Automobile industry in India

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India has one of the largest automobile industries in Asia. Shown here is Maruti Suzuki's A-Star which was completely designed in India during AutoExpo in Delhi.

Indian automakers like Tata Motors have opened several manufacturing bases around the globe. Shown here is Tata Indigo during an Auto exhibition in Italy.

The automobile industry in India is the eleventh largest in the world with an annual production of approximately 2 million units. India is expected to overtake China as the world's fastest growing car market^[1] in terms of the number of units sold and the automotive industry is one of the fastest growing manufacturing sectors in India.^[2] Because of its large market (India has a population of 1.1 billion; the second largest in the world), a low base of car ownership (25 per 1,000 people[2]) and a surging economy, India has become a huge attraction for car manufacturers around the world.^[3]

Though several major foreign automakers, like Ford, GM and Honda, have their manufacturing bases in India, Indian automobile market is dominated by domestic companies. Maruti Suzuki is the largest passenger vehicle company, Tata Motors is the largest commercial vehicle company while Hero Honda is the largest motorcycle company in India. Other major Indian automobile manufacturers include Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland and Bajaj Auto.

The automotive industry directly and indirectly employs 13 million individuals in India. The industry is valued at about US$ 35 billion contributing about 3.1% of India's GDP (nominal). India's cost-competitive auto components industry is the second largest in the world. In addition, India's motorcycle market is also the second largest in the world with annual sales of about 5 million units.

1 History
2 Timeline
3 List of automobile manufacturers in India
- 3.1 Indian companies
- 3.2 Multi-national companies
4 Production facilities
5 Foreign cars sold in India as CBU
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Tata Motors launches its first truck in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz

While automobiles were introduced to India in the late 1890's, the manufacturing industry only took off after independence in 1947. The protectionist economic policies of the government gave rise in the 1950's to the Hindustan Motors Ambassador, based on a 1950's Morris Oxford, and, is still ubiquitous in the roads and highways of India. Hindustan Motors and a few smaller manufacturers such as Premier Automobiles, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Ashok and Standard Motors held an oligopoly until India's initial economic opening in the 1980's. The maverick Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi championed the need for a "people's car"; the project was realized after his death with the launch of a state-owned firm Maruti Udyog which quickly gained over 50% market share. The Maruti 800 became popular because of its low price, high fuel efficiency, reliability and modern features relative to its competition at the time. Tata Motors exported buses and trucks to niche markets in the developing world.

The liberalization of 1991 opened the flood gates of competition and growth which have continued up to today. The high growth in the Indian economy has resulted in all major international car manufacturers entering the Indian market. General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and others set up manufacturing plants. Rolls Royce, Bentley and Maybach are examples of the few high end automobile manufacturers which entered India in the recent years. The Tata Nano is at the lower end of the price range costing approx US$ 2,500 and Bugatti Veyron at the other with a price tag of over US$ 2 million.

India's love affair with the automobile is famously embodied in the 1920's Rolls Royce collections of the erstwhile maharajas. The growing middle class aspires for the automobile for its convenience and as a status symbol. Upper middle class and wealthy car owners employ full-time chauffeurs to navigate the aggressive and seemingly lawless traffic patterns of most cities. The construction of expressways such as the Mumbai-Pune expressway have opened up new touring opportunities. The expected launch of a Formula One circuit in New Delhi is expected to spark public enthusiasm for a motor sporting industry.

[edit] Timeline

Further information: Timeline - Indian Automobile Industry

[edit] List of automobile manufacturers in India

[edit] Indian companies

[edit] Force Motors

[edit] Ashok Leyland

Ashok Leyland is a commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in Chennai, India. In 1948, Ashok Motors was set up in what was then Madras, for the assembly of Austin Cars. The Company's destiny and name changed soon with equity participation by British Leyland and Ashok Leyland commenced manufacture of commercial vehicles in 1955. For over five decades, Ashok Leyland has been the technology leader in India's commercial vehicle industry, moulding the country's commercial vehicle profile by introducing technologies and product ideas that have gone on to become industry norms.

