To showcase green vehicles and SUVs by Auto makers at Auto Expo

Left with few days for the 11th Delhi Auto Expo, it has been reported that global car makers are reportedly planning to showcase fuel efficient vehicles and also some SUVs. About 50 new models will be presented to hundreds of delegates and half a million visitors as car makers look to move on from a year of sluggish sales due to high interest rates and rising costs and fuel prices in Asia's third-largest economy.

As per the debut of South Korea's Ssangyong, owned by India's Mahindra & Mahindra , and product launches from Toyota Motor Corp and Renault SA will underline the country's importance to the world's biggest car makers. R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, India's biggest carmaker was quoted as saying "The overwhelming feeling is that this current sales slowdown is a temporary phenomenon and global carmakers are certainly betting on India to bounce back. There's no slackening of interest here. Everybody is working on hybrid, fuel-efficient and green technology vehicles. There's an exciting race to find a small, cheap hybrid car for India, which will certainly be a winner."

It is also mentioned that Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India's Tata Motors, will skip the overlapping North American International Auto Show in Detroit to focus on the India event, while Ford Motor Co said it will make a world-first announcement in New Delhi. Car sales in India grew 30 percent in the fiscal year to end-March 2011, cheering global car makers as economic turmoil hit sales in developed markets. Since then, interest rate hikes by India's central bank and rising input costs that pushed up prices have dented demand as economic growth cools.

Led by the launch of Mahindra's first-ever electric cars following its 2010 acquisition of Reva and the first glimpse of a hybrid model of Maruti's popular Swift hatchback, the expo will see a slew of fuel-efficient and green technology launches. Carmakers are also set to muscle in on India's popular SUV segment, which fared better than smaller cars last year, with an offering from Maruti, a widely-anticipated four-wheel debut from motorcycle experts Bajaj Auto, and a multi-utility model launch from South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. Luxury carmakers, riding 40 percent annual sales growth in India, will use the expo to increase their product lines, with Daimler AG's, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen AG's, Audi rolling out new SUV and sports car models. BMW AG, market leader in the luxury segment, will unveil its Mini brands in India for the first time.