Automobile Industry in India

Automobile manufacturing is one of the fastest growing industries in India. India is the world's third largest in terms of sales of cars and commercial vehicles. The automotive industry in India is the world's fourth-largest by production and valuation as per 2022 statistics. India is the second largest in the world in the manufacture of passenger vehicles, behind only China. Until 1940, vehicles were imported to India. Hindustan Motors started India's first car factory in 1942. Later, Premier started in 1944. Hindustan General Motors and Premier Fiat cars were produced in India. In 1945, the Mahindra brothers also started producing other vehicles, including the Jeep. Although India tried to move forward by including private companies in vehicle manufacturing, it was not able to make significant progress in the 1950s and 1970s. In the 1980s, the production of Maruti cars under the central government's ownership in collaboration with Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation was a crucial step in the Indian automobile sector. Until then, India had only Hindustan's Ambassador and Premier's Fiat. Meanwhile, the production of two major trucks was also started in India. In 1954, the Tata Group launched Tata Trucks and in 1948, the Hinduja Group launched Ashok Leyland Trucks. The economic liberalization measures that began in the 1990s made India a major power in the world automobile market. Today, all the major automobile manufacturers in the world have started production units in India. India is currently trying to become the center of automobile manufacturing in Asia. Most of the automobile companies in India operate in Chennai, Noida, Pune, and Kolkata. According to 2011 figures, there are about 3700 automobile component manufacturing factories operating in India. Tata Motors Limited is the largest automobile manufacturer in India. Two-wheeler automobile, Three-wheeler automobile, cars, trucks, vans,  buses etc are the segments of Indian Automobile Market.

Leading Automobile Companies with Highest Sales

• Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is an Indian automobile manufacturing company. It was established in 1945. M & M is the biggest SUV producer in the nation, which is a part of Mahindra Group. The subsidiary of M & M, Mahindra Tractors is the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world by volume.

• Tata Motors

Tata Motors is the leading automobile group of Asia with its center in Mumbai, India. It was established in 1945. The company produces cars, trucks, vans and buses. Tata motors occupy the main position in business of car manufacturing. Around 31.2% of market share of Tata Motors are basically present in the multi-utility vehicles. It has 6.4% market share  in luxury car segment. The greater part of the Tata Motors' vehicles are frequently sold in India and more than 1.1 million vehicles have been manufactured locally in the year 2021 in India. Tata Motors are the world's one of the leading makers of both medium and heavy vehicles. 

• Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL)

Maruti Suzuki India is leading the Indian vehicle industry for a significant long number of years. It is established in 1981 as a joint venture with Government of India and Suzuki as Maruti Udyog Limited. It is the largest automobile manufacturer in India, specialising in small cars. The organization turned into the main Indian car organization to make one million vehicles in 1994. The organization progressed toward becoming Maruti Suzuki India Limited on September 17, 2007. The organization started to attract the market when it presented its popular four-wheeler, Maruti 800. Maruti Suzuki has emerged as the largest Suzuki subsidiary in terms of production volume and sales. The company had a leading market share of 42% in the Indian passenger car market as of September 2022.

• Hyundai Motor India Ltd.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is the Indian subsidiary of the South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Company. It is the third largest car manufacturer in India. Hyundai Motor India Limited was formed on 1996 by the Hyundai Motor Company. They are the one of the biggest car manufacturer in India. Hyundai is furthermore nation's biggest passenger car exporter. Santro discontinued in 2022 is the HMIL's first car and was a runaway success. HMIL has two manufacturing plants - Irungattukottai, Tamil Nadu and Talegaon, Maharashtra. Irungattukottai Plant has a capacity of manufacturing 850,000 vehicles per annum.

• Hero Moto Corp Limited

Hero Moto Corp Limited is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in Delhi. It has a market share of about 30% in the Indian two-wheeler industry. Hero Honda was established in 1984 as a joint venture between Hero Cycles of India and Honda of Japan. Hero Honda Motors Limited is the subsidiary of Hyundai Motor India Limited. Hero Honda Motors Limited was one of the greatest two-wheeler makers in the world. Hero Honda Motors Limited is the joint venture between Hero Group and Honda. Splendor is one of the biggest selling motor bikes in the world. The arrival of Splendor shook the Indian bike market. Hero Motocorp sold in excess of 1 million units of Splendors per year. In January 2021, Hero Moto Corp's production exceeded 100 million. As of 2021, Hero is the only Indian automobile brand to exceed 100 million in production.

• Bajaj Auto Ltd.

Bajaj Auto Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Pune. It manufactures motorcycles, scooters, auto rickshaws and low cost cars. Bajaj Auto is a part of the Bajaj Group. It was established in Rajasthan in 1945. Bajaj Auto is the world's third-largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the second-largest in India. Bajaj Auto Limited is the largest three-wheeler manufacturer in the world.

• TVS Motors

TVS Motor Company is an Indian multinational motorcycle manufacturer based in Chennai. It is the third-largest motorcycle company in India by revenue. It is the flagship company of the TVS Group. It was founded in 1911 as T. V. Sundram Iyengar & Sons Limited.

Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL)

It is a car manufacturing company. It is a joint venture of Honda Motor Company Limited of Japan and the Indian Company, Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI).  The company was established in 1995. The company was renamed to Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) in September 2012. HCIL's first manufacturing plant was built in Greater Noida, which is the headquarters of the company. It began its production in 1997. Honda set up its second plant in India at Tapukara in Alwar District of Rajasthan

• Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Ltd.

Another Indian automobile manufacturer is Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKM). It was established in 1997. A joint venture between the Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor Corporation and Kirloskar Group for the manufacture and sales of Toyota cars in India. The headquarters are located in Bidadi, Karnataka, near Bengaluru. TKM has delivered an extensive variety of car models including Glanza, Innova, Corolla, Fortuner, Camry and the Land Cruiser. 

• Hindustan Motors

Hindustan Motors is one of the earlier best car company in India. It was founded in 1942. It was previously nation's biggest car makers before Maruti Udyog. Hindustan Motors manufactured the Ambassador and Landmaster motorcars, both became immensely popular from 1957 to 2014. Its famous model 'Ambassador' has been broadly used as government limousine and additionally taxi cab in India.

• Ashok Leyland

Ashok Leyland Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturer, with its headquarters in Chennai. It was founded in 1948 as Ashok Motors and became Ashok Leyland in the year 1955 after collaboration with British Leyland. It is now owned by the Hinduja Group. They manufactures commercial vehicles, buses and lorries.

• Kinetic Engineering Ltd.

Kinetic Engineering Limited is an Indian automotive manufacturer established in the year 1972. Today it is an automotive component manufacturer which earlier sold two-wheeler vehicles under the brand names of Kinetic Honda and later Kinetic Motors. It introduced the Kinetic Luna and are sold well domestically.

• Force Motors Limited

Force Motors Ltd is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Pune. It was founded in 1958. The company was eralier known in the name of Bajaj Tempo Motors because it originated as a joint venture between Bajaj Trading Corporation (now Bajaj Auto) and Germany's Tempo for manufacturing auto components. The company is known for its brand names like Gurkha, Matador, Minidor and Traveller.

• Eicher Motors Limited

Eicher Motors Limited is a multinational automotive company of india that manufactures motorcycles and commercial vehicles. It was founded in 1948 with its base in New Delhi. Eicher is the parent company of Royal Enfield, which was a manufacturer of middleweight motorcycles. It also manufactures Eicher branded trucks and buses, under a joint venture with Volvo Group.