Car Articles

The last year of the first decade of the new millennium has been very exciting for the Indian automobile industry. The year 2009 has pushed India to the real motoring scene with a bang.

The most important event of the year was the coming of the Tata Nano. This small car has been able to make some big noise in the automotive world. Tagged as the cheapest car of the world, the Nano has always been in the headlines for both good and bad reasons. But it had its last laugh by winning the Indian Car of the Year award. Besides the Nano, Tata Motors also launched the luxury sedans and high-end SUVs from its Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

India's numero uno car maker Maruti Suzuki had a fruitful year. It has been successful in rolling out more than 80 lakh cars since its first launch in the country on 14th December, 1983. In all these years, it has contributed about Rs 50,000 Crore to the national exchequer.

The Indian car market has been the only car market not to be affected by the global economic depression apart from China's. It has proved the world that the real ‘Big Thing’ is indeed the ‘Small’. It has overtaken Japan to become the largest manufacturer of small or compact cars. Moreover, the Indian car market has edged out China and became the largest exporter of cars. Thanks to the Global Motown Meltdown! As a result of the global economic turnover, the Governments in European nations and US began a “Cash-for Clunker” programme where gas-guzzlers can be swapped with fuel-economic machines. Makers of small and fuel-efficient cars in India were highly benefited by this programme and this led to car exports to these countries in large numbers and eventually to overtake China as the largest car exporter. As a result, Hyundai, India's second largest car maker, became the country's number one exporter of cars.

India has also become the favourite destination for luxury car makers. India has witnessed a slew of luxury cars being launched in 2009. Bentley brought in the legendary Arnage and Continental Flying Spur while Rolls-Royce rolled out the Ghost and Porsche folded out the Panamera. Moreover, the Indian car market has been honoured with top-notch car makers like Bugatti, Ultimate Motors announcing to foray into it in near future. Luxury car makers like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi unleashed many of their luxury products in India and strengthened their position in the market by opening new dealerships. BMW sprang up as the biggest luxury car maker in India with Audi close at its heels. BMW India overtook Mercedes-Benz India from a position that the latter maintained for over two decades.