Thread Starter
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I don't find in a single place any good details of Indian Automotive History.
Let us put some effort to dig-out the details, lots of pictures and data and share. Process - I will put a timeline and we should all find and put the details for that period.
Inception - 1940s to 1960s
This graph shows how much we grew from start.
In 1940s the Indian automotive industry was at a very nascent stage. An embryonic automotive industry emerges in India.
In the initial years after independence Indian automobile industry was plagued by unfavorable government policies. All it had to offer in the passenger car segment was a 1940s Morris model called the Ambassador.
In 1953, government of India and private sector came together to build an automotive component manufacturing industry to meet the rising needs of the automobile industry. Nonetheless the growth was not on the expected lines, rather relatively slow in the 1950s and 1960s due to the prevalence of nationalization and license raj.
It was in 1897 that a resident of Calcutta brought the first car to India. The next year, there were four cars in Bombay, one of them owned by Jamshedji Tata and the other three also by Parsis. That same year, the first pneumatic tyres arrived in Bombay, with Dunlop opening an office in the city.
Madras, it would appear, lagged behind, though it is related that a car was seen on Mount Road on a brief outing in 1894. If that unconfirmed appearance is ignored, the first recorded date of a car being in regular use in Madras is 1901. The car was owned by A J Yorke, a director of Parry & Co. He drove it daily from Ben’s Gardens, Adyar, to Parry’s in ‘Black Town’. The South’s first registered car, MC-1, belonged to Francis Spring, at that time Secretary of the Madras Railway Board and, in 1904, to become the Chairman of the Madras Port Trust and ‘father’ of the Madras Harbour.
The first Indian-owned car in Madras, MC-3, was building contractor T Namberumal Chetty’s.
In 1903, Samuel John Green of Simpson & Co, Madras, built India’s first steam car and caused a sensation on the roads of the city. The Madras Mail hailed its appearance as the beginning of “a new industry for Madras.” Two years later, Simpson’s built the first steam bus. It ran between Bezwada (Vijayawada) and Masulipatam (Machilipatnam) in what was possibly the first motor bus service in the country.
When TVS commenced operations in 1912, motor transport received a fillip in South India. The firm was founded by T V Sundram Iyengar to operate a bus service. T V Sundram Iyengar and Sons Ltd (now Sundaram Motors) became a vehicle dealer in 1922 after the lifting of Government restrictions on imported vehicles of all types had been put in place during the Great War (1914-18). By 1920, the number of imported vehicles of all types had grown to nearly 13,500 and two international automobile manufacturers, Ford and General Motors, sensing the potential, set up local companies that year to sell and service their motor cars and trucks.
In 1928, General Motors India Ltd commenced assembling trucks and cars in its factory in Bombay, the first car assembled in India rolling off the assembly line on December 4th. Two years later, Ford Motor Co of India Ltd commenced assembly of automobiles in Madras, and the next year in Bombay and Calcutta. And in 1936, Addison & Co Ltd commenced assembly of cars and trucks in Madras.
Hindustan Motors Ltd, Calcutta, and Premier Automobiles Ltd, Bombay, were established in 1942 and 1944 respectively to progressively manufacture complete automobiles. Hindustan Motors, a Birla group company, began manufacturing operations in 1948 by assembling Morris Oxford cars and Bedford trucks, gradually indigenising the components. In 1957, the Morris Oxford, substantially indigenised, was re-introduced as the Hindustan Ambassador.
Let us put some effort to dig-out the details, lots of pictures and data and share. Process - I will put a timeline and we should all find and put the details for that period.
Inception - 1940s to 1960s
This graph shows how much we grew from start.
In 1940s the Indian automotive industry was at a very nascent stage. An embryonic automotive industry emerges in India.
In the initial years after independence Indian automobile industry was plagued by unfavorable government policies. All it had to offer in the passenger car segment was a 1940s Morris model called the Ambassador.
In 1953, government of India and private sector came together to build an automotive component manufacturing industry to meet the rising needs of the automobile industry. Nonetheless the growth was not on the expected lines, rather relatively slow in the 1950s and 1960s due to the prevalence of nationalization and license raj.
It was in 1897 that a resident of Calcutta brought the first car to India. The next year, there were four cars in Bombay, one of them owned by Jamshedji Tata and the other three also by Parsis. That same year, the first pneumatic tyres arrived in Bombay, with Dunlop opening an office in the city.
Madras, it would appear, lagged behind, though it is related that a car was seen on Mount Road on a brief outing in 1894. If that unconfirmed appearance is ignored, the first recorded date of a car being in regular use in Madras is 1901. The car was owned by A J Yorke, a director of Parry & Co. He drove it daily from Ben’s Gardens, Adyar, to Parry’s in ‘Black Town’. The South’s first registered car, MC-1, belonged to Francis Spring, at that time Secretary of the Madras Railway Board and, in 1904, to become the Chairman of the Madras Port Trust and ‘father’ of the Madras Harbour.
The first Indian-owned car in Madras, MC-3, was building contractor T Namberumal Chetty’s.
In 1903, Samuel John Green of Simpson & Co, Madras, built India’s first steam car and caused a sensation on the roads of the city. The Madras Mail hailed its appearance as the beginning of “a new industry for Madras.” Two years later, Simpson’s built the first steam bus. It ran between Bezwada (Vijayawada) and Masulipatam (Machilipatnam) in what was possibly the first motor bus service in the country.
When TVS commenced operations in 1912, motor transport received a fillip in South India. The firm was founded by T V Sundram Iyengar to operate a bus service. T V Sundram Iyengar and Sons Ltd (now Sundaram Motors) became a vehicle dealer in 1922 after the lifting of Government restrictions on imported vehicles of all types had been put in place during the Great War (1914-18). By 1920, the number of imported vehicles of all types had grown to nearly 13,500 and two international automobile manufacturers, Ford and General Motors, sensing the potential, set up local companies that year to sell and service their motor cars and trucks.
In 1928, General Motors India Ltd commenced assembling trucks and cars in its factory in Bombay, the first car assembled in India rolling off the assembly line on December 4th. Two years later, Ford Motor Co of India Ltd commenced assembly of automobiles in Madras, and the next year in Bombay and Calcutta. And in 1936, Addison & Co Ltd commenced assembly of cars and trucks in Madras.
Hindustan Motors Ltd, Calcutta, and Premier Automobiles Ltd, Bombay, were established in 1942 and 1944 respectively to progressively manufacture complete automobiles. Hindustan Motors, a Birla group company, began manufacturing operations in 1948 by assembling Morris Oxford cars and Bedford trucks, gradually indigenising the components. In 1957, the Morris Oxford, substantially indigenised, was re-introduced as the Hindustan Ambassador.
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