History
The first car ran on India's roads in 1899. Until the 1930s, cars were imported directly, but in very small numbers.
An embryonic automotive industry emerged in India in the 1940s. Mahindra & Mahindra was established by two brothers in 1945, and began assembly of Jeep CJ-3A utility vehicles. Following the independence, in 1947, the Government of India and the private sector launched efforts to create an automotive component manufacturing industry to supply to the automobile industry. However, the growth was relatively slow in the 1950s and 1960s due to nationalisation and the license raj which hampered the Indian private sector. Total restrictions for import of vehicles was set and after 1970 the automotive industry started to grow, but the growth was mainly driven by tractors, commercial vehicles and scooters. Cars were still a major luxury. Eventually multinational automakers, such as, though not limited to, Suzuki and Toyota of Japan and Hyundai of South Korea, were allowed to invest in the Indian market ultimately leading to the establishment of an automotive industry in India. A number of foreign firms also initiated joint ventures with Indian companies.
As of 18 March 2013 global brands such as Proton Holdings, PSA Group, and Geely Holding Group are shelving plans for India due to the global economic crisis.
Read more about this topic: Two Wheelers In India
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“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)
“Postmodernism is, almost by definition, a transitional cusp of social, cultural, economic and ideological history when modernism’s high-minded principles and preoccupations have ceased to function, but before they have been replaced with a totally new system of values. It represents a moment of suspension before the batteries are recharged for the new millennium, an acknowledgment that preceding the future is a strange and hybrid interregnum that might be called the last gasp of the past.”
—Gilbert Adair, British author, critic. Sunday Times: Books (London, April 21, 1991)