Automobile Projects are the in thing at this moment.

The automobile industry has gathered immense pace in India in the last few years and hence is flying very high. It was only after globalization, liberalization and privatization that the Indian markets were opened up for the major global automobile players to invest in Indian. This completely changed the Indian scenario and the Indian automobile market made a hugh leap towards modernization. The latest models of all the brands were slowly introduced to test their adaptability with the Indian customers. India holds excellent potential to become a hub for manufacturing cars and will be the largest manufacturer of cars. An embryonic automotive industry started in India in the 1940's. For the next 50 years, the growth of the industry was hobbled by the Socialist policies and the bureaucratic hurdles of the license raj. Following economic liberalisation in India from 1991, and the gradual easing of restrictions on industry, India has seen a dynamic 17% annual growth in automobile production and 30% annual growth in exports of automotive components and automobiles. India produces around 2 million automobiles currently. The Largest automotive companies in India are Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. Total turnover of the Indian automobile industry is expected to

grow from USD 34 Billion in 2006 to USD 122 Billion in 2016. Tata Motors has just launched Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world at USD 2200. Foreign auto companies with assembly plants in India include, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Suzuki, Nissan Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, koda, BMW, Fiat and Mercedes Benz. India has overtaken China in global auto exports of compact cars for 2009 . Suzuki Motor Corp, Hyundai Motor Co, and Nissan Motor Co are making India a manufacturing hub for small cars. And to the surprise of all the makers, they were readily and highly acceptable by the Indian buyers. Even the Indian consumers wanted to feel the luxury of the high end cars and have a feel of the new technology as well. This resulted in the healthy growth of the automobile industry in India. The next step was to make India a perfect automobile hub for Asia, South-East Asia and if possible then a global hub. To add to this, the strategic importance of India played a major role in the development of the Indian market. The focus right now is on funding the experiments that are being carried on the innovative projects in the automobile industry.

A lot of experimental work is also being carried on the implementation of indigenous technology along with the adaptations of imported technology for Indian standards. The new age Bio Fuels and hybrid vehicles are the most growing areas of the Indian automobile industry. Along with that the field of Infotronics, is also catching up very fast. The long term aim for this particular sector is to make India the manufacturing workshop of the world. The research center that has been opened in Tamil Nadu for automobile research and development is going to make India a leading candidate in the field of auto research. The hybrid and alternate fuel projects have already taken a step forward with the introduction of the Hybrid Hydrogen fuel enabled Scorpio by Mahindra & Mahindra. It's the first indigenously manufactured hydrogen fuel vehicle. They are planning to launch it commercially by the year 2008. Along with this the Indian Government is saying that by 2020, there would be approximately a million hydrogen fuelled vehicles on the Indian roads.

The largest automobile manufacturer in South Asia, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., is a publicly listed automaker in India and a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, incorporated in February, 1981. Largely credited for having brought in a revolution in the Indian automobile industry, the automaker began its production in 1983 with Maruti 800. On September 17, 2007, Maruti Udhyog Limited was renamed Maruti Suzuki India Limited, while locating its headquarters in Delhi. The manufacturer exports approximately 50,000 cars annually and has a large domestic market of 730,000 sales annually. The manufacturer is presenting its customers with applaud able models like A-star, Swift, Estillo, Wagon R, Alto, Grand Vitara, etc.

The automobile industry in India is the ninth largest in the world with an annual production of over 2.3 million units in 2008. In 2009, India emerged as Asia's fourth largest exporter of automobiles, behind Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

Following economic liberalization in India in 1991, the Indian automotive industry has demonstrated sustained growth as a result of increased competitiveness and relaxed restrictions. Several Indian automobile manufacturers such as Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra and Mahindra, expanded their domestic and international operations. India's robust economic growth led to the further expansion of its domestic automobile market which attracted significant India-specific investment by multinational automobile manufacturers. In February 2009, monthly sales of passenger cars in India exceeded 100,000 units. bryonic automotive industry emerged in India in the 1940s. 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. 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. Japanese manufacturers entered the Indian market ultimately leading to the

establishment of Maruti Udyog. A number of foreign firms initiated joint ventures with Indian companies. In the 1980s, a number of Japanese manufacturers launched joint-ventures for building motorcycles and light commercial-vehicles. It was at this time that the Indian government chose Suzuki for its joint-venture to manufacture small cars. Following the economic liberalisation in 1991 and the gradual weakening of the license raj, a number of Indian and multi-national car companies launched operations. Since then, automotive component and automobile manufacturing growth has accelerated to meet domestic and export demands. Exports India has emerged as one of the world's largest manufacturers of small cars. According to New York Times, India's strong engineering base and expertise in the manufacturing of low-cost, fuel-efficient cars has resulted in the expansion of manufacturing facilities of several automobile companies like Hyundai Motors, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen and Suzuki.[6]

In 2008, Hyundai Motors alone exported 240,000 cars made in India. Nissan Motors plans to export 250,000 vehicles manufactured in its India plant by 2011. Similarly, General Motors announced its plans to export about 50,000 cars manufactured in India by 2011. In September 2009, Ford Motors announced its plans to setup a plant in India with an annual capacity of 250,000 cars for US$500 million. The cars will be manufactured both for the Indian market and for export. The company said that the plant was a part of its plan to make India the hub for its global production business. Fiat Motors also announced that it would source more than US$1 billion worth auto components from India. According to Bloomberg L.P., in 2009 India surpassed China as Asia's fourth largest exporter of cars.