Auto Expo returns after three years; some prominent companies to skip event

Indias flagship motor show Auto Expo returns this week after three years having been hit by the pandemic albeit some of the major manufacturers staying away from the eventThe likes of Maruti Suzuki Hyundai Tata Motors Kia India Toyota Kirloskar and MG Motor India will lead the traditional automakers at the show at Greater Noida that will witness five global launches and 75 product launches and unveilsYet others such as Mahindra amp Mahindra Skoda Volkswagen and Nissan along with luxury car makers like MercedesBenz BMW and Audi will be conspicuous by their absence in the biennial show that was originally scheduled to be held in 2022 but was postponed to this year due to Covid19Also the visibility of main twowheeler makers such as Hero MotoCorp Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Co will be restricted to their displays of flex fuel prototype vehicles at the Ethanol pavilionNevertheless this edition of the Auto Expo which kicks off with press days on January 1112 followed by general public days from January 1318 2023 will see a much larger participation of newer startup players specially in the electric vehicles segmentAlso Read Auto Expo 2023 Localising electronics for Indian market is a key motivation for the showThere is a larger number of overall industry participants compared to the earlier edition in 2020 with around 80 industry stakeholders participating at the Motor Show including 46 vehicle manufacturers an official of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers SIAM saidKeeping in tune with the industry trend of electrification the official said there will be a much larger participation of newer startup players who are manufacturing vehicles most of them producing only electric vehicles ranging from two and threewheelers to passenger and commercial electric vehiclesWhile SIAM did not comment on the reason for some of the main manufacturers staying away from the event those who are giving it a miss pointed out the relevance of the showI think we have been participating for many years Now when we see the relevance for luxury brands like ours we see that a bit less from the kind of consumers who come in there or prospects So thats a reason we decided not to participate this time and look into other means to engage with customers MercedesBenz India Managing Director amp CEO Santosh Iyer told PTIHe further said So for us we want to invest more on customer experiences and not on the motor show platform which is more generic in natureSimilarly KODA AUTO India Brand Director Petrolc said the company took an internal decision to focus on its own timeline for product introductions in India while deciding to stay away from the showIn the past some of the automobile manufacturers had raised issues related to the distance of the venue and the high cost of participationOther manufacturers which are participating in the show are Ashok Leyland Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles JBM Auto SML Isuzu Cummins Benelli Keeway and Sun MobilityIn the pure EV segment there will be BYD India Vayve Mobility Pravaig Dynamics in the passenger vehicles segment while in the electric two and threewheelers segment Greaves Cotton Tork Motors Wardwizard Innovations Motovolt Mobility and LML will be seen displaying their productsAccording to SIAM this years auto expo will have a special focus on ethanol power trains for vehicles with a separate pavilion showcasing technological developments in the overall Ethanol value chainSome vehicle manufacturers including TVS Hero MotoCorp Bajaj Auto Honda Motorcycle Yamaha and Suzuki motorcycle in twowheelers and Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Kirloskar Motor in passenger vehicles would also display their working prototype of flex fuel vehicles These vehicles can take a range of ethanol blends varying from 2085 per cent the SIAM official saidWith clean technology becoming the focus manufacturers will be displaying developments on various power train options ranging from biofuels like ethanol gaseous fuels like CNG and LNG electrification technologies including EV and hybrid and hydrogen at their respective pavilions the SIAM official addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever