The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) sees positive signs for the automobile industry to register a double digit growth during the current financial year.
According to SIAM, automobile sector in India is showing extremely positive signals of growth when compared to markets in other countries that are showing signs of stagnation and slowdown. “Last year was encouraging for the industry, but things are looking good during the current financial year. The industry sees promising signs of registering 10 to 12 per cent during the current fiscal,” SIAM Trade Fair Group chairman Sudhir Mehta said. Mr. Mehta was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Auto Show South 2010, jointly organised by the SIAM, Confederation of Indian Industry and the State government at Hitex grounds here. It will be formally launched by Chief Minister K. Rosaiah on Friday. Noted automobile brands including Toyota Kirloskar Motors, TVS Motors, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India, Tata Motors, Honda Cars India, Mahindra and Mahindra, Skoda, Fiat India Automobiles and Yamaha are participating in the first of its kind regional event.
The three-day expo would feature passenger cars, SUV/MUV, concept cars, luxury cars, bikes, racing bikes, accessories, car audio/music systems, GPS navigation and host of other features. Exhibitors had decided to organise shows like 4X4 track by Mahindra, Safety Ride by Honda Motors, Go Karting by JK Tyres and painting competition for children in addition to Vintage car display by Vintage Motoring Club. Mr. Mehta said in view of the rapid growth in the regional markets, SIAM had proposed to reach out to various parts of the country for popularising the auto show. The society had conceptualised sector specific shows to take the show to new destinations and a special show on bus industry and construction equipment in Bangalore and another event in Kolkata were part of the efforts.
Potential destination
Confederation of Indian Industry representative Anil Kumar V. Epur said the country was emerging as a potential destination for setting up of automobile industries with automobile majors from across the globe focussing on the Indian market.
This was evident from a recent study conducted by Deloitte which mentioned the likelihood of an Indian automotive company to be in the global top six firms by 2020.