Money
Expo expects to tap into spending spree
The 11th NADA Auto Show, a flagship event of the country’s automobile sector, kicked off on Tuesday at Bhrikuti Mandap. A wide range of the latest vehicles and auto accessories are on display at the mega exhibition which will continue for six days.The 11th NADA Auto Show, a flagship event of the country’s automobile sector, kicked off on Tuesday at Bhrikuti Mandap. A wide range of the latest vehicles and auto accessories are on display at the mega exhibition which will continue for six days.
Buoyed by bumper sales in the last fiscal year 2015-16, as many as 74 companies have put their vehicles and accessories imported from 30 different countries on display.
Mahindra, which missed the exhibition last year, and new entrants Ssangyong and Renault, have also showcased their vehicles at the expo. Organised just before the festival season in a bid to tap into the spending spree that accompanies it, the annual auto exhibition is expected to help boost automobile sales to greater heights.
NADA President Anjan Shrestha said the way exhibition area has been decorated gives an impression that it is a world class expo. “The ambience is expected to draw a large number of visitors compared to previous years,” said Shrestha, adding that they expected to surpass the targeted 50,000 visitors.
Being a renowned exhibition of Nepal, the number of participants at the NADA Auto Show has been rising every year, according to NADA officials. There are 74 stalls compared to 66 last year — 16 brands of four-wheelers, 15 brands of two-wheelers and five brands of heavy equipment. Accessories, spare parts and garage equipment are displayed in the other 38 stalls.
The latest four-wheelers from brands like Datsun, Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, MG, Nissan, Renault, Skoda, Suzuki, Tata, Toyota, Volkswagen and Ssangyong have been successful in attracting huge crowds on the very first day of the show.
Likewise, the latest two-wheelers from Bajaj, Bela, Benelli, Hero, Honda, KTM, Mahindra, Royal Enfield, Runner, Scomadi, Suzuki, TVS, UM, Vespa and Yamaha are drawing hordes of visitors.
Heavy commercial vehicles on display include products from Ashok Leyland, Eicher, Escorts, Mahindra and Tata.
The auto show also offers attractive discounts, various schemes and easy financing for car buyers under a single roof. Similarly, there are banks offering auto loans at reasonable interest rates and repayment plans in easy monthly instalments.
Sailesh Khadgi, sales head of Kia Motors, Nepal said they keep coming back to the auto show because of the good business they witnessed in previous years. “The auto show gives us a platform to implement our sales plan for the year besides helping to enhance branding of our products,” he said. Khadgi added that they had introduced a sports edition to their regular products at the fair this year.
Korean auto brand Ssangyong is making its debut at the auto fair. Ayush Shrestha, head of marketing of IMS Motors, the authorised distributor of Ssangyong, said they were participating to enhance sales. “We have expected NADA to help us sell 50 cars that we have targeted to sell by Dashain,” he said. IMS offers discounts of up to Rs700,000 besides a health insurance scheme to its customers.
Automobiles have become fast selling items in recent years. According to government data, motor vehicle registrations jumped 43 percent to 343,765 last year. The annual sales turnover have been estimated to total Rs50 billion, according to NADA. NADA expects transactions worth Rs2 billion including bookings and sales to be concluded during the auto fair.