Chennai is known as the ‘Detroit of India’ because of the concentration of significant automobile manufacturing plants and other businesses in the city. Avadi is also home to the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), which builds military vehicles.
The city is home to around 40% of India's car sector and 45% of the auto component industry. Chennai is home to manufacturing factories for Royal Enfield, Hyundai, Renault, Robert Bosch, Nissan Motors, Ashok Leyland, Yamaha Motor, Daimler AG, Caterpillar Inc., Komatsu Limited, BharatBenz, Ford, BMW, Citroen, and Mitsubishi.