[DCEite]

To some extent yes, it makes me proud when I see homegrown automobile brands surviving and flourishing.

But it does not and should not impact on one's buying decision. Remember, we are living in an era of economic globalization and most of the manufacturers in India who are not "homegrown" are still manufacturing a high percentage of machinary within India, employing thousands of skilled workers, engineers, managers, white collar workers and other staff.

An homegrown company doesn't necessarily in general translate to better product or consumer ethics. And I am not just talking about Automobiles here. In automobile space however, fortunately, two major homegrown automobile giants, viz TATA and Mahindra are doing good and I wish they continue to produce quality products with higher safety standards as they are doing now. But they do need to learn a thing or two from multinationals like Hyundai/Toyota/Honda/Suzuki in terms of offering value for money, reducing supply chain issues for improving waiting periods and better quality audit in the end products with more focus on post-sales experience.

[anandhsub]

Yes. Given the uncertain Geopolitical situation that we are in, it always makes sense to have a solid domestic car sales industry.

Otherwise would never know when sanctions get imposed and foreign brands shut shop leaving customers in a lurch.

[revsperminute]

I was never a fan of Indian brands per se. The original safari DICOR did tug at my heartstrings as a kid.

But one experience that really turned me around was driving the Meridian and XUV700 back to back. Almost everything felt better on the Mahindra at 2/3rd of the price. Amazing how far these brands have come from cars like the Indica and Quanto.

[RunGaDa]

I think quality matters. Not particular about if the brand is foreign or Indian. There is no reason for foreign brands to cut corners and manufacture sub standard cars just because the regulations don’t hold them by the scruff of their neck.
At the same time, Indian manufacturers need not reinvent the wheel in terms of tried and tested processes for manufacturing and quality control. By trying to fool around they cause more harm to their brand.

[buzzy_boy]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The above list of survivors and 'RIP' ones is strictly based on the pre liberalisation scenario to classify and auto maker as a homegrown brand. Johnny come latelys like Maruti and others can hence be excluded.

Maruti was founded in 1981 - about a decade before LPG. So, it isn't right to exclude them - especially when they arguably revolutionized the automobile landscape in our country.

The usual suspects Maruti, Mahindra, and Tata have contributed tremendously in their own ways; Maruti showed that it's possible to manufacture highly reliable cars in India, Tata showed that it is possible to build safe cars which are relatively cheap as well, and Mahindra democratized power, and technology - taking them to the masses.

I respect them for my achievements, but I also respect foreign brands. As others have pointed out, there are many foreign companies that abide by our laws, pay taxes, and employ people.

Hence, I'll buy the best product from a brand that is lawfully operating in India.

[kovilkalai]

I like quality regardless of source. If we are to be part of a global market, most people would think this way. What sets Tata and Mahindra apart is the world class products at the price they offer. If there were a Honda at the same price and the same packaging, I will likely pick the Honda

[Sankar]

Yes, I do like to see Tata and Mahindra grow and it makes me happy and it drives the nation's economy and self reliance. But I will be apprehensive to buy their product, unless there really are no other choices until they prove themselves to be on par with Maruti and Toyota peace of mind wise.

I consider Maruti to be homegrown in the sense its bigger than Suzuki now and they tailor make cars for our market, for the worse or for the good that is each customer's perspective, and yes we need fuel efficient cars.

[Lowflyer23]

A business is not a charity, no brand is doing a favour to any consumer. Quality worth the price I paid is what makes me proud of the brand. The Indian brands although have reached great heights, there is still a long long way to go. The majority of their success has been due to the extensive subsidies and support provided to them by the government and the restrictions against foreign brands. Even today, some of these vehicles use a lot of Chinese components which completely contradicts those Vocal4local stickers at the rear windshields.

[kaushikduttajsr]

Yes for Mahindra, No for Tata.

My 2 cents: These are completely different companies. Please do not club them in comparison.

