Automotive industry in India

The automotive industry in India is the world's fourth-largest by production and valuation as per 2022 statistics. As of 2023, India is the 3rd largest automobile market in the world in terms of sales.
As of April 2022, India's auto industry is worth more than US$100 billion and accounts for 8% of the country's total exports and 7.1% of India's GDP. According to the 2021 National Family Health Survey, 60% of Indian households own an automobile. According to government statistics, India has barely 400 automobiles per 1,000 people.
In 1897, the first car ran on an Indian road. Through the 1930s, cars were imports only, and in small numbers.
An embryonic automotive industry emerged in India in the 1940s. Hindustan Motors was launched in 1942 building Morris products, long-time competitor Premier in 1944, building Chrysler Corporation products such as Dodge and Plymouth, and beginning in the 1960s, Fiat products. Mahindra & Mahindra was established by two brothers in 1945 and began assembly of Jeep CJ-3A utility vehicles. In the same years, J. R. D. Tata, the chairman of Tata Group founded TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company (now Tata Motors) in Jamshedpur. Following independence in 1947, the Government of India and the private sector launched efforts to create an automotive-component manufacturing industry to supply to the automobile industry. In 1953, an import substitution programme was launched, and the import of fully built-up cars began to be restricted.
In 1952, the Indian government appointed the first Tariff Commission, whose purpose was to come out with a feasibility plan for the indigenization of the Indian automobile industry. In 1953, the commission submitted its report, which recommended categorizing existing Indian car companies according to their manufacturing infrastructure, under a licensed capacity to manufacture a certain number of vehicles, with capacity increases allowable, as per demands, in the future. The Tariff Commission recommendations were implemented with new policies that would eventually exclude companies that only imported parts for assembly, as well as those with no Indian partner. In 1954, following the Tariff Commission implementation, General Motors, Ford, and Rootes Group, which had assembly-only plants in Mumbai, decided to move out of India.
The Tariff commission policies, including similar restrictions that applied to other industries, came to be known as the Licence Raj, which proved to be the greatest undoing of the Indian automotive industry, where bureaucratic red tape ended up causing demand to outstrip supply, with month-long waiting periods for cars, scooters, and motorcycles.
Many of the two-wheelers manufacturers were granted licenses in the early 1960s, well after the tariff commission was enabled.
However, growth was relatively slow in the 1950s and 1960s, due to nationalisation and the license raj, which hampered the growth of the Indian private sector.
The beginning of the 1970s didn't see growth potential; and most of the collaboration license agreements came to an end, but with the option to continue manufacturing with renewed branding. Cars were still meant for the elite and Jeeps, now owned by American Motors Corporation, were largely used by government organizations and in some rural regions. By the end of the decade, some developments were made in commercial vehicle segments to facilitate the movement of goods. The two-wheeler segment remained unchanged except for increased sales to the middle class in urban areas. There was an emphasis on having more farm tractors, as India was embarking on a new Green Revolution; and Russian and Eastern bloc imports were brought in to meet the demand.
But after 1970, with restrictions on the import of vehicles set, the automotive industry started to grow; but the growth was mainly driven by tractors, commercial vehicles, and scooters. Cars still remained a major luxury item. In the 1970s, price controls were finally lifted, inserting a competitive element into the automobile market. However, by the 1980s, the automobile market was still dominated by Hindustan and Premier, who sold superannuated products in fairly limited numbers. The rate of car ownership in 1981 was about one in every thousand citizens – understandable when the annual road tax alone cost about half the average income of an Indian at the time.
During the eighties, a few competitors began to arrive on the scene. Of the 30,487 cars built in India in 1980, all but six came from the two main players Hindustan and Premier: Standard had led a shadow existence in the latter half of the 1970s, producing only a handful of cars to keep their license active. A new contender was tiny Sipani, which had tried building locally developed three-wheeled vehicles since 1975 but introduced the Reliant Kitten-based Dolphin in 1982. Nonetheless, all eyes were on Maruti, which caused a major upheaval to the Indian automobile industry.
The OPEC oil crisis saw increased need to install or redesign some vehicle to fit diesel engines on medium commercial vehicle. Until the early 1970s Mahindra Jeeps were on Petrol and Premier commercial vehicles had Petrol model options. The Defence sector too had most trucks on Petrol engines.
