The Indian automotive market currently dominated by Tata's, Maruti's, Hyundai's, Toyota's and Ford's, was once a market where cars were meant only for the rich. Be it the Ford Model T or the Fiat 1100/ Premier Padmini or even a Reliant Robin.
It all began in 1897 when the first car was imported to India by a resident of Calcutta. In 1898, Jamshedji Tata and four other members of the Parsi club of Bombay imported cars to India. This lead Dunlop to open its first office and service center in Bombay the very year.
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| De Dion 8 CV |
Though the north was going hustle-bustle with cars, Madras was quite the opposite. It is believed that India's first car was spotted on Mount Road for a short period. If that sighting is unconfirmed then the first proper use of a car in the south was by Mr. A.J.Yorke, a director of Parry and Co. who drove every day from Ben's Garden Adayar to Black town in Parrys, though the car was in India, it was not registered in India. The first car to be registered in Madras was in 1904. a Fiat Sports owned by Mr. Francis Spring (registered as MC-01), who then was the Secretary at the Madras Railway Board, he later became Father of the Madras Harbour. The first South Indian to own a car was the famous architect Mr. Namberumal Chetty. He imported a De Dion Bouton 8 CV in 1908 it was the third car registered in Madras with the registration MC-03.
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| Steam Bus |
The beginning of automotive production was briefly started by Simpsons and Co when the company's founder Samuel John Green built India's first steam car in 1903. Madras Mail services lauded this invention and regarded this would bring about a new industry for Madras. Two years later, Simpsons manufactured a steam bus and thereby created India's first bus route between Vijayawada and Masulipatnam.
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| TVS Bus Services |
In 1912, T V Sundaram Iyengar commenced operation of buses in Madras under the TVS name. It wasn't until 1922 that TVS stepped into the automotive market. 1923 marked TVS' first automotive dealership (presently Sundaram Motors). By 1925 the number of cars in India had risen to 13,500 with two automotive giants approaching the Indian market. Ford and General Motors were the two manufacturers who entered into manufacturing in India in 1928. Ford plant was set up in Madras, Bombay and Calcutta of which the Madras and Calcutta are still functional while GM set its plant at Bombay. As the wartime approached both Ford and GM pulled the socket from their Indian divisions.
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| Dodge Kingsway in Madras |
The 1940's marked the beginning of the Indian Automotive Industry. An embryonic industry that served a meager market of the wealthy. The initial years were plagued by unfavorable government policies. The only cars that were manufactured in India were the Morris Oxford, the Triumph/ Standard Vanguard, and Premier that began production by building vehicles under license from Dodge and Plymouth.
1953 saw the government of independent India, intervene in matters. The role of the government
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| Premier Padmini |
was welcomed by the private sector and heavy investment was made, but the growth wasn't up to the expected lines mainly due to the prevalence of nationalization and license raj. This was also the time when the legendary Ambassador was indigenized. The only cars on sale during this period were the Morris Oxford a.k.a the Hindustan Ambassador, Premier 1100, Premier 500(Indian manufactured Fiat 500 and 1100) and the Triumph/Standard Herald and Vitesse.
It was in the 1970s that the production of Indian made cars took off. Maruti a major player in the market joined hands with the Japanese car manufacturer Suzuki. By the late 70's the 800 was all over the place. This lead several manufacturers to downsize their vehicles paving way for the Japanese and European automakers to start JVs in India. One such JV was that of Sipani Automobiles in the 1990's. Sipani's JV with Rover and Dolphin Motors, lead to a number of vehicles being assembled in India. Some of which are the Sipani Dolphin and Montana followed by the Rover Montego. Another mentionable investment came from the Korean brothers. Daewoo started a manufacturing plant at Surajpur and went on to produce cars like the Nexia, Matiz, and Cielo but they died out as Japanese automakers like Honda and Toyota began making headway in the market.
The Indian Automarket was always a constantly changing market with customers demanding cars that offer value for money. Several automakers have come and gone but the ones that survived through time have always been kept close to the hearts of Indian buyers.
In the fond memory of the Hindustan Motors and Chevrolet India.
