Car Articles

India is growing fast and wide in every sector of manufacturing and this growth is well reflected in the country’s car industry. The competition in the automobile industry in India is at its peak with a new car has being launched every other week which leaves customers with ample options to choose from and enough options to get confused with as well. Because of the many government restrictions, the car industry in India witnessed slow growth till 1991 and it was the economic reforms in that year that paved way for heavy growth. With domestic and multinational investments, the Indian automobile industry is expected to see much more growth in the years to come and will become an important hub for car manufacturers of the world. Several interesting factors such as increase in income levels, high ownership capacity, increase in population, change in lifestyle, availability of more car models, and low interest rates are prime reasons for the prosperity and growth of the Indian car market.

India saw a shift from its popular car Ambassador, which once dominated the market, when Japanese car manufacturing giant Suzuki collaborated with the Indian brand Maruti. This was the start of a new era in the Indian car market. Many foreign companies started investing in the Indian car market afterward and string of tie-ups led to the establishment of several successful car manufacturing partnerships in the country. The joint venture of Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault is a good example of this. The extremely prosperous Maruti and Suzuki collaboration accounts for a large chunk of the car sales in the country and enjoys an extremely healthy market share. There are other famous Asian car brands such as Honda and Hyundai that have been very successful as well. These three top car brands of Asia can be regarded as the best three in the Indian car market.

Founded by Michio Suzukiin in 1909 in the village of Hamamatsu, Japan, the company specializes in manufacturing motorcycles, All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), wheelchairs, compact automobiles, a variety of small combustion engines, and marine engines. It was Suzuki, through its joint venture with Maruti, which broke the monotony of the Ambassadors and Padminis in India. Maruti is Suzuki’s greatest and most acclaimed subsidiary. The main focus of this joint venture was to make affordable cars for the middle class people and turned out to be a huge success. Maruti Suzuki has brought out many models all of which have been extremely successful in the Indian car market. The first model to be launched by Maruti Suzuki was Maruti Suzuki 800 in 1983 and this majorly successful car was followed by the Maruti Suzuki Omni minivan in 1984, which too found popularity with the Indian public. A host of other car models followed later namely Gypsy, 1000, Esteem, Zen (which became very popular because of its high performance), WagonR, Baleno, Alto, Grand Vitara, Versa, Zen Estilo, SX4, and now the very recent Ritz. Maruti Suzuki has always been a strong competitor for most of the other car manufacturers in India. With a high yearly turnover, Maruti Suzuki is a very profitable company. Maruti Exports Limited, a subsidiary of Maruti Udyog Limited, concentrates on car exports to international car markets.