Automobiles

The growth of the Indian middle class along with the growth of the economy over the past few years has attracted global auto majors to the Indian market. Moreover, India provides trained manpower at competitive costs making India a favoured global manufacturing hub. The attractiveness of the Indian markets on one hand and the stagnation of the auto sector in markets such as Europe, US and Japan on the other have resulted in shifting of new capacities and flow of capital to the Indian automobile industry.


The Indian auto industry has been growing at the rate of 15-27 per cent over the past five years. According to the International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2008 released by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation's (UNIDO), India ranks 12th in the list of the world's top 15 automakers. Moreover, Indian car makers are earning acclaim worldwide. The home-grown automaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has emerged as the fourth most reputed auto company in the world, even ahead of its parent Suzuki Motor Co of Japan, according to the Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations list, compiled by US-based Reputation Institute.


Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are making their mark today with Tata and Mahindra & Mahindra as leading Indian OEMs emerging on the global scene. With increasing competition from the global players, Indian OEMs have upgraded their technology and are manufacturing superior-designed vehicles. 'Frugal Engineering' has become the hallmark of the Indian automotive industry, with Indian OEMs leveraging the Indian lead in cost-effectiveness and a highly-skilled human resource pool to bring down the product development cost.


Additionally, competencies of their suppliers have also helped to lessen costs and manufacturing time. In fact, global OEMs are now looking at benefiting from the India advantage by using India-based design and development centres. Tata Ace, Indica and Nano, and Mahindra's Scorpio are examples of products developed by Indian OEMs after painstaking market research about the specific needs of the Indian consumer.