Greater Noida, Feb 5 (IANS) Though middle-class Indians buy cars from manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Honda, they always aspire to purchase the bigger and the better vehicles.
This was more than evident at the India Expo Mart as hordes of car enthusiasts headed towards the stalls of the most expensive luxury and sports cars at the 13th edition of the Auto Expo, being held here from February 5 to 9.
The pavilions of German manufacturers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi drew legions of automobile fans with extremely long queues forming outside.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar recently launched the new BMW 7 series and almost every car lover wanted a piece of the beautiful and attractive machine. Along with the 7 series, several other vehicles were on display at the BMW pavilion and left aficionados drooling over them.
The newly-unveiled BMW X1 drew a lot of enthusiasts, who were eager to check out the exteriors as well as interiors of the sports utility vehicle (SUV).
The longest queue was probably seen at the pavilion of market-leader Mercedes-Benz. Automobile fans were more than eager to check out the open-top S-Class Cabriolet and dashing SUV GLC.
“I drive a Honda City. If I make enough money some day, I will definitely buy a sports car, preferably a Mercedes or BMW,” banker Chetan Vij told IANS after sitting inside a few luxury models at the Mercedes pavilion.
Audi’s long and appealing cars were also the star attractions. India Test skipper Virat Kohli recently launched the fastest Audi model in India – the R8 V10 Plus – and also unveiled the new A4. The two cars easily proved to be the biggest attractions of that hall.
Besides the German manufacturers, iconic American SUV brand Jeep unveiled the Wrangler and brought in a lot of appreciative looks.
Legendary names in the sports car segment – the Nissan GT-R along with the Chevrolet Corvette – also drew a lot of crowds.