plus 4, JGR: Specials Highlight NASCAR On SPEED In January - TruckSeries.com

JGR: Specials Highlight NASCAR On SPEED In January - TruckSeries.com
Bollywood stars add glitz to Auto Expo - Rediff
Vehicle sales seen up 12-13% in 2010-11 - Daily News and Analysis
Universal Technical Institute Schedules Fiscal 2010 First Quarter ... - Melodika.net
Snapshots from the New Delhi Auto Expo –Day 4 - Wall Street Journal

JGR: Specials Highlight NASCAR On SPEED In January - TruckSeries.com

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 06:58 AM PST

SPEED™ OFFERS ULTIMATE ACCESS TO DAYTONA 500 PREPARATIONS WITH JOE GIBBS RACING SPECIALS

JGR COUNTDOWN TO THE DAYTONA 500 SERIES BEGINS JAN. 24

NASCAR RACE HUB RETURNS JAN. 11; DANICA TO APPEAR JAN. 12

Christmas trees on the curb, mall parking once again available and NASCAR on SPEED is back and bigger than ever... it must be January.

Beginning Jan. 24, NASCAR fans will be given unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to one of the sport's most successful teams as it prepares for the season-opening Daytona 500. SPEED and IMG Sports Media are working together on a series of four one-hour specials featuring Joe Gibbs Racing and giving fans a unique perspective of what it takes to be ready to perform in The Great American Race.

JGR's Countdown to the Daytona 500 will take viewers to previously restricted areas, including wind tunnel testing, the engine department and team plane.

JGR Countdown to the Daytona 500 schedule:

Episode 1 - Jan. 24 @ 6 p.m. ET
Episode 2 - Jan. 31 @ 9 p.m. ET
Episode 3 - Feb. 7 @ 4 p.m. ET
Episode 4 - Feb. 13 @ 6 p.m. ET

Daily NASCAR coverage returns to SPEED Jan. 11 with the season premiere of NASCAR Race Hub (7:30 p.m. ET). Adam Alexander and Randy Pemberton host the first episode, with a guest appearance from Toyota GM for Racing Development Lee White. NASCAR newcomer Danica Patrick will appear on Tuesday's show. In addition, SPEED will now offer a "West Coast" airing of the Hub (11:30 p.m. ET) all season long. For complete coverage of motor sports, The SPEED Report returns this Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.

Later in the week, SPEED will be live from Daytona Beach and the NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest. Entitled NASCAR 2010 Live from Daytona, shows will air Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. ET and Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. Daytona 500 winners Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are scheduled to appear.

For something a little different, SPEED will cover the Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge in Lake Placid, NY, with a group of NASCAR and NHRA drivers competing in modified bobsleds down the three-quarter mile, 16-turn Mount Van Hoevenberg track, site of the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games as well as the 2003 and 2009 World Bobsled Championships. The special will air Jan. 24 at noon ET and Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. ET. To close out January, SPEED will offer live coverage of the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, featuring the top teams from NASCAR's Grand National and Elite divisions at famed Irwindale Speedway in California. Qualifying airs Jan. 29 at 10 p.m. ET and race coverage begins Jan. 30 at 10 p.m. ET.

SPEED™, anchored by its popular and wide-ranging coverage of NASCAR, is the nation's first and only cable television network dedicated to automotive and motorcycle racing, performance and lifestyle. Now available in more than 79 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the industry leaders in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services. For more information, please visit SPEEDtv.com, the online motor sports authority.

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Bollywood stars add glitz to Auto Expo - Rediff

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 03:30 AM PST

Japanese auto giant Honda on Thursday said it is likely to start car assembly at its second manufacturing facility in India from 2012.

The company, last year, had partially opened the facility at Tapukara in Rajasthan to produce few components and indefinitely put on hold manufacturing of vehicles due to slowdown in the domestic market.

The company, which is present in India through a joint venture with the Siel group, had committed an investment of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) to set up the manufacturing facility at Tapukara with an installed capacity 60,000 units per annum.

"We have not decided about the opening of the plant yet but probably after the new small car concept is launched, we can go ahead with it (starting production). It will not start before 2011 and chances are open to roll out vehicles from 2012," Honda Siel Cars India director (marketing) Tatsuya Natsume told PTI at the 10th Auto Expo in New Delhi.

