If you happened to pay a visit to the Auto Expo, at any time during the show, you would have borne witness to one overriding theme – and that’s the sheer magnitude of pent up demand in this country.

And while the thronging crowds, which cut across all demographics, may have been too much for some, it truly validates the billions invested in India by the worlds’ automakers. It’s the implied buying power, and aspiration, of the hundreds of thousands of people who descended on the Expo that’s really catapulting this market to the top of the global automotive ladder – and it was on display for everyone to see, as clearly as the cars and bikes themselves.

Another thing that was poignant – on the morning of the start of the show, both Toyota and Honda had global launches within minutes of each other under the same roof, and both were models that had been designed largely with the Indian market in mind. These two Japanese giants are going from fighting tooth-and-nail in their home market of Japan, and the US, to slugging it out in the small car space in India. And it was only a few minutes prior to Toyota unveiling its Etios small car to the world that Maruti Suzuki, the dominant player in the country, announced that it aims to sell one million vehicles in this financial year (2009-10) alone. Whether or not we actually have the space for them is another issue, but the point is that the start of 2010 demonstrated one thing very clearly – we no longer have to wait for the Indian market to arrive, its unashamedly taken center stage.