History of cars in india

                           

Audi

• Founded: 1909
• Country: Germany
• Owner: Volkswagen Group
• Subsidiaries: Lamborghini S.p.A
• Headquarters: Ingolstadt, Germany

Audi AG is the luxury series of car from the German automobile major Volkswagen AG. It is part of Volkswagen Group’s premier segment. Audi manufactures cars ranging from sedans, coupes, sport SUVs in various body styles. It was started in the year 1966. It was represented in 110 countries as on year 2004. It established itself as a separate division named Audi India. Audi India uses the Skoda’s assembly unit in Aurangabad to assemble its Audi A4 and Audi A6.

It has been constantly developing innovating technologies to keep it abreast from the pack. Some of the technologies worth mentioning are Galvanized body Shell, Drive Layout, Audi Space Frame (ASF), Direct Shift gearbox, Fuel stratified injection, etc. They have petrol and diesel engines among the current models. Audi produces passenger segment luxury sedans, hatchbacks, SUV, compact crossover and full size cross over. They also have similar classification in sports cars and also manufacture Racing models.

Aston Martin

• Founded: 1913
• Country: UK
• Owner: Investments Dar, Adeem Investments
• Headquarters: Gaydon, United Kingdom

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British luxury car manufacturer founded in the year 1913. It was passed into various hands during various times. From 1994 to 2007 it was with Ford Motors and was part of their Premier Automotive Group. It has stood test of times due to wars and constant leadership changes and it is still going stronger.

Aston Martin is still producing passenger segment luxury sports cars and racing cars. They have been participating in leading racing shows. The current models produced by Aston Martin are V8 Vantage, V8 Vantage Roadster, V12 Vantage, Aston Martin DB9, DB9 Volante, Aston Martin DBS V12, DBS Volante, Rapide, Cygnet and Virage. Aston Martin cars have appeared in many films and culture. It was shown in Alfred Hitchcock movies and James Bond movies. Aston Martin has launched its luxury car models in India in 2011. It’s rivals are Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Maserati.

Bentley

• Founded: 1919
• Country: United Kingdom
• Owner: Volkswagen Group
• Headquarters: Crewe, England, UK

Bentley Motors Limited was founded in the year 1919 by E O Bentley. During the World War I, Bentley was famous for his rotary aero-engines. Post war era, Bentley designed and produced cars and participated in 24 hours of Le Mans in 1924. Bentley cars went on to win 4 times in a row from 1927 to 1930. In 1931 purchase Rolls Royce in the year 1931, which again was purchased by the German auto major Volkswagen Group in 1998. It still operates from Crewe, Cheshire in England.

Like other luxury cars, Bentley was featured in number of movies like "The Thomas Crown Affair", "The Punisher", "Rushmore", "The Longest Yard", "The Hangover", "The Dark Knight", "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra", "2012", etc. Models that are available still are Mulsanne, Continental Flying Spur, Continetntal Supersports, New Continental GT, New Continental GTC and Continental GTC.

BMW

• Founded: 1916
• Country: Germany
• Subsidiaries: MINI, Rolls-Royce
• Headquarters: Munich, Germany

BMW expands to Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, which translates into Bavarian Motor Works. BMW is a manufacturer of automobile, motorcycle and engine. It was producing engines to Rolls Royce cars and it is the parent company of Rolls Royce Motor Cars. BMWhas participated in number of Formula One Racing, Tour Car Racing, Rallies, Sports Car Racing, Motorcycle Sports and Motorcycle Sports Sponsorship. BMW with its rich past and history made its debut in India in March 2007. It invested around 1.1 billion dollars in Chennai facility in Tamil Nadu. It also has opened an International Purchasing Office in Gurgaon, which offers IT, Engineering and Purchase services from India for worldwide operations. Some of the models are manufactured in India and some are imported. The models that are manufactured in Chennai facility are BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 series, BMW X1 and BMW X3. 

Bugatti

• Founded: 1909
• Owner: Hispano-Suiza
• Headquarters: Molsheim, France

Bugatti was founded in 1909 by French Car Manufacturer. The founders and pioneers behind the design and elegance was a father and son duo named Ettore Bugatti and Jean Bugatti. After the death of the father and son, the company could not recoup and revive itself. It was also manufacturing airplane spare parts. It is owned by Volkswagen Group presently and has started producing limited edition of sports car. In 2005, they introduced Bugatti Veyron the fastest car in the world with legal road speed limits. It was introduced in India in the year 2011.

