Scenario Of Car Industry In India
Not very long ago, the only cars that were available in India were the Ambassador and the Premier Padmini. The Ambassador is a replica of the Morris Oxford – an old British car, while the Premier Padmini was a Fiat 1100 assembled in India.
All that was in pre-liberalisation India, which existed before 1991, when the first liberalization measures were announced. Earlier, the production of the Maruti Suzuki 800 hatchback car in 1983 – a joint venture between Government of India and Suzuki Motors of Japan, paved the way for a renaissance in the Indian automobile sector.
Post liberalization, India is on every car manufacturers map. The reasons are not hard to notice. Currently, India is the second largest two-wheeler market and the fourth largest commercial vehicle market in the world. Not only it is the eleventh largest passenger car market globally, but it is also expected to be the seventh largest by 2016.
Post liberalization, many foreign manufacturers have lined up and have setup base in India. Other domestic manufacturers have also improved production levels and are in the race for producing better models as well.
Some of the car manufacturers who have set up base in India are Audi, BMW, Chevrolet Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mahindra, Maruti, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Skoda, Suzuki, Tata, cadillac, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. India’s economic growth is booming currently. These manufacturers have set up manufacturing facilities in India, or are importing cars and spares to meet the demands of this growing market.
There are many reasons for the impressive growth of the Indian car industry. Some of these are comparatively easy availability of vehicle finance, attractive rates of interest, and convenient instalments.
Competition has forced manufacturers to be innovative and responsive to customer demands and needs. Now that India is not alien to quality and perfection, customer expectations have soared to higher levels. Depending upon customers needs, four segments - small, midsize, premium and sports utility vehicles currently represent the car market in the country.
This phenomenon benefits those who want to buy cars, but are not able to afford new ones. Many companies like Maruti Suzuki (Maruti True Value) have also established resale showrooms where people can purchase genuine, good condition, second hand cars at reasonable prices.
With the emergence of favourable trends in the automobile sector in India, what remains to be seen is how these developments will go a long way to transform the mobility needs of the ordinary Indian.
