The economic slowdown might have eroded people'€™s desire to buy cars, but it has not completely diminished their eagerness to take a glimpse of their dream cars displayed at the Gaikindo International Indonesia Auto Show (GIIAS).

Taking place at the spacious Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) center in Bumi Serpong Damai, the Gaikindo International Indonesia Auto Show, the country'€™s largest auto show, gleams with performance cars, smart off-road vehicles, affordable family cars and appealing SUVs and crossovers.

On its first day, thousands of automotive fans flocked to the 91,577-square-meter venue to feast their eyes on the cutting-edge cars or to get the best deals. In total, there are 320 exhibitors at the event, with 35 of them car brand holders, such as Honda, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota.

It is interesting that with the emergence of GIIAS this year, Indonesia is hosting two major auto exhibitions at the same time. The other exhibition is the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) in Kemayoran, Jakarta, which is organized by PT Dyandra Promosindo.

Dyandra and the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) jointly held the IIMS for years until the contract expired last year and Gaikindo founded GIIAS.

Here are some key takeaways from the 2015 GIIAS, which runs from Aug. 20 to 30.

Show stealer

The highly anticipated Honda BR-V prototype made its worldwide debut at the show. The seven-seater is a hybrid of the Honda Mobilio multipurpose vehicle (MPV) and the HR-V, which is claimed to be the '€œnew generation crossover utility vehicle'€.

It is powered by a four-cylinder 1.5-liter iVTEC engine, which produces 120 horsepower (hp) and a maximum of 145 Nm of torque. The BR-V has a 6-speed manual gearbox with the option of an automatic CTV gearbox and goes on sale early 2016.

The price will range from Rp 230 million (US$16,517) to Rp 265 million.

Sneak peeks of the BR-V have circulated on the Internet for some time, stirring public and media curiosity over the car. Some visitors went to the auto show specifically to see the BR-V or make a Rp 10 million indent payment for the car.

 '€œI saw pictures of the BR-V on the Internet. I was curious about what it looked like and so I came here,'€ said Supardi from Pluit, North Jakarta, who visited the show with his extended family.

From compact to off-road SUVs

Chevrolet unveiled the Chevrolet Trax, a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) dedicated to urbanites. It boasts a spacious cabin and up-to-date technology features and is powered by a 138-hp, 1.4-liter turbo and has six-speed automatic transmission.

'€œWe are also seeing changes in the segmentation of the auto industry in Indonesia. Studying the market, we are seeing a shift towards small SUV,'€ General Motors Indonesia president director Gaurav Gupta said during the car'€™s launch.

For those looking for a family-sized SUV that offers comfort on and off the road, Ford presented the All-New Ford Everest. Ford bills it as having a sleek and rugged design. The seven-seater will be available with two diesel engine options: 2.2-liter, four-cylinder and 3.2-liter, five-cylinder.

The interior is equipped with an 8-inch touchscreen, a 10-speaker sound system, a dual-panel powered moon roof and terrain management system (TMS) to maximize the car'€™s performance in all terrains. The car is priced between Rp 560 million and Rp 634 million.

Land Rover launched its New Discovery Sports, a seven-seater premium SUV. Its 2.2-liter diesel engine produces 190 hp, while the 2.0-liter gasoline engine generates 240 hp. It features a nine-speed automatic transmission with overdrive and terrain response four-wheel drive. The car'€™s maximum wading depth is 600 mm.

'€œWe offer the gasoline-engine type at Rp 1.4 billion and the diesel-type at Rp 1.26 billion,'€ said Bambang Tjahjono, operational director of Grandauto, the distributor of Land Rover in Indonesia.

Grandauto expects to book the sales of 15 New Discovery Sports during the 11-day exhibition.

Additionally, Lexus launched the fourth generation Lexus RX, a crossover SUV that boasts luxury cabin, remote touch interface and blind spot monitor to ensure visibility.

Ride to the future

Toyota has dedicated a significant portion of its space to introduce the technology of the Mirai, the world'€™s first mass-market, hydrogen-powered all-electric car named after the Japanese word for '€œfuture'€.

Toyota'€™s i-Road electric three-wheeler attracted great attention from visitors. Unfortunately, they are not allowed look closely or touch the single-person vehicle, which is displayed on a stage. Neither Mirai nor i-Road are available for sale.

Toyota Astra Motor, the local arm of Toyota, has come up with the playful, striking yellow concept car, called the Yaris Legian. It is a convertible twist of the Toyota Yaris hatchback that features LED headlights and big wheels.

If you look closely, there are little '€œTAM'€ logos around the car, and this is the mark of the maker. Toyota Astra Motor is the Indonesian arm of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and it was the locals who came up with this concept car. Not likely to make production, we thought it was interesting nonetheless.

Daihatsu has shown its own vision by making the world debut of two concept cars. They are the FT Concept, a modern seven-seater SUV that comes with a tough exterior, and the FX Concept, which is billed as the '€œsmart crossover utility vehicle'€.

Four current Daihatsu variants marketed in Japan are also on display. The cars '€” which all seem to have boxy designs '€” are the sporty Move Custom RS; the Wake MPV; a pink Cocoa Mira, a 660 cc minicar targeted for urban women; and the Hijet, a multipurpose utilization (MPU) vehicle.

Drive with style

BMW debuted the facelifted 2016 BMW 3 Series and the first-ever BMW 218i Gran Tourer.

On the first day, BMW unveiled a flashy blue 2016 BMW 3 Series. It features LED headlights, a sculpted bumper and new LED clusters for L-shaped taillights. Minor changes are apparent in its cabin.

Priced at Rp 665 million, the compact executive car maintains 340i six-cylinder gasoline engine, allowing it to go from standstill to 100 km per hour in just 5.1 seconds, with a top speed of 250 km per hour.

BMW aims to lure family buyers with its seven-seater BMW Gran Tourer. The Rp 749 million premium MPV comes with 1.5-liter 3-cylinder TwinPower Turbo engine that generates 136 hp and a maximum torque of 220 Nm.

Mini Cooper is roaring with the New MINI John Cooper Works, which has a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine '€” the most powerful engine ever installed in one of the brand'€™s serial production models. Displaying racing characters and aerodynamic design, the car can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h just 6.1 seconds, before hitting its top speed of 246 km/hour.

For sports car aficionados, Porsche is making its Indonesian debut with its 911 GT3 RS and Cayman GT4. The 911 GT3 RS is powered by a 4-liter, six-cylinder engine that produces 600 hp. It takes only 10.9 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 200 km/h.

With its aggressive aerodynamic body and powerful 3.8-liter engine, the Cayman GT4 has what it takes to be a playful track-day toy. It can accelerate to 100 km/hour within 4.4 seconds and can hit a top speed of 295 km/hour.

Four new Mercedes-Benz vehicles launched at GIIAS are the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class (S500) limousine, the Mercedes AMG GT S sports car, the Mercedes-Benz GLC 250 4Matic variant and the Mercedes-Benz B200 Urban Facelift.

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