The Delhi Auto Expo to be held from January 5th to 11th is drawing near and all the OEMs are gearing up to showcase what they have and to woo the visitors to their stalls. This time, SUVs are going to dominate the Auto Expo with almost every manufacturer to showcase or more SUVs at their stable to attract customers. Among them some will be unveiled for the first time in the Indian market while others will be face-lifted models of the existing ones. New debuts include Ford’s baby SUV, the EcoSport, Renault’s Duster and the Audi Q3. Also Maruti Suzuki is going to showcase their concept SUV at the show while Mahindra will be displaying the Rexton and the Korando from the Mahindra-owned Ssangyong brand.
Other demonstrations will include the facelift of the Tata safari supposedly to be called Merlin/ Storm, the all new Mercedes M class, the Toyota Fortuner facelift, Chevrolet Captiva and the facelift of the recently launched Force One from Force Motors. It may seem quite baffling to many how SUVs could be in so demand in a country like India that is so price sensitive. But the auto analysts and industry people are reasoning it out saying that the SUVs have grown in India in terms of the aspirational value as more and more people are getting inclined towards buying SUVs.
“Better road connectivity between cities has been among the reasons fuelling the growth. Also, people want bigger cars as they travel from one city to the other with families,” Debasish Mitra, director (sales and marketing), Mercedes Benz India, said.
The auto companies are trying to capitalize on this recent shift in demand in every way possible. While Ford is very tight lipped about its EcoSport, Renault is surely planning to kick some dirt with the Duster with a killer pricing of around Rs. 8 lakhs. Audi is introducing its baby SUV, the Q3 that is going to take on the BMW X1 directly while Mercedes is also planning the M series. Mahindra on the other hand, is hoping it can write another success story with its Ssangyong Rexton and the Korando as it already did with the Scorpio and the XUV500. The year 2012 is definitely going to witness some serious battle in the SUV segment starting with the 2012 Auto Expo.
