The fourth edition of Auto Fair, an exhibition which features 150 stalls with national and international automobile majors, major spare parts and lubricants companies taking part, was inaugurated here on Friday by Joint Managing Director of T.V.S. and Sons, R. Dinesh.
Organised by the Tamilnad Motor Parts Dealer's Association, the main objective of the fair was to showcase the evolution of the auto industry in the country.
Towards this, the expo has brought vintage cars dating back to the 1930s and also some of the latest car models. One of the vintage cars on display included the vehicle that carried Mahatma Gandhi during his visit to Madurai, said Joint Secretary of the association, Vivek Chidambaram.
Among the stall occupants, 100 were from spare parts companies with ten multinational lubricants companies also taking part. Several major car, trucks and tractor companies have brought in their vehicles to the expo for demonstration, he added.
Addressing the inaugural function, Mr. Dinesh said that the expo would go a long way in promoting the sector.
U.K. Bhaskaran Nair, President, Federation of All India Automobile Spare Parts Dealers' Association (FAIASPDA), New Delhi, said that several major reputed manufacturing companies were taking part in the expo. R. Saravana Kumar, Regional Sales Manager (South), Castrol India, said that the expo was being held at an appropriate time as auto spare parts sector was expected to increase from the present Rs. 20,000 crore to Rs. 40,000 crore.
While India's manufacturing capacity was ten lakh car per year, China stood at 1.15 crore. This showed the potential for growth and such expos, he said, would bring awareness among the pubic about the need to buy genuine and quality spare parts. Castrol had made around Rs. 2,500 crore through its spare parts sales, he said, adding that plans were afoot to double this turnover.
R. Chandra Mowlee, Subhash Auto Enterprises, Chennai, spoke. The expo venue is Tamukkam Ground. It will conclude on Sunday. The expo is open to the public with free entry.
Published - November 05, 2011 12:12 pm IST
