Auto Expo 2023: How the motor show found itself driven into a corner

The themes were tech and green, but many saw red

Back in 2010, notwithstanding the global financial crisis overhang, Pragati Maidan saw massive footfall between January 10 and 17 for the 10th edition of the Auto Expo. Spread across 125,000 square metres, its 2,100 exhibitors and 1.8 million visitors packed cheek-by-jowl.

The numbers breached the 2008 edition, which had been buoyed by the launch of Tata Motors’ promised Rs 1 lakh people’s car, the Nano.

This year’s edition, three years lost to the pandemic and scheduling, wore a distinctive shade of green, and, as would befit an era of technology shift from internal combustion engines to electric motors, had a