Companies to stress on hybrid vehicles at Auto Expo 2016

With India’s biggest Auto Expo-2016 set to be held between February 5-9, companies are gearing up for showcasing electric and hybrid vehicles to be launched in coming years.

The biennial event, which will be held at Greater Noida, is jointly organised by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Taking cue from the call given by the government, both domestic and foreign automobile manufacturers are competing each other to showcase their futuristic environment friendly vehicles in the show, which will be opened for media from  February 3.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari earlier said that the government will not only encourage green vehicles but also announce incentives to firms which produce such products. The Minister also called for companies to produce more hybrid vehicles which will run bio-diesel, electric or battery.

This year's show is expected to witness 80 new launches by leading auto makers including Tata Motors, Toyota, Maruti Suzuki India and Volkswagen. Besides 58 manufacturers, the event will also witness seven exclusive international pavilions from China, Canada, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the UK.

Global auto giants including BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Mercedes are set to showcase their new models,  targeting luxury car buyers, while domestic auto makers like Maruti  and Tata Motors are expected to launch its new family sedans targeting middle class buyers.
Interestingly some of the auto makers including like Bajaj auto are not participating saying it is too expensive.

“To participate in such event it takes around Rs 10-15 crore to make those concepts and the poor R&D department is spending half their time creating these concepts. There are some big car companies who have big money, they can do it. We are a small company. So to spend such amount is not affordable for us,” Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj told reporters here.

However company’s rivals Hero MotoCorp, TVS, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, Yamaha are all participating in the Delhi Auto Expo.