Ashok Leyland has six manufacturing plants - the mother plant at Ennore near Chennai, two plants at Hosur (called Hosur I and Hosur II, along with a Press shop), the assembly plants at Alwar and Bhandara.

From 18 seater to 82 seater double-decker buses, from 7.5 tonne to 49 tonne in haulage vehicles, from numerous special application vehicles to diesel engines for industrial, marine and genset applications, Ashok Leyland offers a wide range of products.

[edit] Hindustan Motors

Hindustan Ambassador

Hindustan Motors is one of the oldest Indian car manufacturers. It is best known for the Ambassador which has been virtually unchanged for about 30 years. It is still very popular as a taxi and is widely used by Indian politicians. Many people have come to associate India with Ambassador and is a prominent part of the Indian landscape.

Trekker (discontinued)
Landmaster (discontinued)
Contessa (discontinued) - 5th Generation Vauxhall Victor
Ambassador - a version of the 1950s Morris Oxford.

[edit] Mahindra & Mahindra Limited

Mahindra Classic

The automotive section of Mahindra started off when a first batch of seventy five Utility Vehicles (UVs) was imported in CKD condition from Willys in 1947. It has come a long way, not just manufacturing Jeeps but also agricultural equipment and light trucks.

Armada (discontinued)
Voyager (discontinued)
Bolero
Commander
CL
MaXX
Scorpio
Mahindra and Mahindra Classic This was an open jeep with good off roading capabilities, a 4*4 and 4*2 option, huge headlamps and roof mounted lights.

[edit] Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Driving School

Maruti 800

REVA is the most highly selling electric car in the world.^[4]

Maruti Udyog was formed as a partnership between the Government of India and Suzuki of Japan. It brought India its first "affordable" car, the Maruti 800. It is the biggest car manufacturer in India and especially dominant in the small car sector. Then it brought out The Maruti 1000, made by Maruti Udyog was the first ever contemporary sedan-type car launched in India. The car (which Suzuki sold in other countries as the Cultus/Swift/Geo Metro with a 1.3 L or 1.6 L engine) was introduced in October, 1990. Sold at Rs. 3.81 lakh, it was back then the costliest car released in the Indian market. Then the company replaced it with Esteem and from that days on a line of Suzuki cars rolled out in the Indian market.

800
Omni
Alto
Gypsy
Swift
SX4
WagonR
Versa
Zen Estilo - First Generation Suzuki MR Wagon
Grand Vitara - First Generation Suzuki Grand Vitara
Swift Dzire-Replacement for Esteem

[edit] Premier Automobiles

Walchand Hirachand started Premier Automobiles Ltd (PAL) in 1942. They were the first to kick off the automobile revolution in India by assembling De Soto and Plymouth cars in 1946 in association with Chrysler from the United States. They also manufactured the famed Premier Padmini which was a version of the Fiat 1100.

Padmini (discontinued)
118 NE (discontinued)
Premier Sigma

[edit] REVA

REVA

[edit] Tata Motors

Tata Indica was the first successful passenger car completely designed and manufactured in India.

Tata Motors, formerly known as TELCO, is the largest automobile manufacturer in India and commands more than 70% of the commercial vehicle market in India and has also increased its share of passenger vehicle market. It was responsible for developing India's first indigenous vehicle, the Indica. It has proved to be a success in the market after initial quality problems. The company also exports the car to many countries. Tata Motors is considered to be the flagship company of the Indian automobile industry.

[edit] Multi-national companies

[edit] Audi

In January 2008, Audi started production with the Audi A4 and A6 at its factory in Aurangabad in the state of Maharashtra.

[edit] BMW

BMW is manufacturer of prestigious sport sedans that are known for their nimble handling. BMW enjoys good brand recognition in India, thanks to Indian movies and the rich who have been importing these cars for decades. It has set up a plant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to manufacture cars locally exclusively for the local market with no plans for export. It set up the plant to circumvent high import duties.