Earlier this week, HSCI had showcased a concept of a new small car, which is likely to hit the Indian roads in 2011.

"At present, in our Tapukara facility, we are producing body panels, crank shafts and connecting rods, which are being exported to Japan," Natsume said adding the company is supplying about 10,000 pieces of components every month to its parent.

The company has a manufacturing facility at Greater Noida with an installed capacity of 100,000 units.

Asked about sales outlook for next fiscal, Natsume said, "As long as the 4 per cent excise rebate given in the stimulus package continues, the industry will continue to grow, but we should be prepared for withdrawal of this benefit as the government has other responsibilities also. Still, we should grow more than the company's sales this year."

HSCI is expecting to close this fiscal with 65,000 units from about 56,000 units in 2008-09.

He said the company would increase its dealership network to 125 by the end of 2010 from its existing 114 outlets and eventually it will be taken to 150 in three years. Click NEXT to read further. . .

Image: The Honda P-NUT (Personal Neo Urban Transport) concept vehicle.
Photographs: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

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Vehicle sales seen up 12-13% in 2010-11 - Daily News and Analysis

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 06:08 AM PST

New Delhi: Domestic vehicle sales are seen rising 12% to 13% in 2010-11, but rising costs and any premature withdrawal of stimulus measures could dampen sales growth, a top industry official said on Friday.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year that ends in March, vehicle sales have risen 22%, with car sales showing a growth of nearly 24%, from a low base last year.

"Our only concern is if transaction costs go up significantly for customers, demand will go down," said Pawan Goenka, president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Transaction costs include sticker prices, taxes and interest rates on vehicle loans. The government had cut factory gate taxes in late 2008 and early 2009 to boost demand in a slowing economy, and the central bank has so far had an easy monetary policy.

While India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki has maintained prices, others such as Toyota and General Motors have raised prices on some models in January by 1.5-5% citing higher raw material costs.

India's top motorcycle maker Hero Honda Motors has not decided on any price increases but is watching commodity prices, its chief, Pawan Munjal, told Reuters on Thursday.

"(Auto) companies are either absorbing the increases or finding other ways to compensate," Goenka said, noting that the hikes were still below cost increases.

Supply constraints

India's top tractor and utility vehicles maker Mahindra & Mahindra has seen a 5% dip in monthly production since October 2009 due to supply constraints, Goenka, also the head of Mahindra's automotive division, said.

"While (vehicle) manufacturers could ramp up their plants... suppliers had not invested for this kind of volume increase," he said, forecasting an improvement in the situation by April.

He said suppliers had been caught unprepared by the sudden turnaround in sales.

"Suppliers tell us: ''we are fair to everybody''. If this statement is correct, everyone will be affected equally," Goenka said.

Car sales in India rose an annual 40.3% in December 2009, boosted by an improvement in overall customer sentiment, easier credit and a lower sales base of last year, SIAM data showed.

Firms sold 115,268 cars in the month compared with 82,174 units a year ago.

Sales of trucks and buses, a gauge of economic activity, was up 171.6 percent at 48,614 units in December from 17,897 units a year earlier, the data showed.

However annual vehicle sales growth in the January-March quarter is expected to be lower compared to the previous quarter's growth, due to the higher base effect, Goenka said.

Automobile sales started picking up from last January as a slew of government incentives to stimulate Asia's third largest economy out of the global financial crisis-led slowdown took effect.

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This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Universal Technical Institute Schedules Fiscal 2010 First Quarter ... - Melodika.net

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 04:42 AM PST

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. , the leading provider of automotive technician training, announced today that it will report its financial results for the fiscal 2010 first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010, prior to market open. UTI will host a conference call at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time (7:00 a.m. Mountain time) on the same day to discuss its fiscal 2010 first quarter financial results and operating performance. The conference call will feature President and Chief Executive Officer Kimberly McWaters and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Eugene Putnam.

To participate in the live call, investors are invited to dial (412) 858-4600 or (800) 860-2442. A live webcast of the call will be available via the Universal Technical Institute investor relations website at http://uti.investorroom.com/. Please go to the website at least 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. The conference call will also be archived for 60 days at http://uti.investorroom.com/.

