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
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
“The history of any nation follows an undulatory course. In the trough of the wave we find more or less complete anarchy; but the crest is not more or less complete Utopia, but only, at best, a tolerably humane, partially free and fairly just society that invariably carries within itself the seeds of its own decadence.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)