15th Dhaka Motor Show 2022

Every year, the Dhaka Motor Show is held by CEMS Global for three days and brings together car enthusiasts, bike enthusiasts, consumers and trade and industry professionals. This year’s expo at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) was the biggest compared to its predecessors as they booked the entire ICCB as it was finally held after two years of emerging from an ongoing pandemic.

The three-day 15th Dhaka Motor Show, 6th Dhaka Motorcycle Show, 5th Dhaka Auto Parts Show and 4th Dhaka Motor Show started on 23 June 2022 after a gap of two years. Various brands and more than 200 companies from 15 countries including Germany, Italy, France, USA, Japan, India and Malaysia participated in the exhibition this year with about 500 booths in the entire venue.

At the event, Toyota unveiled three brand new cars: Raize, Veloz and Avanza, which were displayed alongside the Rav-4, Corolla Cross and Rush. Continental Motors, the premium luxury car importer, participated for the first time and stole the limelight with the all-new Mercedes Maybach GLS 600, Land Rover Defender, Maserati Ghibli and Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. They also declared themselves as the official distributor of Brabus and briefly showed the Mercedes G-wagon Brabus 600. Hyundai presented the new Tucson, Palisade, Accent, Elantra, Creta and Sonata. Jeep attracted some attention by debuting the iconic Jeep Wrangler.

Peugeot also attracted quite a crowd with the new 508 and its unique styling. MG showed off the all-new ZS EV electric, and it was the only electric car at the event to be shown alongside the HS PHEV and ZST. Haval showed off the new Behemoth at their POER store on display on top of the cliffs, accompanied by the new Jolion Turbo, H6 and H9. KIA had some interesting and modern looking new cars like the Sportage, Seltos and Carens. Honda had the biggest stage this time, showing off its entire lineup, starting with the Accord, Civic, City, City RS, CR-V and revealing the 2023 HR-V and 2023 BR-V coming soon.

Mitsubishi has taken center stage with its cars, starting with the Outlander PHEV, Eclipse Cross, L200 and Expander. DFSK came and displayed Glory i-Auto along with BAIC BJ40 Plus. Proton came up with new cars like Persona, Saga, X-50 and X-70. On the commercial side of the show, Toyota showed off the new Hilux and the theme park bus.

ACI motors came up with the Foton range of pickups, trucks and vans. Energypac came with JAC pickups and SHACMAN trucks and an Ankai bus. Tata has introduced its new Prima truck and other pickups.

This year’s bike show was the biggest and grandest yet, where motorcycles of international and local brands were on display. The bike show had various stunt shows for the crowd and a few races up its sleeves, and brands like Suzuki spared no expense and gave it their all. The motorcycle expo featured hundreds of motorcycles from Suzuki, KTM, Hero, Zontes, Lifan, Vespa, Runner, Bajaj, Yamaha, GPX, Taro Bangla, Honda, Aprilla, TVS and many more showcasing their bikes in the grandest possible way.

The Auto Parts Show had several stalls in each hall with different items for sale and marketing to the public where companies like Pirelli Tires, HJC Helmets, Maxxis Tires, Bridgestone Tires, Lubricant Companies, Importers, Service Centers, Spare Parts Dealers, Distributors of auto components and many others showcased their products. The Bangladeshi car community even showed up and had their own fun in the parking lot, doing donuts and burnouts. This year’s event had everything from food to live music.

As always, the Dhaka Motor Show promised to be the grandest event in the calendar for car enthusiasts and they have delivered again even after two years.

Photos: Akif Hameed