Chocks: Indian Car Industry

Indian Car Industry

*The first car to run on Indian roads was in 1897.

*The first Indian to own a car was Jamshedji Tata in 1901.

*Cars were imported in minimal quantities for India until the 1930s.

*In 1953, the Government of India introduced a substitution program for importing car components by restricting the imports of fully built-up cars.

*From the 1940s, India started its own car manufacturing units.

*In 1942, Hindustan Motors was established, famous for Ambassadors and Contessa.

*In 1944, Premier Motors was established, known for Fiats and Plymouths.

*In 1945, Simpsons and Co were established, famous for tractors.

*In 1945, Mahindra & Mahindra was established, known for jeeps.

*In 1948, Standard Motors was established, famous for Heralds and Gazels.

*In 1948, Ashok Motors was established, famous for buses, and it was renamed Ashok Leyland in 1955.

*These companies were major players that collaborated with different foreign automobile industries and manufactured cars in India.

*Ambassadors, Contessa, Fiats, Plymouth, and Jeeps ruled Indian roads until the late 1970s.

*In 1971, the Government of India came up with a scheme called "People's Car" with Sanjay Gandhi as the lead for the production of low-cost cars.

*Sanjay Gandhi came up with the idea of "Maruti Udyog" with M.A.Chidambaram as Chairman and Sanjay Gandhi as MD.

*M.A.Chidambaram gave a guarantee to banks for sanctioning loans for Sanjay Gandhi.

*Sanjay Gandhi's appointment and dealings with Maruti Udyog became a political controversy.

*The Government of India redesigned the "People's Car" initiative in 1981, collaborating with Japan Automobile Suzuki in 1982, and the Maruti 800 was Maruti Suzuki's first mass-produced car in 1983.

*The first Maruti 800 was purchased by Harpal Singh from Delhi, and the keys were given by Indira Gandhi.

*In 1992, the Government of India introduced liberalization acts, and the opening up of FDI enabled major global players like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, General Motors, and Ford to start production units in India.

*In 2009, India emerged as the 4th largest car exporter after Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.

*In 2019, India became the 5th largest car manufacturer in the world.

*In 2020, Maruti Suzuki had the leading share of ~50% in the Indian car manufacturing industry.

*There might be pros and cons with Sanjay Gandhi's politics, but India's automobile industry was drastically changed by him.

*Unfortunately, Sanjay Gandhi was not alive when the Maruti Suzuki car project took off, which changed the Indian car industry into the present shape.