[edit] Fiat

Fiat India has struggled in India since its inception. The Fiat Uno was one of the first products to be introduced. The Fiat Palio was later introduced and was initially a big hit with its style and ride comfort coupled with solid build but has slowly lost its sheen due to low fuel efficiency. Other models were introduced such as the Palio Weekend and Siena. Fiat tried re-branding of the Fiat Siena to Fiat Petra without much success. It roped in Sachin Tendulkar as one of its brand ambassadors. Even Michael Schumacher appeared in an ad for the Palio. It has entered now into an alliance with Tata Motors to jointly manufacture cars at its plant in Ranjangaon, near Pune. The facility will enable the two companies to make about 200,000 cars per annum, and also house an engine manufacturing unit with a capacity of 250,000 units per annum. The alliance will also see Tata Motors use Fiat's diesel technology - the 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine - for its own vehicles. The two companies also have a distribution and service partnership.

Uno (discontinued)
Palio
Palio Stile
Siena (discontinued)
Siena Weekend (discontinued)
Petra (discontinued)
Adventure

[edit] Ford Motors

Ford entered India in collaboration with Mahindra & Mahindra in 1995 with a major plant in Tamil Nadu. The first model was the Escort.

Escort (discontinued) - It was offered with a 1.3 Liter petrol termed Alpha and 1.5 Liter Diesel engine termed Orion, and at a time when the car wars in India had just begun. The diesel version was fancied by many due to the fact that diesel was available at half the price of petrol(gasoline/gas) in India at that time. Among the famous owners of the Ford Escort was Azim Premji who drove a black one for almost eight years until he traded it for a Toyota Corolla. The Ford Escort 1.8 was ranked the highest in the J.D. Power and Associates 1997 Indian Customer Satisfaction Study. It was also voted the Best Quality Car in the J.D. Power India Initial Quality Study.

Ikon - Was launched to phase out the Escort, known for the Rocam engine, available with a choice of petrol and diesel version, the car did well. Ford is known for launching new versions with some minor cosmetic changes every now and then.

Mondeo (discontinued) - Was Ford's offering to the D segment in India in 2001, was brought in as a CBU from Belgium with Ghia being the only trim version available. It was available with both 2.0L Duratorq diesel and 142 bhp 2.0L petrol Duratec engines. It was the first car to be offered with Xenon HID headlamps in India. It is alleged that the Mondeo performed better than the 2.3 L Accord available in India at that time. But buyers stayed away as it was more expensive than the Accord. The diesel version was phased out in 2003.

Endeavour - Sold as the Ford Everest in other parts of Asia and based on the Ranger pickup, it was offered in both 4X4 and 4X2 options but with only a 2.5 L, 4 Cylinder In-line, Turbocharged & Inter cooled Diesel Engine and manual transmission.

Fusion - was launched as an Urban Activity Vehicle available with a 1.6 L , 4 cyl 101 bhp (75 kW/102 PS) engine with 5 speed manual transmission. In 2007 a diesel version was launched which has the same 1.4 L 68 bhp (51 kW/69 PS) engine as the Fiesta.

Fiesta - Launched in November 2005 and was Ford's fifth model in India, and is available in 1.6 L petrol and 1.4 L diesel engines. Bill Ford made a personal visit to launch the car in India.

[edit] General Motors

Chevrolet has been one of the most recognized brands in India for several decades. They were made popular as the vehicle of choice of the heroes in Bollywood movies. The model lineup consists of vehicles from cheaper sister brands like Daewoo. General Motors initially entered India with the Opel brand, but the Opel brand was dropped in March 2006 because sales were at an all time low due to high prices and General Motors wanted to focus more on their Chevrolet brand. Since the Chevrolet brand was introduced in India, there have been no new Opel products.

GM's Indian operations were originally a JV between Hindustan Motors and GM, with most of GM's vehicles assembled at Hindustan's plant in Halol, Gujarat. Since then, GM India is now wholly owned by GM.

