8th Auto Expo 2008 (Share your experience)

madhukar_n · 12th January 2008, 22:26

hey bhishma(greatDrive)
i hope everything's ok with u.. we told u not to go to gurgaon and stay back in good old bangalore.

anyway let know of your experience of cars if not the mess in the expo.

NeedaUsername · 13th January 2008, 00:35

Planning to visit the Auto Expo on Monday. At what time does the Expo open? And are there separate business visitors hours on weekdays too?

khanak · 13th January 2008, 01:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979

NIGHTMARE. Thats all I can say.

Have to agree with you there. I didnt go for this years expo but went for the previous expo and the place was so crowded that I dropped my brand new cellphone because someone pushed me. Needless to say I was heartbroken to find a big fat dent on it.

Most people were jsut having a good time and werent really there for the cars. But then again I guess its important for more people to experience the Expo and get exposed to new models.

greatDrive · 13th January 2008, 13:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by madhukar_n

hey bhishma(greatDrive)
i hope everything's ok with u.. we told u not to go to gurgaon and stay back in good old bangalore.

anyway let know of your experience of cars if not the mess in the expo.

Well There are goods and bad about both places, I love the wide roads here in Gurgaon

Experience of Auto Expo was bad except for seeing some good concept cars. Have some pictures which I will mail you later.

Keep in touch.
GD

toofast · 13th January 2008, 19:51

Dunno whether its the correct thread for it but here goes:

Well guys, I could not get myself registered online (dont ask me why

) and so I dont have a mail to get in during business hours. I have heard that you can present a visiting card with the registration form and they will give you a free pass.

Problem is, I dont have a registration form. How and where can I get one??

Eddy · 14th January 2008, 00:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by toofast

Well guys, I could not get myself registered online (dont ask me why

) and so I dont have a mail to get in during business hours. I have heard that you can present a visiting card with the registration form and they will give you a free pass.

The mail has landed in the junk folder. Check that. It should be there.

maverickzCar · 14th January 2008, 15:44

Can i get a business pass at this stage? I was trying online, but as expected, visitor registration is closed and the webpage says we can get tickets on site. Can anyone confirm if I will be able to get a pass for Business hours there at pragati maidan? And if yes, what all i need to carry to get that??

katalysm76 · 14th January 2008, 17:33

It’s been a mad two days for me, but I’d like to believe it was all worth it. Business meetings went off alright, but more importantly, I got entry to the Auto Expo!

There were some great concepts, some not so great concepts and some very cool bikes.
What’s the word on the Skoda Fabia?

It looked really good. I wanted to take a few interior shots, but unfortunately I didn’t look like a photojournalist to get any importance from the manufacturers.

But Skoda looked a bit mellow on the first day. I think they never build any hype around the car and let the cars speak for themselves. In that case, the cars speak eloquently.
Next on my list was Volvo. I was obviously drawn to the SUV’s all over the place. And the new Volvo XC 90 was quite tempting.

The XC 90 comes with two engines – a V8 petrol and a diesel. It’s not that sport looking [like the Cayenne] but it’s supposed to be a good performer. It doesn’t claim to be a thoroughbred off-roader, but rather a soft roader and a comfortable family SUV. And it’s comparatively cheaper.

Rs 47 lakh – diesel
Rs 54.5 lakh – V8 petrol

Volvo’s also come out with a new S80 Executive which looks quite sweet. It’s got a lovely sleek look. In Fact, I happened to see an old Volvo S60 in Delhi [some consulate car] and it still maintained an appealing style.

My favourite was the red convertible C70. They should definitely launch this one in India. Not that I’d be able to afford it, but it would be nice to look at instead of that ghastly San Storm!

The Audi stall wasn’t that great, honestly. Except for the launch of the new A4. Personally, I’m not that fond of Audi. I don’t like that big grille and honestly, the design isn’t that great. My sincere apologies to those die-hard Audi people, but between a Q7 and a Range Rover, I’d take the Range Rover. Is that bad? Don’t hit me!

Actually, so far the only one that I’d be able to afford is the Sumo Grande. So don’t fret, no Range Rover or Q7 for me for the next three generations of Kumars.