Bugatti Veyron reaches a maximum speed of 400km/hour. The model Bugatti 16.4 means 16 cylinder and 4 turbo that gives the performance, acceleration and speed. It has 7 gears and double clutch. The braking force is due to the carbon discs and aerodynamically designed rear wings. The car is designed with lightweight materials in order to achieve such high speeds

Ferrari

• Founded: 1929
• Country: Italy
• Owner: Fiat
• Headquarters: Maranello, Italy

Ferrari S.p.A is an Italian auto major founded in the year 1929. Ferrari is known for its continued participation and success in Formula One racing.  Since its inception Ferrari has been continuously participating in various categories of racing through its Scuderia Ferrari. They manufacture cars under four main categories and they are Road cars, Race cars, Super cars, Concept Cars Special, Bio-fuel and hybrid cars. The racing cars carry the ‘prancing horse’ drawn on the sides. Ferrari made its entry into India in 2011 by opening a Ferrari showroom in Delhi to target the young and rich, who nowadays are looking for luxury and high end luxury sports cars. The popular models such as the California, 458 Italia, 599 GTB Fiorano and the latest FF models are showcased in the showroom. India is the 58th country in which Ferrari opened their showroom.

Jaguar

• Founded: 1922
• Country: England
• Owner: Tata Motors
• Headquarters: Coventry, England

Jaguar and Land Rover was British Luxury Sedan and SUV manufacturer. Founded in 1922, it is now 100% subsidiary of Tata Motors. Though it has thrived under various leaderships, it has come a long way in making most desirable cars in the world. In 2008, Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land Rover from Ford Motors which was part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group.

There were lots of speculation about a small car manufacturer acquiring a luxury car manufacturer, the future of JLR during the economic crisis, job security and technology theft. However Tata Motors have come back strongly out of all these speculations and it has turned JLR business unit to a successful and strong unit. In fact the sales of JLR business unit have increased worldwide under Tata’s leadership. All the three current models XJ, XF and SK sedan models are available in India. From the Land Rover division, Freelander, Discovery and Range Rover SUV models are also sold.

Lamborghini

• Founded: 1963
• Country: Italy
• Owner: Audi AG
• Headquarters: Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy

Lamborghini, known as Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., is an Italian Sports car manufacturer. It is part of Audi group which is subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, since 1998. It was originally designed to compete with Ferrari in touring cars segment. The models currently available are Gallardo and Spyder. In 2011, they launched their latest and flagship model Lamborghini Aventador at Geneva Motor Show. It is fastest Lamborghini made. They also take part in various car racings around the world. It is lighter and more fuel efficient than the outgoing car model. It is also said that Boeing has also taken care of design and developing the body. Volkswagen has some stakes in Boeing, hence this development for Lamborghini. It is made of reinforced carbon fiber. Due to its construction and construction materials, the car can gather enormous speeds at such a lower time.

Land Rover

• Founded: 1978
• Country: England
• Owner: Tata Motors
• Headquarters: Gaydon, Warwickshire, England

Land Rover is a British car manufacturer, manufacturing four wheel drive cars. It is the second oldest four wheel drive car manufacturers after Jeep. Land Rover was under various ownership and leadership changes. It was acquired by Tata Motors in the year 2008 from Ford Motors. It is still designed and manufactured in England. However, Tata Motors is planning to start a plant in China to cut costs and improve sales. Land Rover vehicles have been used by British Defense and it still sells some of the models for Military purposes. Apart from this, they manufacture engines. Freelander 2 is manufactured in Pune plant in India and there is two-fold increase in sales of Jaguar and Land Rover models worldwide, particularly in India. The increase in sale of cars from this unit of Tata Motors has turned out to be a worthy acquisition in terms of profitability.

Maserati

• Founded: 1914
• Country: Italy
• Owner: Fiat S.p.A.
• Headquarters: Modena, Italy

Maserati is an Italian car company that manufactured luxury cars in its own style and design. This company which is located in Modena has its emblem as trident. Maserati which was founded in the year 1914 had its major role in the development of sports car culture. Even during the challenging times, this company has stood out with his glorious achievements, which is the main reason for the company to top the order. The company's personality and character have helped it to achieve important milestones in the story of Maserati cars.
Apart from its sports achievements, it has also manufactured great road cars. Maserati began has a local car company and then moved on to become a great international player, representing 57 countries. Throughout its production history, it has built high quality and reliable cars. This excellence has been achieved by constantly working on satisfaction levels and client’s expectations. The main objective of Maserati is to improve the production process of the existing products, and give a product filled with high-tech components.

Mercedes

• Founded: 1881
• Country: Germany
• Owner: Daimler AG
• Headquarters: Stuttgart, Germany

Mercedes Benz is the most loved car of all ages. The luxury and technology used in these cars set the standards for sophistication. This iconic German manufacturer was founded in 1886, since then it has rocked the world with its technology. Damiler was the one who acquired the rights to name it Mercedes in 1901. Later Daimler merged with Benz to build such high-performance luxury automobiles. Mercedes has been associated with India for quite a long time. I think for more than 50 years.
It covers several domains in India, which included local production of Mercedes-Benz cars, importing Mercedes cars, commercial vehicle operations, global sourcing of auto components, research and development of automotive technology. Furthermore, Mercedes is also involved in many social oriented programs across many parts of India. Some of them includes, Biofuel from Jatropha, road safety projects undertaking for children, automotive education, etc. To conclude, “Nobody can deny the fact that Mercedes is a great car to buy and drive on the roads."

