As someone rightly said, success is 99% inspiration and 1% perspiration. Successful businesses all over the world are driven by leaders who inspire and products and services that lead to inspired living. When businesses strive to inspire, and not just make their ends meet, it is then that they set an example for the rest of the world to follow.
Indian Automobile Industry: An Inspiration to the World
Did you know? The first time that the Indian roads witnessed a vehicle was only in 1897.
In fact, you will be amazed to know about the humble beginnings of the Indian automobile industry. For starters, there was no manufacturing facility for cars till 1930. Vehicles had to be imported from other countries. A decade or so later, Indian companies like Hindustan Motors and Premier started manufacturing cars, but not for their own firms. They supplied contractually to firms from other countries.
The aftermath of independence in 1947 was a scramble of efforts and struggles of the government at that time to put together the skeleton for an independent automobile industry that could manufacture and supply cars on its own. The restrictions set on imports slowed down the industry to a great extent between 50s and 60s.The classic Ambassador model by Hindustan Motors had a monopoly in the market between 60s and 80s, coupled with a slight rise in demand for commercial utility vehicles. Overall, the Indian automobile industry was still largely struggling even at this time.
A new entrant in the 1980s transformed the automobile landscape in India forever. Maruti Udyog Limited entered the market in its full glory and challenged the existing players Hindustan Motors and Premier full on. The truth is, Maruti’s eagerness to serve an underserved market and sharpen its business model to fit the Indian context became a tremendous inspiration for automobile enthusiasts, policy-makers and general consumers alike.
The liberalization of Indian economy in 1991 was a tremendous boost for its automobile sector, just like it was for many other industries as well. The automobile industry was now opened up to foreign car manufacturers, automotive investors, and technology players, to invest, outsource and base operations in India. In fact, the first joint venture of an Indian company with a foreign one first happened in the automobile sector – the joint venture between Maruti and Suzuki!
Gradually, major global automobile players such as Hyundai and Honda started making inroads in India. Soon, more and more global giants secured foothold in different parts of the country by setting up manufacturing base for parts and auto-components, assembling units and so on.
Today, India is a major automobile destination of the world. The industry is one of the largest in the world and contributes to more than 7% of India’s GDP, while making up nearly 22% of the country’s manufacturing GDP.
India had a total production of 23.96 mn vehicles in April-March 2015, with a growth rate of 2.58% over the same period last year. We are currently the 6th largest automobile market in the world, and are all set to become the world’s third-largest car market by 2020. When it comes to automotive, we are also one of the most competitive across the globe. While we do not have 100% of technology or components required to manufacture a car on our own, we are nearly there at 97 per cent.
The transformation of Indian automobile industry over a period of little more than a century has been an amazing journey and an inspiration to the rest of the world, especially the other developing third world economies. The automotive aftermarket in India is largely dominated by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who have also grown by leaps and bounds in count and in technology during the last few decades. It is one of the fastest growing segments in the automobile sector, and holds great potential for India’s economy and transport solutions.
It has been an exciting roller-coaster ride so far for one of India’s booming industries, and the road ahead seems to be getting more exciting with the global race for cost-leadership and launching environment-friendly vehicles such as electric cars. It is now to be seen how we fare in the new age automobile adventure and draw inspiration from our eventful history.
References:
http://businessworld.in/article/Make-In-India-Automobiles/20-03-2017-114749/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_India
https://www.ibef.org/industry/india-automobiles.aspx
https://www.cartrade.com/car-bike-news/a-brief-history-of-the-indian-automobile-industry-122518.html
Event – VCCircle
Team Member Message – Jinansh
Inspiration is all around you, all you need to do is find it as it helps us overcome our own limitations. In my journey with Indiabizforsale my team’s creativity, innovation and growth has constantly inspired me to do more and overcome my limitations.