History of Cars  |  Events & Milestones  |  Advent of cars in India

A behind- the- scenes look into the making of one of India's most vibrant industries. The landmarks along the way...

1928- The first imported car was seen on Indian roads

1942- Hindustan Motors incorporated

1944- Premier automobiles started

1948- First car manufactured in India

1953- The Government of India decreed that only those firms which have a manufacturing program should be allowed to operate

1955- Only seven firms, namely, HM, API, ALL, SMPIL, PAL, M& M and TELCO received approval.

1960 - 1970 - The two, three wheeler industry established a foothold in the Indian scenario.

1970 - 1980 - Not much change was witnessed during this period. The major factors affecting the industry were the implementation of the MRTP Act( Monopolies and Trade Restrictive Practices Act), FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act) and the Oil Shock of 1973 and 1979.

1980 - 1990 - The first phase of liberalization was announced by the Govt. -With the liberalization of the Government's protectionist policies, the advantages hitherto enjoyed by the Indian car manufacturers like monopoly, oligopoly, slowly began to disappear.


This period is also marked by the entry of a large number of firms in the market. 4 Japanese manufacturers entered the Commercial Vehicle and Two- Wheeler market.


The Government agreed to the demand for allowing foreign collaboration in the automobile sector.

The industry witnessed a resurgence due to major policy changes like relaxation in MRTP and FERA, delicensing of some ancillary products, broad banding of the products and modification in the licensing policy. Also, the concessions it gave to the private sector and the new foreign collaboration policy, all resulted in higher growth and better performance of the industry than in the earlier decades.

The Government of India tied up with Suzuki Inc. of Japan which produced India's most successful car- the Maruti.

1991 - Under the Govt.'s new National Industrial Policy, the license raj was dispensed with, and the automobile industries were allowed to expand freely.

1993 - With the winds of liberalization sweeping the Indian car market, many multinationals like Daewoo, Peugeot, general Motors, Mercedes-Benz and Fiat came into the Indian car market.

1997 - The National Highway Policy was announced which will hopefully have a positive impact on the automobile industry. The Government also laid down the emission standards to be met by car manufacturers in India in the coming millennium. There were two successively stringent emission levels to be met by April 2000 and April 2005, respectively. These norms were benchmarked on the basis of those already adopted in Europe, hence the names Euro I (equivalent to India 2000) and the Indian equivalent of Euro II.

1999 - The Hon’ble Supreme Court passed an order directing all car manufacturers to comply with Euro I emission norms (India 2000 norms) by the 1st of May, 1999 in National Capital Region(NCR) of Delhi. The deadline was later extended to 1st June, 1999.

History of Cars  |  Events & Milestones  |  Advent of cars in India