Car manufacturers Maruti, Volkswagen and General Motors are working on bringing out car models that will be manufactured completely in India, using the technical expertise of Indian engineers. These cars will be built specifically for the Indian market, with the tastes and needs of the Indian buyer in mind.
Maruti and Volkswagen have already announced their plans, while GM hinted at a ‘strong possibility’ of such a project being undertaken in the future. Maruti aims to increase its engineering workforce, which stands at 560 today, to 1000 by 2010 and to launch its made-in-India car by 2011. Volkswagen will also build an India-made car and is presently in the process of planning the various levels of engineering for the project.
GM India President and Managing Director Karl Slym said, “There is a strong likelihood that a car will be built entirely in India considering the strong presence we have here. Our Bangalore technical centre will play a pivotal role if that happens. However, the car will not be restricted just to the Indian market. It will be exported too.”
Experts say that automobile companies are focusing on made-in-India cars with the idea of containing costs, the cost of development in India being among the lowest in the world. “Instead of reworking and fine-tuning their international models, mainly compact cars, companies are not shying away from investing into India for the development of new models. Besides, some Indian models such as the Hyundai i10 and the Maruti A-Star (Alto in overseas markets) are hot favourites in places like Europe,” stated a Mumbai-based analyst.