This year's NADA Auto Show to be dominated by EVs

 KATHMANDU, AUGIST 7: After being held in September 2019,  the NADA Auto Show couldn't take place for the following three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, last year, this show again continued with the pandemic coming under control. In 2023, the annual mega expo, held from August 11 to 16, appeared to look different from its past editions.  The prime reason was the astonishingly huge participation of electric vehicles (EVs).

Approximately half of the exhibition space was occupied by EVs belonging to brands like Tata, Hyundai, BYD, Chery, Seres, Great Wall, MG, Kia, and Citroen.

These products attracted the attention of the visitors to the hilt. Not only were they a point of attraction, but the bookings for electric vehicles were also unprecedented.

Due to the increased interest from customers, this year's NADA Auto Show, place from August 27 to September 1 at the Bhrikuti Mandap Exhibition, is also going to be dominated by EVs. According to the NADA, a majority of vehicles to be featured in the exhibition will be based on electricity, not on internal combustion engines run on petrol and diesel. 

These EVs will be from Tata, Hyundai, Kia, MG, BYD, Seres, Skywell, Neta, Citroen, Henry Volts,  Gono, Foton, Weltmeister, Sokon, etc.

Tata is set to display Punch EV, Deepal the LJ Seven, BYD the M6, and Vinfast VF5 while the Ioniq-5 and Creta facelift will be exhibited by Hyundai. Similarly, Mahindra is going to show XUV 4000, Kia the EV-6 and EV-9, and Citroen the EC3 model. 

Likewise, for the NADA Auto Show 2024, CG Motors will introduce Avatar 11, Radar RD6, and Xpeng whereas   Lakshmi Intercontinental is going to launch Kai EX3  and G Motors the Skyweb car.

The adoption of EVs is certainly going up in the country that is substantiated by its growing imports.  In fiscal years 2021/22 and 2022/23, 1,805 units and 4,050 units of such vehicles, respectively, were shipped into Nepal, according to the customs figure. Last fiscal year,  11,701 units of EVs worth around Rs 30/31 billion were imported.

Notably, the Nepali government has set a target of expanding the market share of  EVs to 25 percent of all private passenger vehicle sales by 2025.