Country’s biggest automotive show 2016 Auto Expo came to an end yesterday. The event offered the right platform for over 108 product launches and unveiling during the five days. The show, which was opened to public from February 5 till February 9, saw over 6 lakh auto enthusiasts making to the marquee event, falling short by about a lakh from what the organisers had expected. Some of the major product unveiling during the event included Maruti Suzuki's compact sports utility vehicle Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Motor India's upcoming premium sports utility vehicle Tucson and Honda Cars's seven seater BR-V.
Speaking more on the occasion to PTI, SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur said, "With over 108 new products being launched and unveiled and over 6, 01,914 footfalls received over the last one week, we believe this Expo will strengthen the belief of our manufacturers in the Indian automotive industry.” The exposition, which is jointly organised by - Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), expected over 7 lakh footfalls during the event.
To add glamour quotient to the show various Bollywood stars including Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, John Abraham, Aliya Bhatt, Anil Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee turned up for various events. The cricketing fraternity too had a fair share of representation in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Piyush Chawla and former cricket legend Mohinder Amarnath. Back in 2014, around 5.6 lakh people had visited the show. The Auto Expo 2016 had 65 manufacturers from across the globe exhibiting products. Some of the major participants would be Maruti Suzuki India, Mahindra, Hyundai Motor India, Honda Cars India, Tata Motors and Audi, among others.
New participants included Jeep, Polaris, and Italian motorcycle maker Benelli. Some companies have also given it a miss citing high costs and low returns on investments. These include Bajaj Auto, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), Royal Enfield and Harley Davidson. The first two days, exclusively for media, saw new investments, launches, concepts unveiled by global CEOs signifying further consolidation of the industry in 2016. The event gates were opened for general public from February 5.
