1.1 Introduction There was a time in India when the portly Ambassador was India's most coveted and popular car. The Indian car buyer had to wait for months on end and even years before he could lay his hands on an ambassador or a Fiat Padmini which was usually handed over by nonchalant, supercilious salesmen. It was the Maruti 800, a product of the Japanese car giant Suzuki collaborating with Indian car maker Maruti which became a veritable watershed in the Indian auto market. It became the small car which Indian nuclear middle class families aspired to, it was compact and traffic-friendly, it also was easily maneuvered through Indian by-lanes and ‘gallis’ with ease.
But now that too is history. India has become one of the world's fastest-growing car markets with scores of models plying the city roads and highways, from the home-grown Tata’s and Maruti’s to Volkswagens and Rolls Royce’s.
Indians have emerged as avid car enthusiasts sporting their prized possessions as status symbols and speed machines. Foreign car companies have discovered the Indian consumer as well as the R & D potential in the Indian technical fraternity and are setting up manufacturing plants right and left across the country at lower costs.
The growing desire for cars also is a sign that Indian roads are finally good enough for international cars to ride on. There are many four to six lane highways in India now and the Golden Quadrilateral, which passes through New Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Mumbai proves that the Indian government takes infrastructure development very seriously.
Millions of Indian families will enter the car boom bracket in the next two years according to surveys. The auto boom in 2004 was with a 29 per cent growth rate was followed by a lull in 2005 due to meteoric fuel