From the end of the 1970s to the beginning of the 1980s India saw no new models, the country continuing to depend on two decades-old designs. The Sipani Dolphin, which arrived in 1982, was not a serious contender, with its plastic body and without rear doors - essential to Indian car buyers. This situation forced the government to encourage and let more manufacturers into fray.
In 1984 AVANI was established in Medak near Hyderabad. It started manufacturing Infantry Combat Vehicles christened as Sarath, the backbone of India's mechanised infantry. AVANI is still the only manufacturing facility of ICVs in India. To manufacture the high-power engines used in ICVs and main battle tanks, the Engine Factory was set up in 1987 in Avadi, near Chennai. In 1986, to promote the auto industry, the government established the Delhi Auto Expo. The 1986 Expo was a showcase for how the Indian automotive industry was absorbing new technologies, promoting indigenous research and development, and adapting these technologies for the rugged conditions of India.
Eventually multinational automakers such as Suzuki and Toyota of Japan and Hyundai of South Korea were allowed to invest in the Indian market, furthering the establishment of an automotive industry in India. Maruti Suzuki was the first and the most successful of these new entries, in part the result of government policies to promote the automotive industry beginning in the 1980s. As India began to liberalise its automobile market in 1991, a number of foreign firms also initiated joint ventures with existing Indian companies. The variety of options available to the consumer began to multiply in the nineties, whereas before there had usually only been one option in each price class. By 2000, there were 12 large automotive companies in the Indian market, most of them offshoots of global companies.
Exports were slow to grow. Sales of small numbers of vehicles to tertiary markets and neighbouring countries began early, and in 1987 Maruti Suzuki shipped 480 cars to Europe (Hungary). After some growth in the mid-nineties, exports once again began to drop as the outmoded platforms provided to Indian manufacturers by multinationals were not competitive. This was not to last, and today India manufactures low-priced cars for markets across the globe. As of 18 March 2013, global brands such as Proton Holdings, PSA Group, Kia, Mazda, Chrysler, Dodge and Geely Holding Group were shelving plans for India due to the competitiveness of the market, as well as the global economic crisis.
In 2000, in line with international standards to reduce vehicular pollution, the central government unveiled standards titled "India 2000", with later, upgraded guidelines to be known as Bharat Stage emission standards. These standards are quite similar to the stringent European emission standards and have been implemented in a phased manner.
Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) was first implemented in 13 cities — Agra, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi (NCR), Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Solapur — in April 2010, and then in the rest of the nation in April 2017.
In 2019, in line with international standards to reduce vehicular pollution, the central government of India announced the introduction of BS-VI norms to control air pollution, taking effect from 1 April 2020.
India levies an import tax of 125% on foreign imported cars, while the import tax on components such as gearboxes, airbags, drive axles is 10%. The taxes are intended to encourage cars to be assembled in India rather than be imported as completely built units.
In 2006, the government of India imposed a new tax structure, which massively impacted the segment. It enables vehicles shorter than 4.0 metres (157.5 in) to qualify for a significantly lower excise duty, which is 8 percent as opposed to 20 percent for longer vehicles. Tata Motors was the first to exploit the new tax structure, which redesigned the rear portion of the Indigo sedan, dropping its length to 3,988 mm (157.0 in) and renamed it as the Indigo CS. The model became significantly cheaper, becoming one of the largest selling three-box cars in the country. Other manufacturers quickly adapted, which led to the release of the shorter Suzuki Swift Dzire, the Honda Brio Amaze, and others.
The majority of India's car manufacturing industry is evenly divided into three "clusters". In the year 2010,around Chennai was the largest, with a 35% revenue share, accounting for 60% of the country's automotive exports, and home of the operations of Heavy Vehicles Factory, Engine Factory Avadi, Ford, Hyundai, Renault, Mitsubishi, Nissan, BMW, Hindustan Motors, Daimler, Caparo, Mini, Citroën and Datsun.
Near Mumbai, Maharashtra, along the Chakan corridor near Pune, is the western cluster, with a 33% share of the market. Audi, Volkswagen, and Škoda are located in Aurangabad. Mahindra and Mahindra has an SUV and engine assembly plant at Nashik. General Motors, Tata Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Jaguar, Fiat, and Force Motors have assembly plants in the area.
The northern cluster is around the National Capital Region, and contributes 30%. Gurgaon, Manesar and Kharkhoda in Haryana, are where the country's largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, is based.