About Universal Technical Institute

Universal Technical Institute, Inc. is the leading provider of post-secondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians as measured by total average undergraduate enrollment and graduates. We offer undergraduate degree, diploma and certificate programs at 10 campuses across the United States, and manufacturer-specific training programs, both student paid at our campuses and manufacturer or dealer sponsored at dedicated training centers. Through our campus-based school system, we offer specialized post-secondary education programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NTI). We routinely post important information about us on our investor relations web site at http://uti.investorroom.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

All statements contained herein, other than statements of historical fact, could be deemed "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect our actual results include, among other things, changes to federal and state educational funding, possible failure or inability to obtain regulatory consents and certifications for new or expanding campuses, potential increased competition, changes in demand for the programs offered by UTI, increased investment in management and capital resources, the effectiveness of our recruiting, advertising and promotional efforts, changes to interest rates and unemployment, general economic conditions and other risks that are described from time to time in our public filings. Further information on these and other potential factors that could affect our financial results or condition may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We expressly disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in expectations, any changes in events, conditions or circumstances, or otherwise.

Source: Universal Technical Institute, Inc.

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Snapshots from the New Delhi Auto Expo –Day 4 - Wall Street Journal

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 02:33 AM PST

By ERIC BELLMAN

When someone dropped a paper cup of chai on a Honda Jazz at India's Auto Expo, security guards were immediately yelling down their walkie talkies for help. Within seconds, two young men in red overalls showed up to clean and buff compact car back to show quality.

Eric Bellman

Every wonder how the expo cars get that special show shine? It takes a lot of compounding, glazing, rubbing, buffing and waxing, says Ninad Gadgil, general manager of the car care business at 3M's India arm.

The Minnesota-based manufacturer, whose products include Scotch tape, Post-It notes and power lines as well as car-care products, brought more than 25 professional car cleaners to the Auto Expo.

Bloomberg News

Workers clean a Hyundai i10 automobile as it sits on display at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi, Jan. 7, 2010.

His detailing professionals – 3M calls them "applicators" – have to go through a sort of detailing school where they learn the right way to make a car shine. 3M's 4,000 applicators usually work out of car dealerships and detail about 55,000 cars every month.

Neither 3M nor many of its competitors sell much of their car-care products directly to the consumer because few car owners here clean their own cars. Indians usually leave the regular wash to their drivers or someone in the neighborhood. When they want that extra shine they leave it to the professionals.

"India is not really a do it yourself market," said the Bangalore-based Mr. Gadgil. "It is more of a 'Do it for me' market."

His crews spent hours before the show making the cars look great. First they used a compounding paste to fix small scratches and dimples in the paint job. Then they used a liquid glaze to make it shine and then they waxed the car to protect the finish. Throughout the expo they have to clean and re-clean the cars every hour to get rid of all the finger prints and scratches from visitors.

3M's applicators at the New Delhi Auto Expo, Jan. 8, 2010. WSJ/Eric Bellman

"We work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m." says Munna Kumar a 19-year-old 3M applicator. "Then we go home and go to sleep."

The 3M Car Detailing crew also cleans the car engines and interiors. They cannot, however, take credit for the new car smell.

"That new car smell is not ours," says Mr. Gadgil. "But if you ever sit in a car that has been treated by 3M chemicals, it will have a pleasant fragrance by itself."

***

Motorcycle Still the Maharaja of Indian Road.

While compact cars, concept cars and costly cars hog the spotlight at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, the motorcycle is the undisputed Maharaja of the Indian road.

There were around eight million two-wheelers sold here last year and less than two million passenger cars.

Hero Honda Motors holds a 59% share of that market and plans to keep it, says Pawan Munjal, managing director and CEO of Hero Honda Motors. After a slow start last year, sales roared back so suddenly and strongly in the last quarter that "all of our dealers were out of stock," says Mr. Munjal.

Hero Honda uses the technology of its joint venture partner Honda Motor to build rugged, inexpensive bikes for India. Its $800 Splendor is the top-selling motorcycle in the history of biking as there are more than 11 million of them on the road, almost all in India.