Context: I've grown up in jamshedpur loving the tatas, going so far as completing a 6 month internship at Tata motors. And my first job was at Mahindra. As an adult, I can now see the hypocrisy in tatas and their "lala" company nature. If you buy a lemon Tata, good luck getting anything done. They don't care about customer service and the AMT woes and harrier/safari twin sufferers are testament to this. If you go to jamshedpur, you'll see that they don't care about the township as much as they advertise in the media. Tata needs to pull their head out of their *****. They need to solve customer complaints and invest in improving quality of their products. Tatas started this mass movement towards "nationalism" (vocal for local stickers) and "safety" (5 star products). Safety was a crazy movement, nationalism, IMO was just opportunism. I want to understand the perspective of folks who spent 25l on a national lemon. To be honest, I'd rather buy a VW/Skoda than a Tata.

Mahindra on the other hand is a "I should never be called out for not trying" type of organization. I loved their never say never attitude. I was appreciated for bringing in unresolved complaints on Facebook (now Meta) and taking it to the VP's notice. This is also visible in the multitude of XUV owners who reported niggles. However, they always found a ear when they called Mahindra customer service.

Before I get called out for hypocrisy as well, please note - my first car was a Tata Indica DLE 2000. The car literally fell off in pieces by 2010.

[Yieldway17]

If anything, the Ukraine war and resulting sanctions on Russia(right or wrong) has convinced me that nations need to be self supporting to some extent. One can never know when the rug gets pulled out from under you.

I was at best ambivalent about homegrown vs international brands before, now I staunchly believe we need to build that self sufficiency pronto.

[PrasannaDhana]

Chose option 3 - This makes no difference in my mindset.

I have owned 3 Mahindras - MM540, Commander & Armada

And 7 Tatas (2 among them currently) - Estate, Sumo DX, Sumo Grande, Safari Dicor 2.2, Sumo Gold, Safari Storme Varicor 400, Altroz 1.5 Diesel

While I am immensely glad that they have grown into competent manufacturers with great R&D and product design with safety as a top priority, I am still disappointed with how their QC departments haven't had a proportional growth.


Just look at the latest from our forum ownership reports of Tata (specially Harrier & Safari) and Mahindra (Thar, XUV7OO & Scorpio). It's infuriating to see how so many owners are left saddened with niggles, minor & major, which could have been avoided if proper QC practices were around.

One more thing, there is no national anymore. All foreign brands employ & utilise as much national resources as our National brands employing & utilizing international resources.

Tata & Mahindra have a long way to go, specially now, when more people have started to move away from Maruti & Hyundai to Tata and Mahindra, their after sales & service has to be improved along with their QC.

That being said, I have been lucky to have experienced flawless ownership experience in 2/3 Mahindras and 5/7 Tatas I have owned. Specially post 2010, all 5 of my Tata purchases have served me brilliantly. Currently both the altroz and storme have been excellent as far as my ownership experience goes.

5 of my friends/brothers have gone from VAG/Hyundai to Tata Safari, Harrier and Nexons. 1 of them is unhappy about the purchase. If 5 of them went ahead with a Toyota, none of them would be unhappy. That's the difference.

[HammerHead]

Definitely a big YES for TATA. Reason being the way they transformed to catch-up with the existing established international players.

Tiago, Tigor, Nexon, Altroz, Punch, Harrier & Safari - I feel these are world class products from the homegrown manufacturer. Some of them have set very high standards with regards to safety, which is the top most item for me, surpassing those well established international manufacturers.

They also dared to explore pure EV space and delivered good products while the international players are yet to pose a real challenge to these pure EV's from Tata.

Do I or have I owned a Tata car? The answer is 'No" as I'm still holding on to my 2010 Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 E-PK. Will I consider a Tata car? I did consider Tata Safari however for following reasons I did not go ahead with the purchase.
1. I don't need a diesel.
2. I'm looking forward to move up the ladder and fulfil my dream of owning a German car.