Cars from Chevrolet are:

Tavera - Rebadged Isuzu Panther
Forester - (discontinued) Rebadged First Generation Subaru Forester
Aveo - Second Generation Daewoo Kalos sedan
Aveo UV-A - First Generation Daewoo Kalos hatchback
Optra - Rebadged Daewoo Lacetti
SRV - Rebadged Daewoo Lacetti
Spark - Formerly Daewoo Matiz in India
Captiva - Recent launch in India

[edit] Honda

Honda Siel Cars entered India in 1995. It sells 4 cars in India - the City, Civic, Accord, and CR-V. The manufacturing plant of Honda Siel is located in Greater Noida. The model of Accord sold in India is the 2003 model. The most inexpensive car from Honda - The City. The most Expensive - The Honda Accord V6.

Accord - It was introduced in India in July 2001. It is sold in three versions - Accord VTi-L M/T, Accord VTi-L A/T and Accord V6 A/T. Both the engines, the standard i-4 and V-6 have be de-tuned which produce less power compared to the American models, the I-4 produces 142 bhp (106 kW/144 PS) while the V6 produces 221 bhp (165 kW/224 PS), de-tuned for better fuel efficiency.

City - Was launched in India in December 1997 ,initially offered in two options. A 1.3 liter engine producing 90 bhp (67 kW/91 PS) and a bigger 1.5 liter producing 100 bhp (75 kW/101 PS). Two years later a VTEC option was also offered. All were four cylinder engines. In October 2003 the City underwent a major revamp and is popularly called as New Honda City (NHC). Surprisingly Honda gave the new City less powerful engines and decided to improve the fuel efficiency. The new City features a 1.5 liter engine producing 77 bhp (57 kW/78 PS). It offered more interior space and with bright and refreshing interiors. About two years later, a face lifted version - CITY ZX - was introduced. At the same time, a VTEC engine model too was introduced.

Civic - Was launched in July 2006 in India 6 months after the international debut. The car is the first in this segment in India to offer unprecedented safety features like ABS, EBD as standard. It is also the first in its class to feature reverse swing windshield wipers. The only problem with the car with respect to India is its low ground clearance.
CR-V - It was introduced in India along with the Accord. It was and is still offered with a 2.4 liter i-VTEC engine producing 152 bhp (113 kW/154 PS).

See also: Hero Honda

[edit] Hyundai

When Hyundai entered India, the brand was virtually unknown in the Indian market. They signed up Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and their excellent advertising campaign made Hyundai a household name and helped it reach the second place behind market leader Maruti Suzuki.

Santro - second generation Hyundai Atos
Accent - second generation Hyundai Accent sedan
Sonata - sold as the Sonata Embera
Verna - third generation Hyundai Accent sedan
Getz - sold as the Getz Prime
Elantra - 3rd generation Hyundai Elantra sedan
Terracan (discontinued)
Tucson
i10 - brand new small car, global launch in India in 2007.

[edit] Renault-Nissan

Logan In partnership with Mahindra and Mahindra

[edit] Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz has had to cater to the ever growning luxury segment in India, in a much better fashion now, especially after the arrival of the other luxury German manufacturers. Now, Mercedes-Benz cars are launched in India soon after the worldwide launch and homologation as opposed to earlier, when Mercedes-Benz had monopolized the niche Indian market.In 2007 they launched the SLK-Class and CLS-Class.

[edit] Mitsubishi Motors

Lancer - Sixth Generation Mitsubishi Lancer
Cedia - Seventh Generation Mitsubishi Lancer
Pajero - Second Generation Mitsubishi Pajero
Montero - Third Generation Mitsubishi Pajero

[edit] Škoda

Škoda is an important car manufacturer of India. It recently launched the Laura, the Octavia still continues to exist. Skoda also offers the Superb in India but it's not too popular.

[edit] Toyota

Toyota Kirloskar sells 4 car models in India. It stopped producing the Toyota Qualis to make way for the Toyota Innova, which was launched in India in 2005. The most expensive car from Toyota is a very powerful SUV - The Land Cruiser Prado, which is the best SUV in India, and is of international standards. Toyota Kirloskar Motors LTD is a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Group.

Qualis (discontinued) - 3rd Generation Toyota Kijang
Camry - 7th Generation Toyota Camry (the latest generation Camry)
Corolla - 9th Generation Toyota Corolla
Innova
Land Cruiser Prado VX - Latest Generation Toyota Land Cruiser (PRADO)