25 million cars were produced in India in 2017.
Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) is India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer. It manufactures heavy commercial vehicles, light commercial vehicles, passenger cars and multi-utility vehicles. Its Indica and Indigo small cars were designed in-house and are commercial successes.
Mahindra & Mahindra was established in 1945 to manufacture general-purpose utility vehicles. It later moved into manufacturing tractors and light commercial vehicles. Its Scorpio sports utility vehicle was acclaimed in India and a diesel version is expected in the United States market in 2009.
Maruti-Suzuki India is the largest car company today. Maruti collaborated with Suzuki of Japan in 1983 to produce the first affordable, fuel efficient, high quality car for the average Indian. It reached a total production of one million vehicles in March 1994 to become the first Indian Company to cross this milestone.
The Hinduja Group’s flagship company in India, Ashok Leyland, is the second largest player in the Indian commercial vehicle market with a share of 27%.
Bajaj Auto Ltd was initially set up to produce Italian Vespa scooters in India. Today it makes scooters, small two- and four-stroke motorcycles,and three-wheelers. Models include Avenger, Discover, Kristal, and Platina. It also has a collaboration with Kawasaki of Japan.
Foreign Car Makers:
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea and is the second largest and the fastest growing car manufacturer in India. HMIL presently markets 30 variants of passenger cars across segments.
General Motors India is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors Corporation but withdrew from India sales for the second time in 2017. The company still has a factory in India from which it exports cars to other countries.
Ford Motor Company: In the wake of economic liberalization in India, Ford entered the Indian market and since then Ford India Limited has registered an impressive growth. The company’s plant is located in Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai and has the capacity to produce 100,000 vehicles annually.
Other significant automobile manufacturers include Mercedes-Benz, Skoda Auto, BMW and Honda
Last updated: January 20th, 2018
