Ram Shankar Shrestha of Thaiba, Lalitpur is planning to buy a car, and the 11th Nada Auto Show has given him a perfect opportunity to choose from a wide selection of brands and types.  

He was checking out the displays at the Hyundai stall, and he seemed to be enthralled by the new SUVs on show.

“I like SUVs more due to

their sporty looks, good

height and a high ground clearance compared to other cars,” he said. Usually, those wishing to graduate from a hatchback have their eyes on an SUV.

All the vehicle dealers participating in the auto show are offering discounts and other schemes to attract customers. But what Shrestha finds more interesting is the sheer variety of cars under one roof which allows him to compare the various brands. “I can get a discount even during normal times, but I will not be able to examine so many cars so conveniently,” said Shrestha.

Another visitor Bimal Joshi, who has going over the displays at the Maruti Suzuki stall, expressed similar sentiments. “Although there is no significant discount offer, one can choose from a large number of products,” he said.

According to automobile dealers, they are seeing a good number of visitors at the show which started on Tuesday at Bhrikuti Mandap. There were large crowds at the stalls displaying the Suzuki Brezza from Maruti, Mazda CX-5, Tucson and Creta from Hyundai, Brio and BRV from Honda, Korando from SsangYong and Kwid and Duster from Renault.

Surendra Kumar Yadav, senior executive sales and marketing at Padma Shree, said they were buoyed by the large number of bookings they received on the first two days of the auto show. Padma Shree sells cars made by Mazda. According to Yadav, they have received bookings for 10 units of the Mazda CX-5, an SUV.

Padma Shree offers discounts of up to Rs400,000 at the auto fair. The company has displayed four models — entry level, core and two in the high end segment. The cars cost between Rs9.8 million and Rs12.5 million.

Hari Khadka, sales officer of Narayani Auto Business which deals in Maruti Suzuki said Suzuki Brezza, said they received orders for 40 cars on Tuesday alone. “The number of bookings is expected to be higher today,” he added. “Our multi-colour SUV with a ground clearance of 198 mm and sporty looks has been the main attraction for buyers.”

Likewise, Syakar Trading,

the authorised distributor of Honda cars, said that they had received a good number of orders in the first two days. Kushal Shrestha, sales executive of Syakar, said Honda’s compact sedans, compact SUVs and premium hatchbacks were the crowd pullers at the fair. The premium hatchback comes with added features including parking camera, touchscreen air conditioner, anti-braking system and airbags.

Hyundai automobiles have been attracting a lot of attention too. Sujit KC, senior officer corporate of Laxmi Intercontinental, the authorised distributor of Hyundai in Nepal, said that reasonably priced SUVs were the first choice of buyers these days.

Giving an example of the Hyundai Creta, KC said that the car used to cost Rs6 million but now it is available for Rs4 million.

n A general view of the Nada Auto Show 2016 in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, on Wednesday. Post Photo: Nimesh Jang Rai