Tata Motors is expected to unveil its Rs 1-lakh car, which has been the subject of much debate recently and is now being called the People's Car by the company. Maruti Suzuki will showcase two small cars, the A-Star and the Splash. Both these cars are headed for the Indian roads.
Bajaj Auto may showcase its first commercial vehicle. Ford will display its Volvo cars, Renault will have a brand new range in the Mahindra pavilion (the two have a joint venture in India to make the Logan). There will even be a pavilion for vintage cars.
The Chinese have booked two pavilions where component manufacturers from across the Great Wall will put on display their stuff. There will be a French pavilion as well.
All told, 25 countries are participating in the event and there will be delegations from 28 countries. According to industry sources, the entire Skoda board, the senior Volkswagen management team, top Fiat and Yamaha executives are expected to come.
All this is clearly the outcome of the unprecedented boom in the Indian automobile market across all segments - two-wheelers, cars and commercial vehicles - contributed by a growing economy and rising consumer demand.
Global automobile manufacturers have also realised the benefits of India's "frugal engineering skills", which can help in cutting production costs.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, which organises the biennial event, has booked 125,000 square metres of space at Pragati Maidan, the capital's sole modern exhibition ground. This is more than double the 60,000 square metres it had booked for the earlier edition of the event, held in January 2006.
Yet, there are close to 250,000 exhibitors in the queue waiting for space to display their products. SIAM functionaries are negotiating hard for more space but it is certain that a large number of companies will still be left out.
SIAM insiders say this edition of Auto Expo could be even bigger than the annual India International Trade Fair organised by the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation.
The excitement is palpable when you meet SIAM functionaries. They excitedly read out the list of first-time participants: Eicher, Enfield, Isuzu, Eletrotherm, Asia Motors and Volvo Cars among others.
Volkswagen will be there with its line-up for the first time after it set up shop in the country. Hyundai, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler are back after giving a miss to the last Auto Expo.
Enthused by last year's response and the impressive turnout, Honda has doubled its floor space in the 2008 Auto Expo.
Though the company's global CEO is unlikely to turn up, a high-level delegation from Honda Japan is expected to be at the event. It will showcase the Jazz Concept, which might be the prototype of Honda's first small car in India. This car is called Fit in some markets.
Notable amongst the absentees are Toyota, LML and Scooters India. According to KK Swamy, deputy managing director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, there is no model the company has to specially display at the Auto Expo.
Hence, it has decided to skip the event. In fact, the last one Toyota participated was in 2002. "Our product launch plans and the Auto Expo do not coincide. But in the future we may participate," he says.
SIAM functionaries, on their part, say that Toyota had displayed its much-talked-about hybrid engine at the India Engineering Trade Fair and that could be the reason why it decided to skip the Auto Expo.
But industry sources said space could also have been an issue. But Toyota cars are expected to be on display at the pavilion booked by the Federation of Automobile Dealers' Association.
The event, which will be inaugurated by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Heavy Industry Minister Santosh Mohan Dev, has been extended by one more day this time. Last time round, over a million people had visited; this time, SIAM hopes to surpass the number.
To keep a count of the visitors, all tickets are being bar-coded. To discourage people from angling for free entry passes, there will be a lucky draw amongst the ticket holders and the winners will be given away Hyundai cars.
The coming Auto Expo has been accredited by the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, which was set up in Paris in 1919 to safeguard the interests of the automobile industry the world over.
It features first in the organisation's calendar of auto shows for 2008, though it clashes with the Detroit Auto Show. In 2010, the dates of the Auto Expo will be shifted so as not to clash with the Detroit show, SIAM functionaries claim.
ONE FOR THE ROAD