But, no sweat! There’s always the One Lakh car for every Kumar!

I saw the new Chevrolet Captiva. Nice headlamps, an altogether good macho look. It looks somewhat like the CR-V from the side. I’d actually like a test drive of this machine.
It would be a good option from the Tuscon – Endeavour list. What do you think?

Also, I took a look at the Sonalika. It’s quite neat. Profile is nice, but the front is quite silly. It looks like some cartoon network character.

But the Sumo Grande is still on top of my practical ‘I can do it!’ list. What are my options? Not many I believe.

Next up… my news on the Mitsubishi Montero, The Hyundai Santa Fe and a personal favourite – the Mitsubishi Evo!

katalysm76 · 14th January 2008, 21:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by khanak

Have to agree with you there. I didnt go for this years expo but went for the previous expo and the place was so crowded that I dropped my brand new cellphone because someone pushed me. Needless to say I was heartbroken to find a big fat dent on it.

Most people were jsut having a good time and werent really there for the cars. But then again I guess its important for more people to experience the Expo and get exposed to new models.

Ya the Expo tends to get really crowded.... Imagine 1 lac people for just the Nano stall...
Anyway I was lucky enough to go on the first day when the show was open only to the press....

There was so much to see that I figured I should put up a blog to cover all the action and make it an easy read... If you want you can check it out at Talking About Torque
Let me know what you think, Im open to suggestions...

narayan · 18th January 2008, 11:13

The plan originally was to go to the expo on jan 11th and then carry on to the meet in the evening...what with famous members from all over the country (including lawrence of chennai) being a part of this great all india meet...

but various personal reasons meant i could not make it that day and the weekend- finally decided to take a days off on wednesday and headed for the autoexpo - armed with the last visiting card i had in my holder and a page from the latest top gear magazine which had a business visitor registration form...

wednesday morning woke up by 8:00 am - dropped my son at play school and headed straight to what i was thinking is going to be my "play school" for the rest of the day !!

reached CP - parked my car at the palika underground parking - had a hot cuppa tea at a nearby stall and took the metro to pragati maidan...

i could feel my pulse raising slowly as i walked from the station to the venue...reached gate # 5 and there was this huge crowd of people jostling for space to get those free business passes...i was just praying i could get through with my last crumpled dirty visiting card...the guys manning the counters were really courteous...got my pass within a few minutes and headed straight to the entrance...

walking through the central walkway - i was totally confused where to head first...!! on one side the anxiety to be able to cover the entire expo on that day and on the other side i wanted to start off somewher...

finally headed straight to the TATA - hall bcos i wanted to start the day with the TATA - NANO

TATA STALL
- very well laid out - no jazzy stuff - a simple stage where the NANO found its proud place of display with eager onlookers fascinated by this micro mini!! - i felt a surge of patriotism going through my blood and with my chest all pumped up - checked out the XENON, and the NEW INDICA and a TATA truck that was parked nearby..
- the stall also did not have any babes - maybe that was intentional so that the NANO gets all the attention !!

i think the display of the NANO and the above TATA truck closeby speaks volumes about the bandwith of TATA's engineering skills !!

up next..

narayan · 18th January 2008, 11:16

FIAT STALL
- this was right next to the TATA one -
- again neatly laid out
- simply loved the linea and the grand punto !! - amazing design and the babes were pretty good - they infact looked like italian imports !!
- if the linea is launched at under 7.5 lakhs - thats going to be my next car
- the fiat 500 was also really cute...

it was time to leave this hall and headed out and reached the HALL where SKODA cars were lined up...

SKODA STALL
- cars were absolutely boring
- FABIA was a BIG disappointment - i mean - i was expecting much more space from a 7.5 lakh hatch back !! am not sure whether ppl are going to buy this one..
- models were awesome - looked like typicaly eastern european ladies...

narayan · 18th January 2008, 11:22

BMW STALL
- well laid out and was pretty crowded too
- the stall managers were selectively letting in only people who "looked" like they were likely customers to inspect the cars from close quarters.
- there was this gentleman who was asking aloud standing in front of the M3 - " ARRE YEH KOUNSA GAADI HAI ?"..

