Our automotive industry’s major contributor is the reconditioned car importers. The association BARVIDA stands for Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers & Dealers Association. BARVIDA had formulated in the year 1994 and have come a long way in contributing to the reconditioned vehicle import of our country. The reconditioned vehicle importers have numerous showrooms across the country and are the member of BARVIDA association.
In January of 2016 BARVIDA car expo , fair of reconditioned car display and sales took place in ICCB. It was the third car expo that took place this year. Numerous reconditioned car dealerships across the country have participated in the event.
We got a chance to visit the car expo 2016 and check out some cars that were imported by these car dealers. There were also engine oil importers, car finance FIs and car battery companies who participated in the car expo as well.
So at first sight we saw the Mini countryman. Yes its not a MINI COOPER that people are used to calling the every time they see a Mini badge. But it is a significantly overgrown MINI cooper to a crossover SUV vehicle. This particular vehicle was indeed a new unit and the was imported all the way from UK. The price wasn’t quoted when we checked it out neither we could tell the engine displacement but I believe it was a 1.6 inline 4 and not the 1.6 turbocharged since we didn’t find the cooper S badge. Our assumption that this would be around 75 lacs BDT or so considering all taxes and charges for a brand new 1.6ltr vehicle from UK.
The next top was the pavilion of CAR HOUSE. When it comes to importing cool cars! Car house nails it! They have imported the most numbers of Toyota GT86s in the country ever since it came along. To the show they have brought in the latest Lexus NX200t. Which is a 2.0ltr turbo charged crossover. Most people (non car people) might mistook it as an upgraded version of the latest current gen Toyota harrier. We thought the chassis or platform was similar as well, but it’s based on the new Toyota rav4. The name NX stands for Nimble crossover. This car has very good reviews and is doing great in the market!
That 2.0 liter turbocharged engine is pretty fast too. And with Lexus build quality, leather, sound system, brilliant LED headlights DRLS and everything, it really does stand out in the cross over category in our country. What we don’t like (a lot of others agreed too) is the Lexus’s new idea of that melting hexagon shaped front grille. We believed that that design element would grow on us but it didn’t. We’ve been seeing this grille and that car for a while on the roads now but we still find it ugly!. Lexus has made this design to the rest of its lineup as well
The muscular rear fender and wheel arches and that F sport version of the NX200t looks really good! We wish i could check out this car better to share more.
The main attraction of car house was the Honda S660. This isn’t the first unit in the country, it would be the second. Our first impression was looking at a Honda beat from the future. It’s as big as a shopping car and lower than my knees. But when we peeked in, we could clearly see that regardless of it’s size and dimension the car was totally designed without any compromise. It is a mid engine rear wheel drive 3 cylinder 660cc turbo charged pocket rocket, may be it is the modern era mario gokart!?. This latest import by Car House also is a soft top coupe. The wheels are 17inch in size and features pretty large disc rotors both in front and rear means seriousness.
There was a GT86 too. A beautiful pearl white with modellista package which i was checking out. The visibility and the seating position was really good in the GT86. We could clearly see all edges and corners and we know this would make us a better driver!. I don’t know why people complain about this car being under-powered but honestly at this price it is worth the money. It really looks good and gives you a really sporty feeling and all of that at a price that is quite affordable.
Car house’s next attraction was the first and the only Infiniti Q50 in the country. It is as big as the GS but infiniti always has a way of using those weird flowly curves in their cars Infiniti is a another brand of Nissan using their platforms but marketed differently for a upscale market than where Nissan is targeted with their Cefiro/teana, G37 , 35 line up.
Moving on to the other pavilions there was a Lexus GS. The latest generation the 2015 model which is hybrid powered. The car looked smaller in photographs but upfront it was a big sedan. Reminded us of the Lexus ls series or the Toyota Celsior days. It seems GS has grown to be as big as the LS line up of lexuses while the new LS is even bigger.
Somehow the new GS design felt a bit bland, but maybe that’s just me or maybe it’s the color. Nevertheless, Lexus build quality, performance compensates for the dull design anyway.
The Toyota Auris was introduced in 2006. It is the revival of the Toyota corolla Allex /Runx that was introduced in the early 2000s and discontinued in 2005. The Toyota Auris is based on a solid platform (meaning it handles better, stiffer more upscale) and Toyota has made its wheelbase interior space slightly bigger. The design has changed too. The front end and rear looks sharp. It’s the new Toyota look that they are incorporating in all their models since 2014 onwards.
The particular model showcased in the car expo was the Auris Zeonic Toyota. It has a different color, body stickers, body kit, and different interior panels that got its inspiration from Famous Japanese toys, GUNDAM. The car is the inspiration of Char Aznable, an anime Gundam anime character. The Auris is available in 1.8 but the ones we had here are 1nzfe 1.5 with Zeonic Toyota or Modellista styling package. Traction control, VSC , projector HID headlamps is standard in the new Auris. The seats are semi bucket standard as well. The overall feel of the car is much sportier than Toyota had been making for regular cars. The car was showcased by Global Emporium along side their G Sports Harrier. However the top grade model of the Auris is the XS package. This particular one was of X package with Zeonic Toyota styling trim.
As we moved on to the last corner of the pavilion we got a chance to see the Audi A8L Hybrid. Nothing much to say here. The car’s presence is on a totally different level. Superior German quality and technology. The A8L was a hybrid with its battery pack in that huge trunk space which indeed took up some of the available space anyway. The car was a 3.2l hybrid. There was the land cruiser 2016 model alongside the A8 L. Both were imported by Auto Museum always known for importing the big toys!
Last but not the least; the other interesting attraction is always on the parking lot of every car show. There was a 2nd generation 350z owned by Racetiege, a aftermarket car parts importer and tuner. Do check out their facebook page. They have some interesting sports cars for sale.
Then there was a mammoth long wheel based, BMW 740Li and another 7 series parked next to 3S-GTE swapped Carina ED in the parking lot.
And the Mitsubishi lancer EX to be EVOX alongside the Evo X!
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