An emerging cluster is the state of Gujarat, with a manufacturing facility of MG Motors in Halol, Atul Auto in Rajkot, Ford, Maruti Suzuki, and Peugeot-Citroën plants are also planned for Gujarat.
Uttarakhand with Tata Motors, Telangana with Hyundai, Ordnance Factory Medak, Hyderabad Allwyn and Mahindra & Mahindra, Noida with Honda, and Bengaluru - Karnataka region with Toyota, Volvo and Scania, Andhra with Isuzu and Kia and Kolkata - Jamshedpur belt also known as East India belt with companies such as Hindustan Motors, Heavy Engineering Corporation, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery, Tata Daewoo and Tata Motors are other automotive manufacturing regions around the country.
India's automobile exports have grown consistently and reached $4.5 billion in 2009, with the United Kingdom being India's largest export market, followed by Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa.
According to The New York Times, India's strong engineering base and expertise in the manufacturing of low-cost, fuel-efficient cars has resulted in the expansion of manufacturing facilities of several automobile companies like Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Maruti Suzuki.
In 2008, South Korean multinational Hyundai Motors alone exported 240,000 cars made in India. Nissan Motors planned to export 250,000 vehicles manufactured in its India plant by 2011. Similarly, US automobile company, General Motors had announced its plans to export about 50,000 cars manufactured in India by 2011.
In September 2009, Ford Motors announced its plans to set up a plant in India with an annual capacity of 250,000 cars, for US$500 million. The cars were manufactured both for the Indian market and for export. The company said that the plant was a part of its plan to make India the hub for its global production business. Fiat Motors had announced that it would source more than US$1 billion worth auto components from India.
In 2009, India (0.23m) surpassed China (0.16m) as Asia's fourth largest exporter of cars after Japan (1.77m), Korea (1.12m) and Thailand (0.26m).
In July 2010, The Economic Times reported that PSA Peugeot Citroën was planning to re-enter the Indian market and open a production plant in Andhra Pradesh that would have an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles, investing €700M in the operation. Citroën entered the market in 2021 with their first offering being the Citroën C5 Aircross.
In recent years, India has emerged as a leading center for the manufacture of small cars. Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai are the two biggest exporters of cars from the country. Nissan also exports small cars from its Indian assembly line. Tata Motors exports its passenger vehicles to several Asian and African markets. In the 2000s, Mahindra & Mahindra prepared to introduce its pickup trucks and small SUV models in the U.S. market, but canceled its plans. As of 2019, it is assembling and selling an off-road vehicle (Mahindra Roxor; not certified for road use) in limited numbers in the U.S. It is also sold in Canada. While the possibilities for the Indian automobile industry are impressive, there are challenges that could thwart future growth. Since the demand for automobiles in recent years is directly linked to overall economic expansion and rising personal incomes, industry growth will slow if the economy weakens.
Mahindra's major overseas markets include Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, United States and South Asia.
India exported $14.5 billion worth of automobiles in 2014. The 10 countries below imported 47.8% of that total.
Exports of Vehicles in India decreased to US$1478.68 Million in 2020 from US$11332.49 Million in 2019.
India is the 4th largest passenger vehicle producer in the world. In 2018–19, it produced 4.06 million cars. Currently, there are an estimated 30 million cars in India.
This list is of cars that are officially available and serviced in India.
MG, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Citroën, Jeep, Honda, Toyota, KIA, Volkswagen, Škoda, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and MINI are the foreign automotive companies that manufacture and market their products in India.
During April 2012, the Indian government planned to unveil the road map for the development of domestic electric and hybrid vehicles (xEV) in the country. A discussion between the various stakeholders, including Government, industry, and academia, was expected to take place during 23–24 February. The final contours of the policy would have been formed after this set of discussions. Ministries such as Petroleum, Finance, Road Transport, and Power are involved in developing a broad framework for the sector. Along with these ministries, auto industry executives, such as Anand Mahindra (Vice Chairman and managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra) and Vikram Kirloskar (Vice-chairman, Toyota Kirloskar), were involved in this task. The Government has also proposed to set up a Rs 740 crore research and development fund for the sector in the 12th five-year plan during 2012–17. The idea is to reduce the high cost of key imported components such as the battery and electric motor, and to develop such capabilities locally. In the year 2017, An Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh based Electric Vehicles manufacturing company called AVERA New & Renewable Energy started electric scooters manufacturing and are ready to launch their two models of scooters by the end of December 2018.