ME - " SIR THIS IS THE BMW M3- ITS A SPORTS CAR BASED ON THE 3 SERIES "

HIM - " HAAN - I NOTICED - IT LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE 3 SERIES - KITNE KA HAI "

ME - " SIR I THNK THIS SHOULD BE AROUND 60 -7- LAKHS ON ROAD "

HIM - " WHAT ??? WHY WILL I BUY THIS - I WILL PREFER THE 3 SERIES"

ME - " SIR - THIS PUTS OUT MORE THAN 400HP - SPORTS CAR - 2 SEATER BLAH BLAH BLAH "

HIM - " NO BUT STILL LOOKS SAME AS 3 SERIES AND THE 3 SERIES IS JUST 30 LAKHS "

i gave up and moved on !!

benbsb29 · 18th January 2008, 11:29

Narayan, keep the posts coming.
Nice to read about the expo from another TBHPians perspective.

narayan · 18th January 2008, 11:34

YAMAHA STALL
- amazing display area, fantastic music
- YAMAHA also did a wonderful job of putting the RD350 bang at the beginning of the stall - what better tribute to this legend
- i did not spend much time with the other bikes at the stall and headed straight to the ROSSI RACE REPLICA..
- amazing bike - so compact , low and mean...took a close up snap of the "the doctor" sticker and moved on...

checked out the TVS stall - it was pretty good with the spruced up RTRs, THE NEW FLAME and there was also some concept bike ( dont remember which one ) - no photos clicked here..

i then intentionally avoided the HERO HONDA stall bcos i wasnt expecting much over there...

on the way out - i checked out YOKOHAMA stall and checked out arushbhai's spruced up mitsubishi gto- cool car...

SUZUKI BIKES
went there purely to check out the "ugly" buffalo - the new hayabusa///
one of the stall managers helped me with a photo of the rear end.. rear looks very similar to the front actually !

shall post the rest of my first autoexpo experience shortly....

redrage · 18th January 2008, 13:08

I was there at the hyper performance motorsports, I told the guy there that i have a remus exhaust for my esteem and i need some info on the centre pipe, He said wait a minute nad got a huge exhaust and asked me whether i had heard about them and went on for ten minutes. I tried explaining to him that i already have a fabricated header and end can from remus,I wanted some information on the centre pipe as i was running on stock one and wanted to know if they had some info. He says wait a minute and goes back and gets a stainlesssteel wierd header and tells have i heard about their products?their headers can be used with any engine irrespective of the dispacement and goes on and on shouting high about their products. I just walked out.

12th January 2008, 22:26	#16
madhukar_n BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 395 Thanked: 179 Times	hey bhishma(greatDrive) i hope everything's ok with u.. we told u not to go to gurgaon and stay back in good old bangalore. anyway let know of your experience of cars if not the mess in the expo.
	() Thanks

13th January 2008, 00:35	#17
NeedaUsername BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Pune Posts: 134 Thanked: 26 Times	Planning to visit the Auto Expo on Monday. At what time does the Expo open? And are there separate business visitors hours on weekdays too?
	() Thanks

13th January 2008, 19:51	#20
toofast Newbie Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 2 Thanked: 0 Times	How do I get in?? Dunno whether its the correct thread for it but here goes: Well guys, I could not get myself registered online (dont ask me why ) and so I dont have a mail to get in during business hours. I have heard that you can present a visiting card with the registration form and they will give you a free pass. Problem is, I dont have a registration form. How and where can I get one??
	() Thanks

14th January 2008, 15:44	#22
maverickzCar BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Noida Posts: 55 Thanked: 3 Times	Can i get a business pass at this stage? I was trying online, but as expected, visitor registration is closed and the webpage says we can get tickets on site. Can anyone confirm if I will be able to get a pass for Business hours there at pragati maidan? And if yes, what all i need to carry to get that??
	() Thanks

