India's growing market focus for hungry carmakers at auto show

Jan 5, 2012, 11:28 GMT

New Delhi - The Indian Auto Expo opened in New Delhi Thursday with large participation from global carmakers aiming to drive up sales in Asia's third-largest economy.

As many as 1,500 participants from 24 countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain and Thailand were showcasing cars and products at the show, which was focussed on more environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient technologies.

The week-long exhibition kicked off with India's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, unveiling a compact sports utility vehicle, the XA Alpha.

'India is on course to become one of the top automobile economies of the world, powered by its middle class and continued government support,' Maruti Suzuki chief executive Shinzo Nakanishi said.

'We will launch new products and create new categories catering to the choice of the customers,' he said at the show, where rivals Ford Motor Co, Renault SA, Audi AG and BMW AG had ramped up their presence.

Competition is heavy in India, where more than 15 million vehicles are sold each year and which is the world's second-fastest growing automotive market after China.

After recording 26- and 30-per-cent growth in the past two years, sales were expected to be flat for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31.

The slump was mainly because of high interest rates and production costs, but industry experts said they expected sales to rebound because of sustained economic growth.

The New Dehli expo, which is among Asia's leading car shows, would see 10 launches of new models of cars, two-wheelers and trucks.

Ahead of the show, India's motorbike company Bajaj Auto Ltd launched a low-cost small car, the RE60, to challenge Tata's Nano, the world's cheapest car.

Maruti was expected to launch the Ertiga van, and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group said it would showcase its own Hexa Space van and a three-door utility coupe, Veloster.