Indian Automobile Industry
Hailed as ‘the industry of industries’ by Peter Drucker, the founding father of the study of management, in 1946, the automobile industry had evolved continuously with changing timesfrom craft production in 1890s to mass production in 1910s to lean production techniques in the1970s.The automotive industry in India grew at a computed annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5 percentover the past five years, the Economic Survey 2008-09 tabled in parliament on 2 nd July’09 said.The industry has a strong multiplier effect on the economy due to its deep forward and backwardlinkages with several key segments of the economy, a finance ministry statement said.The automobile industry, which was plagued by the economic downturn amidst a credit crisis,managed a growth of 0.7 percent in 2008-09 with passenger car sales registering 1.31 percentgrowth while the commercial vehicles segment slumped 21.7 percent.Indian automobile industry has come a long way to from the era of the Ambassador car to Maruti800 to latest M&M Xylo. The industry is highly competitive with a number of global and Indiancompanies present today. It is projected to be the third largest auto industry by 2030 and just behind to US & China, according to a report. The industry is estimated to be a US$ 34 billionindustry.Indian Automobile industry can be divided into three segments i.e. two wheeler, three wheeler &four wheeler segment. The domestic two-wheeler market is dominated by Indian as well asforeign players such as Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, Honda Motors, TVS Motors, and Suzuki etc.Maruti Udyog and Tata Motors are the leading passenger car manufacturers in the country. AndIndia is considered as strategic market by Suzuki, Yamaha, etc. Commercial Vehicle market iscatered by players like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Volvo, Force Motors, Eicher Motors etc.The major players have not left any stone unturned to be global. Major of the players