14th January 2008, 17:33	#23
katalysm76 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bombay Posts: 120 Thanked: 2 Times	My take on the Auto Expo It’s been a mad two days for me, but I’d like to believe it was all worth it. Business meetings went off alright, but more importantly, I got entry to the Auto Expo! There were some great concepts, some not so great concepts and some very cool bikes. What’s the word on the Skoda Fabia? It looked really good. I wanted to take a few interior shots, but unfortunately I didn’t look like a photojournalist to get any importance from the manufacturers. But Skoda looked a bit mellow on the first day. I think they never build any hype around the car and let the cars speak for themselves. In that case, the cars speak eloquently. Next on my list was Volvo. I was obviously drawn to the SUV’s all over the place. And the new Volvo XC 90 was quite tempting. The XC 90 comes with two engines – a V8 petrol and a diesel. It’s not that sport looking [like the Cayenne] but it’s supposed to be a good performer. It doesn’t claim to be a thoroughbred off-roader, but rather a soft roader and a comfortable family SUV. And it’s comparatively cheaper. Rs 47 lakh – diesel Rs 54.5 lakh – V8 petrol Volvo’s also come out with a new S80 Executive which looks quite sweet. It’s got a lovely sleek look. In Fact, I happened to see an old Volvo S60 in Delhi [some consulate car] and it still maintained an appealing style. My favourite was the red convertible C70. They should definitely launch this one in India. Not that I’d be able to afford it, but it would be nice to look at instead of that ghastly San Storm! The Audi stall wasn’t that great, honestly. Except for the launch of the new A4. Personally, I’m not that fond of Audi. I don’t like that big grille and honestly, the design isn’t that great. My sincere apologies to those die-hard Audi people, but between a Q7 and a Range Rover, I’d take the Range Rover. Is that bad? Don’t hit me! Actually, so far the only one that I’d be able to afford is the Sumo Grande. So don’t fret, no Range Rover or Q7 for me for the next three generations of Kumars. But, no sweat! There’s always the One Lakh car for every Kumar! I saw the new Chevrolet Captiva. Nice headlamps, an altogether good macho look. It looks somewhat like the CR-V from the side. I’d actually like a test drive of this machine. It would be a good option from the Tuscon – Endeavour list. What do you think? Also, I took a look at the Sonalika. It’s quite neat. Profile is nice, but the front is quite silly. It looks like some cartoon network character. But the Sumo Grande is still on top of my practical ‘I can do it!’ list. What are my options? Not many I believe. Next up… my news on the Mitsubishi Montero, The Hyundai Santa Fe and a personal favourite – the Mitsubishi Evo!
	() Thanks

18th January 2008, 11:13	#25
narayan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 3,114 Thanked: 2,372 Times View My Garage	Frustrated T-BHPian finally makes it to the auto expo The plan originally was to go to the expo on jan 11th and then carry on to the meet in the evening...what with famous members from all over the country (including lawrence of chennai) being a part of this great all india meet... but various personal reasons meant i could not make it that day and the weekend- finally decided to take a days off on wednesday and headed for the autoexpo - armed with the last visiting card i had in my holder and a page from the latest top gear magazine which had a business visitor registration form... wednesday morning woke up by 8:00 am - dropped my son at play school and headed straight to what i was thinking is going to be my "play school" for the rest of the day !! reached CP - parked my car at the palika underground parking - had a hot cuppa tea at a nearby stall and took the metro to pragati maidan... i could feel my pulse raising slowly as i walked from the station to the venue...reached gate # 5 and there was this huge crowd of people jostling for space to get those free business passes...i was just praying i could get through with my last crumpled dirty visiting card...the guys manning the counters were really courteous...got my pass within a few minutes and headed straight to the entrance... walking through the central walkway - i was totally confused where to head first...!! on one side the anxiety to be able to cover the entire expo on that day and on the other side i wanted to start off somewher... finally headed straight to the TATA - hall bcos i wanted to start the day with the TATA - NANO TATA STALL - very well laid out - no jazzy stuff - a simple stage where the NANO found its proud place of display with eager onlookers fascinated by this micro mini!! - i felt a surge of patriotism going through my blood and with my chest all pumped up - checked out the XENON, and the NEW INDICA and a TATA truck that was parked nearby.. - the stall also did not have any babes - maybe that was intentional so that the NANO gets all the attention !! i think the display of the NANO and the above TATA truck closeby speaks volumes about the bandwith of TATA's engineering skills !! up next..
	() Thanks

