Automobile Industry

Overview 

Starting its journey from the day when the first car rolled on the streets of Mumbai in 1898, the Indian automobile industry has demonstrated a phenomenal growth to this day. Today, the Indian automobile industry presents a galaxy of varieties and models meeting all possible expectations and globally established industry standards. Some of the leading names echoing in the Indian automobile industry include Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hyundai Motors, Hero Honda and Hindustan Motors in addition to a number of others.

During the early stages of its development, Indian automobile industry heavily depended on foreign technologies. However, over the years, the manufacturers in India have started using their own technology evolved in the native soil. The thriving market place in the country has attracted a number of automobile manufacturers including some of the reputed global leaders to set their foot in the soil looking forward to enhance their profile and prospects to new heights. Following a temporary setback on account of the global economic recession, the Indian automobile market has once again picked up a remarkable momentum witnessing a buoyant sale for the first time in its history in the month of September 2009.

The automobile sector of India is the seventh largest in the world. In a year, the country manufactures about 2.6 million cars making up an identifiable chunk in the world’s annual production of about 73 million cars in a year. The country is the largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the fifth largest producer of commercial vehicles. Industry experts have visualized an unbelievably huge increase in these figures over the immediate future. The figures published by the Asia Economic Institute indicate that the Indian automobile sector is set to emerge as the global leader by 2012. In the year 2009, India rose to be the fourth largest exporter of automobiles following Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Experts state that in the year 2050, India will top the car volumes of all the nations of the world with about 611 million cars running on its roads.

At present, about 75 percent of India’s automobile industry is made up by small cars, with the figure ranking the nation on top of any other country on the globe. Over the next two or three years, the country is expecting the arrival of more than a dozen new brands making compact car models.

Recently, the automotive giants of India including General Motors (GM), Volkswagen, Honda, and Hyundai, have declared significant expansion plans. On account of its huge market potential, a very low base of car ownership in the country estimated at about 25 per 1,000 people, and a rapidly surging economy, the nation is firmly set on its way to become an outsourcing platform for a number of global auto companies. Some of the upcoming cars in the India soil comprise Maruti A-Star (Suzuki), Maruti Splash (Suzuki), VW Up and VW Polo (Volkswagen), Bajaj small car (Bajai Auto), Jazz (Honda) and Cobalt, Aveo (GM) in addition to several others.

History of the Automobile industry in India

The economic liberalization that dawned in India in the year 1991 has succeeded in bringing about a sustained growth in the automotive production sector triggered by enhanced competitiveness and relaxed restrictions prevailing in the Indian soil. A number of Indian automobile manufacturers including Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra and Mahindra, have dramatically expanded both their domestic and international operations. The country’s active economic growth has paved a solid road to the further expansion of its domestic automobile market. This segment has in fact invited a huge amount of India-specific investment by a number of multinational automobile manufacturers. As a significant milestone in its progress, the monthly sales of passenger cars in India exceeded 100,000 units in February 2009.

The beginnings of automotive industry in India can be traced during 1940s. After the nation became independent in the year 1947, the Indian Government and the private sector launched their efforts to establish an automotive component manufacturing industry to meet the needs of the automobile industry. The growth of this segment was however not so encouraging in the initial stage and through the 1950s and 1960s on account of nationalization combined with the license raj that was hampering the private sector in the country. However, the period that followed 1970s, witnessed a sizeable growth contributed by tractors, scooters and commercial vehicles. Even till those days, cars were something of a sort of a major luxury. Eventually, the country saw the entry of Japanese manufacturers establishing Maruti Udyog. During the period that followed, several foreign based companies started joint ventures with Indian companies.

During 1980s, several Japanese manufacturers started joint-ventures for manufacturing motorcycles and light commercial-vehicles. During this time, that the Indian government selected Suzuki for a joint-venture to produce small cars. Following the economic liberalization in 1991 and the weakening of the license raj, several Indian and multi-national car companies launched their operations on the soil. After this, automotive component and automobile manufacturing growth remarkably speeded up to meet the demands of domestic and export needs.

Experts have an opinion that during the early stages the policies and the treatment by the Indian government were not favorable to the development of the automobile industry. However, the liberalization policy and various tax reliefs announced by the Indian government over the recent past have pronounced a significantly encouraging impact on this industry segment. Estimates reveal that owing to several boosting factors, Indian automobile industry has been growing at a pace of about 18% per year. Therefore, global automobile giants like Volvo, General Motors and Ford have started looking at India as a prospective hot destination to establish and expand their operations.

Like many other nations India’s highly developed transportation system has played a very important role in the development of the country’s economy over the past to this day. One can say that the automobile industry in the country has occupied a solid space in the platform of Indian economy. Empowered by its present growth, today the automobile industry in the country can produce a diverse range of vehicles under three broad categories namely cars, two-wheelers and heavy vehicles.

Potential of the Automobile industry


In 2008, Hyundai Motors alone exported 240,000 cars made in India. Nissan Motors plans to export 250,000 vehicles manufactured in its India plant by 2011. Similar plans are for General Motors.

Turnover of Automobile Manufacturers(In USD Million)
Year	In USD Million
2002-03	14,880
2003-04	16,544
2004-05	20,896
2005-06	27,011
2006-07	34,285

The figures show that the automobile sector in India has been growing robustly. The market shares of the different types of vehicles will clearly depict the demand pattern in this sector.

Domestic Market Share for 2008-09
Passenger Vehicles	15.96%
Commercial Vehicles	3.95%
Three Wheelers	3.6%
Two Wheelers	76.49%