China firms carry corona threat to auto expo

SIAM says it’s taking adequate precautions, going through Health Ministry advisories

Maiden show: Some of the Chinese participants include first timers Great Wall Motors and BYD Auto. ap

With the biennial Auto Expo and the Auto Components Expo, which kick off next week expected to see a lot of participation from Chinese companies, the auto industry on Thursday tried to allay consumer fears around the coronavirus.

For the auto expo 2020 that will open for public February 7 onwards, Chinese firms have already booked about 20% of the 40,000 sq. m of space available at the venue.

Some of the Chinese participants include MG Motor, and first timers Great Wall Motors and BYD Auto. Likewise, more than 200 exhibitors from China are slated to to participate in the components show.

The ‘Auto Expo 2020 Components’ will take place from February 6-9 at Pragati Maidan, while the ‘Auto Expo 2020’ will be held from February 5-12 at Greater Noida.

Conceding that there is concern about coronavirus, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) president Deepak Jain said all the organising entities — ACMA, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), have been involved in multiple interactions with the Ministries concerned. “We will be taking precautionary, preventive as well as containment actions at the motor show as well as at the component show. We will be enhancing the healthcare infrastructure, there would be more awareness; masks, sanitising etc will also be take care of,” he said.

Rajan Wadhera, president at SIAM, said in a statement, “Reference to the Coronavirus threat, wanted to convey that we as SIAM have gone through the advisories issued by the Ministry of Health and are taking adequate precautions at the venue of the Auto Expo — The Motor Show.”

Talking about the components show, Mr. Jain said despite the prolonged slowdown in the market number of exhibitors at components show has gone up by 25% compared to 2018. “We expect that over 1 lakh business visitors would be coming to the show,” he said.

“Chinese participation in the components show has always been there. We have a dedicated pavilion for Chinese companies this year. Of the total 1,500 exhibitors, 200 of them are Chinese. I would say they will occupy less than 10% of the total space of 56,000 sq. m,” Mr. Wadhera added.