As far as Mahindra is concerned, I'm yet to see a world class product inside out. XUV 700 is the only one I can think of right now.

[extreme_torque]

While it is nice to see Tata and Mahindra doing well in India, they arent yet at a stage where they can compete with the best in the world. Indian car makers have literally zero presence in most mature automobile markets in the world. Infact they havent made it too big in developing economies like south east Asia or South America, either.

China on the other hand is making steady in roads. One of the primary reason is that their domestic automobile market is absolutely huge. The Indian automobile market is relatively tiny in comparison and is mostly made up of small cars. A good domestic market is paramount to be able to expand globally (it's not just restricted to cars).

China also identified, much in advance, the potential of electric cars and have made strategic investments in the area as a result and is now the leading supplier of batteries to the rest of the world. The world is so dependent on China that battery supply chain simply cant function without them. They have also encouraged competition in the EV space and their EV companies are amongst the best in the world and not just in hardware by the way but also software. Infact I would go out a limb and say that along with Tesla, Chinese EV companies will dominate the automobile markets around the globe.

[Hayek]

Have always believed that Nationalism is the last refuge of scoundrels - things like Swadeshi, Atmanirbhar etc are just means to justify a transfer of wealth from Indian consumers to companies (both Indian and foreign) who “Make in India”. The same applies to similar policies elsewhere in the world, be it Buy American laws or their Chinese equivalents.

The fact is that as a customer, I want world class products at the lowest possible prices. The fact that Tata and Mahindra have got their act together, and that the Indian market now has scale implies greater competition in the mass and masstige segments of the market - which is certainly good for Indian customers. But this has been achieved at the cost of 60-100% import duties for products where 5-10% is the normal net profit margin of manufacturers - in short through massive inefficiency which costs customers a lot and does not create manufacturers who are competitive anywhere else in the world.

And the fact is that it’s not that Indians benefit from either jobs or profits made by manufacturers - the fact is there are far more jobs in the sales and service of automotive products than in manufacturing, and having high import duties that makes the market for cars smaller than it otherwise would have been leads to a loss of jobs for Indians. The biggest single beneficiary of high duties in cars is Suzuki - so it’s not that Indian shareholders gain a lot either.

Would feel proud when India sustains a car industry with duties at 5% or less.

[charanreddy]

Absolutely yes. I feel proud.

I see a few of the posts above confuse being proud with being loyal. In my car buying decisions, I have never considered the nationality of a manufacturer (except China in a negative way). However what’s great is that our home grown manufacturers are fighting it out on merit vs some misplaced sense of nationalism.

Example 1: 5 years back , I was in the market for a CSUV - Diesel automatic. Head wanted to buy a Brezza due to the wide service network and the peace that comes by owning a Maruti. However the yucky interiors and bad Gearbox- Engine put me off. I didn’t want to get the Nexon as I wasn’t excited about it’s looks. But one test drive and my opinion changed. The product has won me on its merits and made me a convert. Almost 5 happy years later, despite screw ups with after sales and service, I am happy with my decision.

We will find a bunch of people on this forum who say the same about a Tiago or Altroz or Punch .

Similarly if I was in the market for a sub 30 Lakh all rounder family car , I wouldn’t look past the XUV 700.

If I wanted a fun lifestyle vehicle, I wouldn’t look past the Thar.

All this + 4 / 5 star safety which the more experienced and bigger South Koreans / Japanese don’t seem to be able to provide.

So proud of our home grown manufacturers, but primarily driven by competence and not a misplaced sense of nationalism.

Sure they do have their problems, but who don’t .

South Koreans - Bad safety.
Japanese - too late in introducing the right models and too expensive.
Americans - seems like India is a market for Hit and Run. Can’t trust them to stay around.
Germans - good of one is looking at the luxury market but reliability is a big issue. Coincidentally, the Germans are my next choice after Indians