Auto Expo 2012 whistles SUV war in India

Saturday, January 07, 2012

By Manoj Kumawat

Auto Expo 2012 whistles SUV war in India

Auto Expo 2012 is getting hot, hotter and hottest day-by-day. And the ones that is fueling it is SUVs. Almost all major car makers in India including Mahindra, Ford, Tata, Skoda to name a few have pitched in their SUV offering ending up with a lot of SUV choices in the Indian car market. Interestingly, this time the fight is not between the traditional rival Tata and Mahindra but it is the domestic versus the international giants. Sensing a considerable increase in preference for off roaders globally as well as in India, the companies are ready to make the nation a comfortable turf for them.

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In the off roading race, almost all the car makers have participated irrespective of national or international. Among the latest offering from foreign giants are Ford Ecosport, new Toyota Fortuner, new Skoda Yeti, Audi Q3, BMW X1 besides others. While the domestic SUV majors such as Mahindra has already put in Mahindra XUV 500, Tata has introduced Tata Safari Storme and the new player Force has its debut car Force One SUV on the pitch. Another significant offering in the compact SUV segment is new Premier Rio which is expected to be soon joined by Mahindra Xylo Mini among others.

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Now, with such great SUVs in place, what will be the fate of Indian SUVs? Will they be able to stand up to and make some scores or would be bolder out by the international players. However, the India SUV pricing is supposed to be the savior. However, what if the international players like Ford price their SUV Ford Ecosport much attractively? Then it will be concern though. Still brands like Mahindra and Tata will continue to lure Indian customers as always when some of the SUV like Tata Safari and Mahindra Bolero have become iconic SUVs of India wand have catered to the spirit and taste of Indian SUV buyers.