Introduction:

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. India provides trained manpower at competitive costs making India a favoured global manufacturing hub.

Propped by the increase in its car sales after the launch of General Motors’ (GM) new model Beat, along with the robust growth in the Indian automobile sector, Kevin E Wale, President and Managing Director, General Motors China Group stated that India should be among the top ten markets for the company globally by 2011.

Production:

In recent times, India has emerged as one of the favourite investment destinations for automotive manufacturers.

• Nissan Motor India has announced its 'Made-in-India' compact car (hatchback) Nissan Micra at its manufacturing plant at Oragadam, near Chennai. Toshiyuki Shiga, Chief Operating Officer, Nissan Motor Company stated that the India-made Micra will supply to strategic markets such as Europe, Middle East and Africa
• The German luxury car major, BMW has launched four new variants of its new-generation 5-Series sedan in India
• In a bid to capture a bigger share of the ever-expanding consumer base of luxury segment automobiles in India. Volkswagen has launched its luxury sedan model Phaeton, its latest luxury model
• Hyundai plans to bring forth an upgraded version of i30, latest C segment five-door hatchback which is designed by Hyundai European team in Germany and is based on the Hyundai i-flow HED-7 hybrid concept. As per the manufacturer, i30U has entered mass production in March 2010 after debuting at the Geneva Motor Show
• Y V S Vijay Kumar, Executive-Vice President, Hindustan Motors India stated that the company’s Thiruvallur plant has a capacity of 12,000 units and in two years, the company plans to double its manufacturing capacity to reach 24,000 units.
• India's second largest heavy commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd and Japanese car maker Nissan Motor Co. Ltd announced the launch of three light commercial vehicles (LCVs) from 2011 through 2013
• According to Andrew Palmer, senior vice-president, Nissan, the company will start marketing a light commercial vehicle (LCV) under its brand name, from its Oragadam plant near Chennai, in the second half of 2011
• Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India (HMSI), the Indian subsidiary of Japanese auto giant Honda Motor Corporation, will launch its superbike 2010 VFR 1200F in India by December 2010, according to a HMSI executive