5 Bhadra, Kathmandu.
This month, Nepal spent time looking at cars. Next week, everything that comes after buying a car will be available to see.
Starting from Bhadra 9 at Bhrikutimandap, the ‘HP Lubricants Presents 18th NADA Auto Show 2026’ will be held across an area of approximately three hundred thousand square feet with more than two hundred stalls. 53 vehicle brands will participate, including 23 passenger vehicles, 17 light commercial, and 13 two-wheelers.
However, these are not the majority of participants.
Approximately 70 companies at the exhibition venue do not sell any items that can be driven away. They provide tires, batteries, engine oil, helmets, bearings, gaskets, filters, diagnostic equipment, garage tools, GPS and telematics systems, accessories, and EV charging equipment. Approximately 10 banks, financial institutions, and insurance companies will be present with auto loans and vehicle insurance, including separate financial plans for electric vehicles.
Nepali consumers are connected to this part of the automobile industry for a decade, but this part rarely gets an opportunity to be seen in exhibitions.
It takes three weeks to choose a car, but one has to live with that decision for ten years. Those three weeks are spent in showrooms. Those ten years are spent in workshops, banks, insurance offices, and tire shops.
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The exhibition has been divided into separate sections for four-wheelers, two-wheelers, financial institutions, auto parts, and garage equipment so that the second question can also be asked during the same visit as the first.
The geographical diversity of participating vehicle brands is also noteworthy: Skoda with European engineering, Malaysia’s national brand Proton, and Chinese manufacturers including Chery (Omoda and Jaecoo) and GWM. Vehicles of Japanese, Indian, Korean, Czech, Malaysian, and Chinese origin will stand a few steps away from each other.
For international participants, an International Business Pavilion, and for domestic production and assembly, a ‘Made in Nepal / Made for Nepal’ Pavilion have been designated.
“As soon as we say auto show, people think of a hall full of cars. But a large part of our exhibition is occupied by the industry that keeps those vehicles running for years. That industry also needs to be seen.” Surendra Kumar Upreti, President, NADA
Fifty years ago, Nepal’s automobile industry exhibition would fit in a single room. The reason it needs three hundred thousand square feet today is not just because the number of vehicles has increased, but because the industry itself has grown.
For more: 18th NADA AutoShow Bhrikutimandap