WSJ/Sumit Dayal

Bikes on display at the Hero Honda pavilion of India's Auto Expo in New Delhi January 8, 2010. WSJ/Sumit Dayal

Like most consumer product majors, Hero Honda is trying to reach further and further into India's hinterland. It's discovering that the deeper it dives into India's backwaters, the more bikes it can sell. In Hindi "Har Gaon, Har Aangan" (Every Village, Every Courtyard), is its maxim.

To take care of hard-to-reach village customers, Hero Honda last year built a fleet of service motorcycles. The 1,100 modified motorcycles act as garages on two-wheels for tune ups and bike repairs. Hero Honda already had repair vans on the roads across the country but now it has customers in villages that are unreachable on four wheels.

Mr. Munjal isn't worried about all the new cars being introduced to India's roads. Even the Nano costs $2,200 while his motorcycles start at $650. He figures India should be able to eventually sell as many motorcycles as China. That's around 20 million per year or more than double last year's sales.

Small is Big at Auto Expo

By unveiling new small cars at the Auto Expo this week, Toyota and Honda are hoping to capture some of Hyundai's customers here.

The Koreans, however, aren't worried about the Japanese invasion because in India, Korean cars are seen as almost on par with those made in Japan.

"Hyundai's position in India is different from Hyundai in the rest of the world," said Arvind Saxena, director of marketing and sales at Hyundai Motor India.

New Delhi Auto Expo

Sumit Dayal for The Wall Street Journal

Honda Motor's new concept car

Hyundai has built a 21% market share in India by focusing on the small car segment, which the Japanese giants are just starting to target. It would be a fair guess that Hyundai's great success is one of the reasons the Japanese Godzillas have shown up on India's shores.

The Korean carmaker has done such a good job of branding and delivering in India that Toyota and Honda will have trouble catching up. The Japanese still have to prove themselves to small car buyers here before they will be willing to pay a premium for Japanese sub-compacts.

The Japanese companies cannot compete with Hyundai on cost either, said Mr. Saxena, as Hyundai already sources more than 90% of its parts in India. To stay ahead, Hyundai plans to grow its Indian network by 20% to around 450 dealers and branches this year.

"I have the advantage," said Mr. Saxena. "We will continue to expand."

Day 3:

Toyota Prius Leads Eco Drive

Toyota Motor's Prius and more than five other electric vehicles were launched at the India Auto Expo this week, but it will probably be years before many consumers buy them.

India's largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. unveiled its answer to the Prius on Thursday – a concept car called "Eeco Charge" that won't be produced in mass until 2015, if ever.

Toyota Prius displayed at the New Delhi Auto Expo. WSJ/Eric Bellman

With regular blackouts that make it tough to charge even a cell phone in much of India, a battery-powered car is unlikely to sell well, industry experts and executives agree.

"You can bring in electric vehicles. That's fine. But where are you going to get the electricity?," asks Pawan Munjal, managing director and chief executive of Hero Honda Motors Ltd., India's largest motorcycle maker.

Few Indians are likely to put up with the sticker shock that can come from electric cars. Many people here would love to drive green cars but few are willing to pay double the standard sticker price it can cost. Batteries are expensive and the best ones are made abroad so they attract high tariffs in India.

"The battery will end up costing as much as the vehicle itself," says Paul Blokland, director of Segment Y Automotive Intelligence Pvt. Ltd, a Goa-based automotive consulting company. "Adding the green element just costs too much."

General Public Converges at Auto Expo

Eric Bellman

Crowds formed outside the expo on the first public day.

The India Auto Expo opened to the general public Thursday. A massive crowd converged on gate seven of Pragati Maidan, as a thick morning fog still stuck to the ground.

There was a lot of pushing and shoving at the gate, as well as smiling, as the throng of consumers looked forward to becoming some of the first to enter the Auto Expo.

Close to two million people are expected to visit the Expo, which runs through Sunday, bolstering claims that it is the largest auto show in the world.

The crowds in front of the cars, snapping shots with their cell phones, as well as the lines at the food stands and toilets started to swell. During the first two days of the show, only participants, press and politicians were allowed entry. The amount of people, however, was still small compared with the mass of humanity expected over the weekend.