Electric cars are seen as economical long-term investments, as one doesn't need to purchase gas, but needs only to recharge the battery, using renewable energy sources. According to the United States Department of Energy, electric cars produce half as much CO2 emissions as compared to a gas-powered car. According to The Economic Times, 60% of Indian customers expect fuel prices to go up in the next 12 months and 58% expect to buy a new car in the same time frame. Most consumers are looking to buy a car which gives good mileage. According to the same source, 68% of Asian drivers expect higher mileage from their cars due to the higher fuel prices. This has encouraged 38% of Indian automobile consumers to switch to electric or hybrid cars. Due to this change in the market, many companies, such as Toyota, have planned to introduce electric vehicles in India; and Suzuki has tested almost 50 electric prototypes in India already, according to Mashable.In 2019, Hyundai launched India's first electric car, the Kona Electric .
The Government of India felt the need for a permanent agency to expedite the publication of standards and development of test facilities in parallel with the work of the preparation of the standards - as the development of improved safety critical parts could be undertaken only after the publication of the standard and commissioning of test facilities. The Ministry of Surface Transport (MoST) constituted a permanent Automotive Industry Standards Committee (AISC) . The Standards prepared by AISC will be approved by the permanent CMVR Technical Standing Committee (CTSC). After approval, the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) will publish this standard.
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are globally proven systems to optimize the utilization of existing transport infrastructure and improve transportation systems in terms of efficiency, quality, comfort and safety. Having realized the potential of ITS, Government bodies and other organizations in India are presently working towards implementing various components of ITS across the country.
The first step taken for creation and implementation of ITS was holding a National Workshop titled "User Requirements for Interactive ITS Architecture", which was conducted as a collaboration between SIAM and ASRTU on 26 & 27 February 2015. This was primarily focused on ITS in Public Bus Transportation. Nonetheless, the workshop helped to create the outline for "National Intelligent Transport System Architecture and Policy for Public Transport (Bus)", which was submitted by ASRTU and SIAM to the government
In the 44th & 45th CMVR-TSC, Chairman had directed - standardization activities to be initiated on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) - Vehicle Location Tracking, Camera Surveillance System and Emergency Request Button. The committee intended to extend the above user requirements to all public transportation namely –buses, taxis, etc. The current document covers the requirements for Vehicle Location Tracking and Emergency Button. The other ITS components like PIS, CCTV system, Fare collection etc. are deliberated and would be addressed in later phase and could be added as separate parts to the current document.
Based on these directions, the AISC Panel on ITS has prepared this AIS-140 titled,"Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) - Requirements for Public Transport Vehicle Operation". The panel also deliberated and identified the necessary elements for an effective implementation of vehicle level ITS system.
For AIS-140 Devices, in India, connectivity to report location, and Emergency Panic Button signal is though wireless cellular connectivity. There are device focused Cellular Connectivity Offerings like 'eSIM4Things' available in India, which cater to connectivity requirements of AIS-140 devices. eSIM4Things is fully compatible with all AIS-140 devices and with a connectivity manager and a range of tariff plans.
While there is controversy on possibility of driverless cars in India, many startups are working on this technology.
In Auto Expo 2018, Hi Tech Robotic Systemz launched an artificial intelligence-based driver behaviour sensor technology called Novus Aware in partnership with Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV).
Automotive sector is part of 13 sectors that GoI has introduced Rs 1.97 lakh cr (US$28 b) performance-linked incentives (PLI) schemes for five years in 2021-22 budget. In Sept 2021, to boost the automotive industry with the newer and green technology the Government of India (GoI) launched 3 PLI schemes, a Rs. 26,000 cr (US$3.61 b) scheme for production of electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel vehicles (PEVHV), the Rs 18,000 crore (US$2.5 b) "Advanced Chemistry Cell" (ACC) scheme for new generation advance storage technologies which are useful for the electric vehicles, and Rs 10,000 crore (US$1.4 b) "Faster Adaption of Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles" (FAME) scheme to go green by expediting production of more electronic vehicles and replacement of other types of existing vehicles with the greener vehicles. The Rs. 26,000 cr (US$3.61 b) PLI scheme to boost automotive sector to boost the production of electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel vehicles will also generate 750,000 direct jobs in auto sector. These schemes will reduce pollution, climate change, carbon footprint, reduce oil and fuel import bill through domestic alternative substitution, boost job creation and economy. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers welcomed this as it will enhance the competitiveness and boost growth.