Mitsubishi

• Founded: 1970
• Country: Japan
• Headquarters: Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Mitsubishi, which is one of the famous automobile companies of today launched its first model in the year 1917. This was the first vehicle to be introduced in the Japan’s series production. Over the years, the company has emerged as a great innovator of new technologies. This gave rise to the first Japanese diesel engine. The company grew to greater heights with its first diesel-powered truck. However, after the Second World War Japan’s industrial groups were split.
During which, even the Mitsubishi industry was split into three regional companies. Each of them was involved in motor vehicle manufacturing. After a big struggle in Japan’s economy, there was a rising need for family motoring. This was fulfilled by Mitsubishi 500. Later in 1970s, the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation was formed, and it started to emerge as a strong automobile industry, not only in Japan but even in other parts of the world.

Nissan

• Founded: 1931
• Country: Japan
• Subsidiaries: Infiniti
• Headquarters: Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan

Nissan is a Japanese Motor Company with its headquarters located at Japan. Formerly, this was one among the Nissan Group, but now it has become independent after the restructuring done by Carbs Ghosn, the CEO. If you can recall about the model named Diamante, which was a luxury sedan made by the Japanese automaker, was outdated in the year 2004.
Rumors about this model in the automobile market speaks about its entry again in the Japanese domestic market. The ongoing partnership between Mitsubishi and Nissan has opened up the gate to convert few versions of Mitsubishi cars to Nissan. Fuga, a car produced by Nissan is already made its way into the North American market as Infiniti M, and this is how the people also know. The rebadged version is the current marketing technique followed by Nissan to enter the North American market.

Porsche

• Founded: 1931
• Country: Germany
• Subsidiaries: Volkswagen AG
• Headquarters: Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, Germany

Porsche the short form of Porsche Automobile Holding SE is a European public company. Furthermore, this is a German based holding company having investments in the automotive industry. Porsche cars are considered to be one of the finest performing vehicles in the world. Its untarnished reputation has enabled it to climb up the ladder among the best car maker in the world. There is nothing like driving a Porsche vehicle. For many years, Porsche has involved itself in making sleek sports car, but now the company has decided to expand its lineup by manufacturing other types of vehicles. From the beginning, Porsche has exhibited great resilience.

Rolls Royce

• Founded: 1904
• Country: England
• Owner: BMW
• Headquarters: Goodwood, England

At Rolls Royce Motors they strive for perfection in all that they do. Ghost was one of the technologically advanced model every built by Rolls Royce. Recently, it has joined hands with the Phantom family to manufacture luxury vehicles and capture even the luxury car market. Both these pinnacle products are hand built, with its manufacturing unit situated at Goodwood, England. Rolla Royce is the world leading provider of power systems. Its service is used in sea, land and air. Also, it has been holding a strong position in the global markets. It has rendered its services to every area of the world. It includes the defence aerospace, marine, civil aerospace and energy and nuclear. In every area it has achieved great power and victory.

Toyota

• Founded: 1937
• Country: Japan
• Subsidiaries: Lexus, Scion
• Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan

Toyota, The famous car manufacturing company has been striving hard to get back to its form after the earthquake that happened on March 11. Later, the tsunami in Japan also affected the company’s net profit to a great extent. The earnings for the April-June quarter of this year were again a disaster for the company. The tsunami affected the factors and also the supply chains in Japan, which led to the economic downturn of the company as well as the country.
After the earthquake, all the work at the manufacturing unit for stopped for two weeks, and production started to happen from April in all the Toyota domestic factories at a small range. Even after the major disaster, the company has made a striking comeback. The world’s greatest car maker, Toyota, is expecting to increase its profit by 40% percent in the next fiscal year. It has already started to work towards its goal by making up for the lost production with extra shifts.

Volvo

• Founded: 1927
• Country: Sweden
• Headquarters: Gothenburg, Sweden

The Swedish Volvo for long has been the forerunner in safety research. Its vehicles have unbelievable crash test scores to prove it. Recently, this brand that improved its offerings by designing vehicle that offers generous amounts of performance and style. The AB Volvo, the Swedish builder of commercial vehicles which includes the buses, trucks, and construction equipment. Apart from this, it also supplies aerospace components, marine and industrial drive systems, and financial services.
Although, this company was incorporated in 1927, it was first the subsidiary of AB SKF who was a Swedish ball bearing manufacturer. Recently, the Volvo group has restructured its truck business and has launched a new organization. It is important that this new organization utilizes the global potential of products and brands within the truck operations. For example, it is good to organize the sales and the marketing division of all the truck companies under 3 regional organizational units, and everything comes under the direct supervision of the CEO.

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