Tapping the Rural Market Maruti Way

While big film stars like John Abraham and Shah Rukh Khan were at the India Auto Expo to build buzz around new models, Bollywood-backed buzz building often doesn't work in rural India.

The best promoters for the 700 million Indians that live outside the big cities are the village elders.

Maruti Suzuki, the dominant player in the Indian car market, gained market share last year by wooing village leaders called the Panchayat, said Mayank Pareek, executive officer of sales and marketing for Maruti.

"In the village, the Panchayat is like Shah Rukh Khan," he said.

Reuters

Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director and chief executive officer of Maruti Suzuki India, poses with the newly launched Maruti Suzuki's "Eeco" car at India's Auto Expo in New Delhi January 7, 2010.

When sales started to slow in the cities over the last year and a half, Maruti hired 3,200 "rural dealer sales executives" to go from village to village and stir up interest.

They invited 3,500 village leaders to visit Maruti factories and see how their cars are built. Maruti would then let the leaders (or their grandsons as many are quite old) test drive a Maruti for a week or two.

Thousands came forward – sometimes with plastic bags full of wrinkled rupees – and bought their first cars. When the automobiles were delivered, Maruti would stage a country festival complete with singers, dancers and palm readers. Hundreds would show up to watch the keys to the cars being handed over under a banner congratulating the new owners.

"In the city not even 10 people would come to see a new car being delivered," said Mr. Pareek.

Pampering Panchayat members worked. Last month, Maruti Suzuki recorded its best month ever. It sold around 100,000 cars helped by rural sales. The percentage of its sales from smaller towns and villages, which was only 4% two years ago, has jumped to 16% today.

Day2:

Your Next Car May Be on Nano Technology

While it could be years before you can buy a Tata Nano outside of India, Nano technology may already be in a car near you .

Indian parts makers had to do more than just think outside the box to help build the mini car for less than $2,500, said Jayant Davar, president of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India. They had to destroy the box, the gear box, fuse box and the glove box and start over from scratch.

It's been educational but not yet profitable process. Most parts makers need Tata to sell more than 500,000 Nanos a year to make money. In the meantime, many are using what they learned from the project to lower costs and boost profits.

Visitors inspect Tata Motor's cheapest car 'Nano' at Pragati maidan during the 10th Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi, India, 05 January 2010.

Mr. Davar's company, Sandhar Technologies Ltd., for example makes the door and ignition locks for the Nano. When Tata Motors first requested that he make the key set - which usually cost around $80 - for $10, he laughed. "I asked them 'Do you want a lock or a toy?'," he said in an interview at the India Auto Expo in New Delhi.

Eventually, his engineers did develop ways to lower the price of the locks to around $15, assuming they get huge orders. He is not breaking even on the Nano yet but his company has used what it has learned to make the key sets they sell in Europe lighter and less expensive.

Indian auto-parts companies have been booming thanks to their growing expertise in mass producing low-priced parts for small cars. Indians are buying more cars than ever before and the country is becoming a small-car export hub just as there is a shift globally in consumer demand towards smaller, greener vehicles.

India's auto parts industry more than tripled in size to $19 billion in the five years ended March 31, 2008, according to the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association. During the same period exports from the industry also tripled to $3.8 billion.

Shah Rukh Khan at Auto Expo

At Hyundai Motor's Indian unveiling of a new car Wednesday, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan kept hundreds of journalists and a phalanx of Hyundai executives waiting for more than 90 minutes.

"Please be patient, Mr. Khan has been delayed due to traffic," they announced.

The actor, who has been Hyundai's brand ambassador for 10 years, was mobbed by photographers as he walked on stage wearing shades.

"Wherever Hyundai is, there is excitement," he said as reporters and video camera crews yelled at the scrum of photographers in front to sit down. "This association (with Hyundai) is just a little longer than the one I have with my wife."

Reuters

Film actor Shah Rukh Khan poses with Hyundai's "i 10 electric" car at India's Auto Expo in New Delhi January 6, 2010.

As the actor spoke, a surge of non-journalists who had been kept outside the Hyundai pavilion pushed through security at the entrance and rushed the stage Mr. Khan shared with Hyundai's Electric i10.

