Ford will introduce an all-new "global" crossover at the upcoming Delhi Motor Show.
The auto show season has kicked into high gear and one of the industry’s most important events will be opening its doors to the media in less than two weeks. But the annual Detroit Auto Show will be facing some stiff competition for the headlines this year.
In an ever more global automotive market manufacturers are looking for alternative ways to get their message across – especially in emerging markets like Asia, where some major debuts will be taking place at India’s big Delhi auto show, which opens several days before the Detroit extravaganza.
And for those more interested in silicon than steel, glass and rubber, there’ll be lots of news coming from Las Vegas, where Daimler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche will serve as keynote speaker and Ford CEO Alan Mulally will be a high-profile panelist.
Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche will keynote next month's CES, in Las Vegas.
The biggest of India’s fast-growing auto exhibitions, Delhi’s Auto Expo 2012 is clearly gaining traction – and for obvious reasons. While India still hasn’t come close to generating the sales of China – or the U.S. – it is growing rapidly and could be the world’s fifth-largest national market within a few years. In fact, with its population now forecast to exceed China’s, the upside is tremendous.
So, there’ll be plenty of automakers vying for attention at the auto expo, including Ford which will put 12 products on display. That includes a new “global” crossover that will make its debut at the Indian event, rather than in Detroit. Word has it that offering will be targeted at emerging markets.
The maker isn’t offering much more detail other than to say that, “The new vehicle will be the latest One Ford global product, a vehicle designed to help expand Ford’s footprint in the world’s fastest-growing auto markets, including India. It will be the second of eight products Ford plans to bring to India by mid-decade.”
Ford won’t be alone in targeting India’s emerging middle class. According to the Times of India there are 60 new or “upgraded” models on tap for the Expo. These will range from the all-new Renault Pulse to the updated Toyota Innova, Fortuner and Camry models.
Jaguar and Land Rover – now owned by India’s Tata Motors – are skipping Detroit entirely this year, their new concepts instead planned for an introduction in Delhi.
(Ironically, Tata, which currently doesn’t compete in the U.S., will have a display at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show. It plans to reveal a battery-electric concept vehicle, reports The Detroit Free Press columnist Mark Phelan.)
Auto Expo 2012 is one big affair, though due to crowd control problems in 2011 organizers actually intend to reduce attendance from the previous event’s turnout of 1.2 million. They’re going to issue a maximum 100,000 tickets for each of Auto Expo’s ten days.
As with many European shows, the Delhi event is more than just a giant auto lot, with an anticipated 1,200 carmakers and parts suppliers expected. “Many international companies, not only vehicle manufacturers but tyre and component makers, are also participating,” noted S. Sandilya, president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, (SIAM), which sponsors Auto Expo.
Closer to home, there’ll be a lot of automotive news coming out of the Las Vegas Convention Center, which will host the single largest conference of the year in the form of the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES.
About 400 auto-related companies, including 32 from Michigan, will be there. Daimler’s Zetsche will usher in the annual event while Mulally – who keynoted three previous CES gatherings, will be on one of the show’s key panels.
Appearing at CES is “an opportunity to not only redefine our company but the overall industry,” explained Ford’s telematics and technology chief Paul Mascarenas. “It helps us walk away from that image of being part of the rust belt.”
Last year saw an assortment of automakers introduce new infotainment systems, including Toyota, which won a Best-in-Show for its new enTune technology. GM’s OnStar will be gunning for that honor next month as it reveals its own new in-car entertainment system. But it will be facing plenty of competition.
There’s no surprise the auto industry has been so active. “There’s a double-digit growth in the automotive area every year except for 2009,” when the industry went into its worst slump since the Great Depression, noted Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association.
Expect that trend to only continue, electronics and auto industry-watchers agree.