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There were only a few handful of cars in the Indian market in the 1980s. Most of these were outdated models like Hindustan Motors ' Ambassador (which is still produced and sold). The only car with the latest technology then was the Maruti 800 . It became very popular because of the low price, high Fuel Efficiency and good reliability. Since then the market has grown with over 20 manufacturers and hundreds of models and variants. The Maruti 800 is at the lower end of the price range costing approx US $5,000 and Bugatti Veyron at the other with a price tag of over 2 Million US dollars. The Indian automotive industry has also greatly matured. The Tata Indica was indigenously developed by Tata Motors . Another Indian manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra also came up with its own SUV s, the Scorpio and the Bolero . These cars have proved very popular here and are also exported to the Europe an markets. An electric car is also manufactured by a local company, REVA . Tata Motors plans to produce the world's first air powered in partnership with MDI of France. The passenger vehicle sales in India crossed the one million mark in 2005. This segment grows at 10-15% annually. Around 85% of the cars sold in India are financed as against the global average of 70%. In neighbouring China,only 15-20% vehicles are financed. There are only three cars in India for 1000 people as compared to the other extreme 500 cars for 1000 people in the United States. Goldman Sachs has predicted that India will have the maximum number of cars on the planet by 2050 overtaking the United States. TIMELINE A separate page has been dedicated to this section. See Timeline - Indian Automobile Industry PRODUCTION FACILITIES BMW Chevrolet Fiat Ford Honda Hyundai Mahindra Mahindra-Renault
Mercedes-Benz San Suzuki Tata Toyota DOMESTIC Austin
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 a plant locally to circumvent the high import duties. Chevrolet 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:
Chinkara Daewoo Dodge
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.
Force Motors Force Motors was formerly known as Bajaj Tempo Ltd. Founded in 1958, it is located in Akurdi, a Pimpri-Chinchwad neighbourhood of Pune, India. They manufacture three wheelers, multi utility and cross country vehicles, light commercial vehicles, tractors and now heavy commercial vehicles. Ford Ford entered India in collaboration with Mahindra & Mahindra in 1995 with a major plant in Tamil Nadu. The first model was the Escort.
Hindustan Motors 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.
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.
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.
International Cars & Motors
Mahindra & Mahindra Limited 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.
Renault 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. Mitsubishi Motors
Opel General Motors ' Opel no longer functions in India after its Corsa 's production stopped in March 2006. GM is instead focusing on its Chevrolet brand for the Indian market.
Plymouth
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 .
Peugeot Tied up with Premier Automobiles Ltd to manufacture the Peugeot 309 . The car was popular but labour problems resulted in it being discontinued and PAL's relation with Peugeot turned sour. After which there was no car launched from the joint venture. Even the existing owners find it difficult to find spares.
Renault (Mahindra Renault) REVA Rover
San Sipani
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. Standard Motors
Maruti Suzuki 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. After the Maruti 800, it launched the Maruti 1000, followed by the Maruti Esteem the European version of the Suzuki Swift . With the launch of Cielo from DCM Daewoo, Maruti decided to up the game and launched the Maruti Esteem VX, it was followed by the AX version but was dropped later on due to poor sales. Maruti once had a market share of approximately eighty percent, but facing competition with companies like Tata, Hyundai etc. Maruti Udyog's market share has dropped to around forty percent. According to AutoCar India, the only Maruti Suzuki car worth buying is the new Maruti Swift. Maruti Zen 's production stopped because of the success of Swift, but it has been revived as the Zen Estilo .
Tata Motors Tata Motors , also known as ''Telco'' is the third largest car producer in India after Maruti and Hyundai. 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 also has an interest in the commercial vehicle segment of which it controls around 70%. 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. Toyota Kirloskar Motors LTD is a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Group .
IMPORTS Audi BMW Land Rover Mercedes-Benz ( Daimler Chrysler ) Nissan Porsche Rolls Royce Rolls Royce is perhaps the most respected and prestigious car in automotive history and it is available in India at a price tag of 35,000,000 Rupees. Volvo EXTERNAL LINKS Car Communities in India
Indian car magazines Miscellaneous In the media
In pictures
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