The 11th edition of the Delhi Auto Expo is almost over and all the new cars have been revealed. The expo attracted hundreds of thousands of people and had cars and girls galore. Many of the manufacturers launched new cars but they were mostly a let down with the exception of a few stars shining brightly here and there. This was because most of the cars launched were similar to those already existing in the market but with a few minor refreshments thrown in here and there. The cars that are worth a mention were mainly either concepts or high end luxury automobiles. Even the motorbike manufacturers failed to deliver except for the new entry by British manufacturer Triumph.
Audi showcased their European mini compact SUV seller, the Q3, which got a lot of attention from the media. Unfortunately it is not even remotely close to being an exciting car, especially given its price tag. In the compact SUV segment, the stars were the Renault Duster which will be priced at around 8 lakhs and Ford’s almost ready EcoSport, which will also be available very soon and costs less than 10 lakhs. Now that is great news, considering that both of these cars look much better than the pricey Audi Q3.
In the small car segment there was nothing special to look at. Honda’s Brio we have already seen, and the same goes for the Nissan Micra, Toyota Etios and Maruti Swift. The only new car entry was the Pulse from Renault which is basically a Micra. The most exciting launch of the entire expo was most notably the Mini from BMW and was the most favored by the crowd. However, even though the Mini brand has a cult following, we still doubt it will get gain much ground in the Indian market due to the high prices.
While the production cars didn’t have much to show, the concept cars showcased did save the day for most OEMs. BMW, along with its fabulous M5, showcased the super sexy connected Drive concept car which had all eyes fixated on its topless grey metallic body. Another showstopper came from the Americans in the avatar of the deadly and sinister Corvette Stingray Concept which is our personal favorite car of the entire show. Other honorable mentions go to the VW XL1 concept, Suzuki’s XA Alpha concept and Jaguar’s lustful C-X16 concept. While these cars were the best to look at, it was still the launch of Bajaj’s small car that was the talk of the town, but we won’t even mention it because it features only a 200 cc engine and looks like a fully covered auto rickshaw.
To sum it up, we could say that the Auto Expo 2012 was a complete let down and the main reason would be the chaos and the maddening crowds. The show was unbearable for those that actually came to see the cars and not the scantily dressed women. Most of the brands let us down and we hope they step their game up soon! India deserves better.