18th January 2008, 11:16	#26
narayan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 3,114 Thanked: 2,372 Times View My Garage	FIAT STALL - this was right next to the TATA one - - again neatly laid out - simply loved the linea and the grand punto !! - amazing design and the babes were pretty good - they infact looked like italian imports !! - if the linea is launched at under 7.5 lakhs - thats going to be my next car - the fiat 500 was also really cute... it was time to leave this hall and headed out and reached the HALL where SKODA cars were lined up... SKODA STALL - cars were absolutely boring - FABIA was a BIG disappointment - i mean - i was expecting much more space from a 7.5 lakh hatch back !! am not sure whether ppl are going to buy this one.. - models were awesome - looked like typicaly eastern european ladies...
	() Thanks

18th January 2008, 11:22	#27
narayan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 3,114 Thanked: 2,372 Times View My Garage	BMW STALL - well laid out and was pretty crowded too - the stall managers were selectively letting in only people who "looked" like they were likely customers to inspect the cars from close quarters. - there was this gentleman who was asking aloud standing in front of the M3 - " ARRE YEH KOUNSA GAADI HAI ?".. ME - " SIR THIS IS THE BMW M3- ITS A SPORTS CAR BASED ON THE 3 SERIES " HIM - " HAAN - I NOTICED - IT LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE 3 SERIES - KITNE KA HAI " ME - " SIR I THNK THIS SHOULD BE AROUND 60 -7- LAKHS ON ROAD " HIM - " WHAT ??? WHY WILL I BUY THIS - I WILL PREFER THE 3 SERIES" ME - " SIR - THIS PUTS OUT MORE THAN 400HP - SPORTS CAR - 2 SEATER BLAH BLAH BLAH " HIM - " NO BUT STILL LOOKS SAME AS 3 SERIES AND THE 3 SERIES IS JUST 30 LAKHS " i gave up and moved on !!
	() Thanks

18th January 2008, 11:29	#28
benbsb29 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 9,968 Thanked: 13,209 Times View My Garage	Narayan, keep the posts coming. Nice to read about the expo from another TBHPians perspective.
	() Thanks

18th January 2008, 11:34	#29
narayan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 3,114 Thanked: 2,372 Times View My Garage	YAMAHA STALL - amazing display area, fantastic music - YAMAHA also did a wonderful job of putting the RD350 bang at the beginning of the stall - what better tribute to this legend - i did not spend much time with the other bikes at the stall and headed straight to the ROSSI RACE REPLICA.. - amazing bike - so compact , low and mean...took a close up snap of the "the doctor" sticker and moved on... checked out the TVS stall - it was pretty good with the spruced up RTRs, THE NEW FLAME and there was also some concept bike ( dont remember which one ) - no photos clicked here.. i then intentionally avoided the HERO HONDA stall bcos i wasnt expecting much over there... on the way out - i checked out YOKOHAMA stall and checked out arushbhai's spruced up mitsubishi gto- cool car... SUZUKI BIKES went there purely to check out the "ugly" buffalo - the new hayabusa/// one of the stall managers helped me with a photo of the rear end.. rear looks very similar to the front actually ! shall post the rest of my first autoexpo experience shortly....
	() Thanks

18th January 2008, 13:08	#30
redrage BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 553 Thanked: 106 Times	I was there at the hyper performance motorsports, I told the guy there that i have a remus exhaust for my esteem and i need some info on the centre pipe, He said wait a minute nad got a huge exhaust and asked me whether i had heard about them and went on for ten minutes. I tried explaining to him that i already have a fabricated header and end can from remus,I wanted some information on the centre pipe as i was running on stock one and wanted to know if they had some info. He says wait a minute and goes back and gets a stainlesssteel wierd header and tells have i heard about their products?their headers can be used with any engine irrespective of the dispacement and goes on and on shouting high about their products. I just walked out.
	() Thanks