Cars That Shaped The Indian Auto Industry

The Maruti 800 was the first small city car in the Indian market. It was in production for more than 3 decades starting from 1983. It got its name from the 800 cc F8 engine and more than 2.66 million units have been sold in India

The Tata Indica was launched in 1998 and it was the first ever diesel hatchback in India. It stayed in production till 2018 and Tata exported the car to African and European countries, where it was well received.

The Toyota Innova MPV was first launched in the year 2005 and has been India’s favourite MPV ever since. Big on space and low on maintenance, the Innova replaced the Qualis and to this day is a best-seller for the company!

The Renault Kwid marked the French carmaker’s entry into the entry-level hatchback space. A car built to take on Maruti Suzuki’s Celerio, the Kwid was designed like an SUV. No wonder there are more than 4 lakh cars sold already!

The Nexon is Tata’s first subcompact SUV launched in 2015. Built on the X1 platform, the Nexon was built to last and the 5-star crash test rating it received is proof enough. The Nexon also has an EV version, which has been a top seller as well.

The Mahindra Scorpio was first manufactured in the year 2002. The design and conceptualization were all done in-house the development of the car took 5 years. The Scorpio is now a household name synonymous with a tough, rugged, and muscular SUV.

The Hyundai Santro was introduced in 1998 and the tall boy stance attracted the Indian car buyer. With actor Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador, Santro’s popularity soared. The new-gen model came in 2018 but was discontinued 4 years later

The Honda City became India’s most loved sedan since 1996 and continues to be so. Only 5 generations of the car have come to India and now there’s a hybrid avatar as well. The City brought the best of Japanese engineering to India and created and defined the compact sedan segment in India for over 22 years.

The Fiat Padmani Premier was a four-door saloon built by Premier Automobiles Limited in India from 1964 to 2001. This car was at the peak of its popularity during the 70s and 80s and was driven by many renowned celebrities of that time.

The Hindustan 10 was the first car to come out of the Hindustan Motors factory and that was followed by the Ambassador about 10 years later. The Ambassador was a car based on the Morris Minor and continued to be in production for the next 6 decades.