SOUTHERN COMFORT

The south continues to be a favourite destination for OEMs thanks to a host of advantages like a skilled workforce, robust vendor base, quality of life. While Tamil Nadu continues to be the leader, Karnataka, AP and Telangana are keen to grow their presence even more aggressively. Sricharan R files this story.

- Sricharan R

The south has been an integral part of the country’s automotive roadmap dating back to the time when the TVS group made a name for itself in Tamil Nadu for its remarkable efficiency in buses. Beyond TVS, the State has had its share of prominent residents over the decades like the Rane group, Ucal, Standard Motors, TAFE and a host of others.

It is only when the country threw open its gates to investments from multinational carmakers did the south, led by Tamil Nadu, go all out to woo big global brands. Till then, Maharashtra was prominent on the Indian map thanks to legacy brands such as Premier Automobiles, Mahindra & Mahindra, Telco (as Tata Motors was known then), Bajaj Auto, Kinetic etc while the NCR region was home to Maruti Udyog, Hero Honda, Escorts Yamaha and a whole lot of ancillary suppliers.

Tamil Nadu went all out to bag big brands such as Ford and Hyundai in the initial phase of reforms while Toyota and Volvo opted for Karnataka. in subsequent years, TN continued its aggressive path in getting on board Renault-Nissan, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, Yamaha, BYD, Citroen (Stellantis) etc while the ancillary supplier base also grew from strength to strength.

The state quickly earned for itself the title of ‘Detroit of India’ leaving its other counterparts in the south gasping for breath. Andhra Pradesh, which was then a single entity, did its best in getting Volkswagen to its fold while tremendous effort went into wooing Proton of Malaysia. Then came the rush of big names into Sri City, a list including Isuzu, Hero MotoCorp, Apollo Tyres etc.