Bajaj showcase $3,000 low-cost prototype will to be accompliant with renault-nissan

It’s the biggest auto show ever showcased in India. But the Ninth Auto Expo 2008, scheduled to open to the public on January 10 at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, is really two shows, not one.

Show One – the show – is the launch of the much ballyhooed Rs 1 lakh Tata small car on Thursday. Everyone, from the public to competitors, is waiting with bated breath for the curtains to go up on that car.

Which is why the rest of the crowd is planning Show Zero – the show before the show – well before the Expo formally opens. To avoid being overshadowed by the Tata car, automobile manufacturers are scheduling their announcements for January 8-9.

all begins with Bajaj Auto’s small car on Tuesday, followed by General Motors, Volkswagen, Fiat (Tata’s joint venture partner), Maruti, Volvo Cars and the rest.To be unveiled by Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, this small car has been planned as a joint venture with Renault and Nissan. If everything goes according to plan, the car will hit the roads in 2010.