By IANS
New Delhi : Auto Expo 2008, touted as the biggest ever automobile show in Asia, opens to the public Thursday at the capital’s sprawling Pargati Maidan exhibition grounds.
Spread over an area of over 120,000 sq metres, the eight-day 9th Auto Expo will see participation from 27 countries the world over with all the major automobile companies making their presence felt.
The expo is being organised by the Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
The spotlight will be on the $2,500 car by Tata Motors to be unveiled Friday.
Many new cars would be unveiled at the show, which include models from the stables of Suzuki, Honda and Fiat.
While Suzuki showcased its A-Star concept car and Splash compact car in a preview Wednesday, Fiat will be displaying the Grande Punto compact Friday.
Czech carmaker Skoda will display the Fabia, while Japanese car major Honda will unveil its new compact Jazz that will be rolled out in India from its upcoming plant in Rajasthan.
Other carmakers like General Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Volkswagen and Hyundai also will be displaying their new cars.
US-based auto major General Motors will be unveiling its sports utility vehicle Chevrolet Captiva.
Three hundred Chinese and 100 Taiwanese automobile component makers are displaying their products at the Auto Expo the year. The 1,350 Indian component manufacturers at the Expo are sure to feel the heat of the Chinese juggernaut this time round.
One of India’s most famous car design guru, Dilip Chhabria, is also set to rock the expo with two of his really wild creations.
Among his most prestigious designs was the car for James Bond in “Die Another Day”. Chhabria also made headlines when he came up with a prototype of the Aston Martin AMV8 in 2003.
Over 70 German companies will be participating in the expo this year. In fact, this year will see the largest participation ever from Germany, encompassing seven halls.
All the leading vehicle manufacturers of Germany including Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Skoda and Volkswagen are part of the German participation.
Similarly, Germany’s leading component manufacturers such as Bayer, Emitec, EDAG, Hella, Liqui Moly, Mahle, Mann and Hummel, Osram, and Schaeffler and ZF Friedrichshafen will be seen at the expo.