Auto Expo 2008

Well for those of you who dont know, Auto Expo - a biyearly Auto Show was organized in Delhi between 10-17th Jan. It is one of the biggest Auto shows of Asia and is very good.

I wanted to visit it this year but somehow was finding it not possible, then just on Thrusday I got a call from my Boss saying that instead of a collegue i was being nominated to go to the show !!! Thus I reached the show on Sunday morning after a tiring late night flight....

This year's biggest attraction at the show was the launch of the Tata Nano, the 1 Lakh ($ 2500) car. The car which is believed to change the way people in India travel, a real revolution. Plus there were the usual bells and whistles with the technology showcase by various companies.

After seeing the launch of the nano on the TV, i was real excited to check it out in flesh, and i should tell you, is that i came back impressed. Here was an amazingly cute car, something which was so affordable but still didnt actually feel cheap. Something which people could buy and ferry around their family in, instead of loading their scooters or bikes. I am sure this car will be real hit in the market, and if Tata can maintain reasonable quality in the product, then it can surely sell much more than the Maruti 800.... Here is the Car for the masses, and i am sure it can be sold in many countries like ours be a valuable proposition there.

Apart from the Nano there was not much memorable about the show, the rush seemed much more than my last visit in 2004, which made my passing more time with the cars really difficult. There were some nice cars like the Ferrari 430, Lamborghini Gallardo, plus F1 cars of Renault & Honda and some nice concept cars from GM, Hyundai & Honda. Another major attraction at the expo were the show girls, really pretty bimbettes whose only work there was to pose in their reveaing outfits and keep on circling their respective cars & bikes and pose endlessly for the visitors to click photographs to their heart's content.... Something i didnt enjoy much seeing the frustration on those female's faces !!!!

But overall it was an amazing experience, plus what added to my fun was that this was the first time i was going as an industry insider, as an employee of M&M, I went to many of our suppliers and was really delighted with the response I got, I was painstakingly explained for all the doubts I had, and I also got loads of information for products we could use in our future engines...

So I will now that hope I can visit Auto Expo 2010 too !!!