benz by 2020”. Wow!
Audi, the current market leader, showed off the Audi Sport quattro Concept along with unveiling the next big Audi, the A3 sedan, and the Audi R18 e-tron quattro to celebrate Audi’s success in motorsports.
BMW and Mini rang down the curtains with the BMW M6 Gran Coupe, the BMW X5 and the new 3 series Gran Turismo which will be available in the Indian market from March at Rs 42.75 lakh.
The M factor
The big show on the second press day was Maruti’s launch of the Celerio, a small car that will replace the A-Star and the Zen Estilo in the Maruti stable. The Japanese major wowed with what it called the “EZ drive”, an affordable auto gear shift.
Day 2 was marked by Mahindra’s launch of its electric vehicle, Tata Motors’ collaboration with Samsung to bring in smartphone technology in its cars and a host of commercial vehicle launches.
As the industry gets into the third year of recession, auto majors are getting more and more cagey about bringing in their cars. But they are yet to write off the Indian market as Europe and America continue to reel. The interest in the Indian market is underlined by the number of global debuts of Concept cars.