Despite their tall tripods and elevated media box, television crews could not get a clear shot of the star through a wall of outstretched arms of people trying to capture a photo of Mr. Khan on their cell phones.

How Toyota's Etios Was Desgined

Yoshinori Noritake, chief engineer at Toyota Motors shuttled back and forth between India and Japan more than 30 times over the last three years to figure out how to build a Toyota aimed squarely at the emerging market driver. He measured people's parking lots and drove with them to see how they used their cars.

"We had never designed a car for India so we needed to find out what Indians wanted," said Mr. Noritake.

The result, the Etios, was unveiled this week at the Auto Expo in New Delhi. Toyota's attempt to reach out to a new group of consumers which couldn't afford a Toyota before. The car is expected to cost around $10,000 when it hits Indian roads next year.

Most homes in India don't have parking spaces or garages, he found, and the ones that do exist are tiny, even smaller than those in the densely populated Tokyo. The average parking spaces were around 4.2 meters by 1.8 meters, Mr. Noritake said. The average Japanese driver has a 5 meter by 2 meter space. Meanwhile, the Indian user is more likely to have two or more people in the car so the front and back seats can't be cramped.

Toyota's concept of its small car, Etios, at the New Delhi Auto Expo, January 5, 2010. WSJ/Sumit Dayal

"The amount of space in a city defines how large the car can be," said Mr. Noritake. "The size of the people defines the interiors."

He gave the Etios a big glove compartment and lots of extra slots for water bottles. A car full of people needs more storage for bags and belongings that can't just be tossed on an empty back seat. Its back seat has no hump in the middle so three people can sit comfortably. It also has soft seats and a strong suspension for a comfortable ride through India's rough roads and long traffic jams.

Mr. Noritake's many trips taught him about the quality of parts and raw materials as well as the skills of factory workers in India so he could design a car that could be built cheaply. To make the car simple to build and less expensive, he slashed the number of parts needed by more than 20%.

"We wanted a car that could be made anywhere by anyone," he said.

***

While small, inexpensive cars are the stars at the India Auto Expo this week, luxury car makers have also parked their pricey fleets here. They are hoping to find a few buyers at the New Delhi event which is expected to attract 1.8 million visitors.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and the now Indian-owned Jaguar have all brought new high-priced models to the Subcontinent. The cars which have sticker prices north of $50,000 are usually on display next to lanky foreign models, apparently to highlight the luxury cars' international pedigree - as well as the 100% import duty slapped on cars brought from abroad.

Despite the growing number of millionaires in India, the luxury car market is still relatively small. Out of the 1.8 million passenger vehicles sold in India last year, only around 9,000 were high-end automobiles.

"It is very, very small which means there is pent up demand," in the luxury car market said Peter Kronschnabl, president of BMW India, who says he has been surprised by demand when BMW launches a new dealership or a new model here. "We think there is a real growth opportunity."

Mr. Kronschnabl projects the luxury car market will more than double in the next five years.

Bloomberg News

A model poses next to a Jaguar XF L automobile on display at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi, Jan. 5, 2010.

With an annual per-capital income of less than $1,000, India wouldn't seem like a hot spot for vehicles aimed at high net-worth individuals. But even a tiny sliver of the nation's giant population could end up being a great new market for any luxury name.

A few auto makers are already making money here. Others at the Auto Expo are just here to start searing their brands on the brains of the next batch of millionaires likely to emerge from India's 1.2 billion person populace.

Harley Davidson unveiled the 12 models it is bringing to India for the first time ever at the Auto Expo. The cheapest hog, at around $13,000, is inexpensive enough for the aspiring upper-middle class biker to get a taste of old Milwaukee machinery. Once initiated into the American motorcycle gang, Harley hopes the Indian biker will climb (with his income) onto Harleys that costs as much as $92,000.

"This is the last frontier," said Anoop Prakash, managing director of Harley-Davidson India.

—Eric Bellman is a reporter in the WSJ's Mumbai bureau.

Snapshots from Day 1.

For full coverage of the New Delhi Auto Expo, click here.

Write to Eric Bellman at eric.bellman@wsj.com

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