[anjan_c2007]

Having homegrown, domestic automobile brands that are not only surviving, but flourishing need to make us proud. More so, for the Indian car industry mainly, that was a caged and immune to any foreign competition and onslaught till the mid 1990's. Earlier, in the two wheeler segment the competition heated up by mid-1980's.This is when two wheeler majors like API, Ideal Jawa Ltd and Scooters India Ltd and its offshoots (or tributaries??) along with other smaller players felt the heat. They all perished either within a few years or a decade or so. Bajaj Auto, TVS and Royal Enfield endured and grew in strength.

Coming to the car scenario, we have Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland as homegrown survivors from the onslaught, while Standard Motors, Premier Automobiles and Hindustan Motors have perished.

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.

After this background information, coming to the topic the questions posed in this thread are:-

(1) Do you feel a sense of National pride to see flourishing, homegrown brands? You need not own one, but our own brands surviving could give many of us a sense of pride.

(2) Do you vouch for quality irrespective of the auto maker being Indian or foreign?

(3) Do you feel that the influx of foreign brands make no difference to your mindset?

(4) Or you prefer to remain undecided?

Do please cast your vote in the poll featured here above.

The U. K. has only a few upmarket homegrown brands that have survived the 1970's and 80's crises that saw their several decade old, homegrown brands of commuter cars annihilated. There were multiple reasons but the most important one was lack of a top leader at the helm, as a visionary. The thread link discusses facts behind the downfall in U. K. with views from many members.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/inter...-lost-out.html (How The British Car Industry Lost Out?)

In Germany, US, France and Italy and Sweden homegrown brands continue to lug on and flourish, though some are under foreign management's.

Summarising, if your homegrown automobile brands get weak for any reason, knocking at your doors are the Japanese, South Korean and lately Chinese brands, who are ready to fill the vacuum.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Having homegrown, domestic automobile brands that are not only surviving, but flourishing need to make us proud..

I am extremely happy about this. For example, across the family we’ve had and/ or used some Mahindra or other for many years.

I am happy that Mahindra has done a great job with their latest generation of vehicles. And Im happy to have put down my money time and again to buy these, the Bolero, the Scorpio and now the Thar.

Buying a Maruti is also as good as buying Indian since Suzuki India is more or less almost all Indian.

Its sad that Premier, HM, Sipani and all couldnt succeed. But in some measure that was the same malaise that gripped the British Auto Industry through the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s - constant strikes and agitations, complacency, zero innovation, poor Management Policy and poor Relations between Management and Workers.

[saket77]

I don't have extra soft corners for Indian brands alone but do have the same for quality.

I neither undermine nor back Indian (or any foreign brands) for the matter. I look for reliability and quality of the product. And India is capable of producing high quality stuff and hence I am not surprised if I come across one- be it auto related or any general product. The good thing is that Indian companies can provide good quality products at a more 'value for money' price point compared to foreign brands due to localization, saving on customs, import duty etc.

But when it comes to something extraordinary, eg. space missions, difficult rescue operations, innovations, achievements of first kind; then yes; I feel a great sense of pride for my country. (& not because some giant co's CEO or some International politician has Indian roots etc.)

[Turbohead]

This answer might piss off a lot of people.

We've certainly come a long way and I'm happy about that - the XUV 7OO for example is a leader in it's class since it's an all rounder. Tata and Mahindra are doing rather well.

But here's the problem - our vehicles are performing extremely well against watered down international products. Basically, if the foreign brands brought out their international portfolio to India, our Tata's and Mahindra's would largely remain ignored in its current state.

Honestly, the tax structures and stuff are holding back our manufacturers from bringing out the very best we have to offer but they are there for a reason i.e creation of jobs.

We have a really long way to go and this heightened sense of pride of our homegrown brands that I see in society today is a side effect of the nationalistic rhetoric coming out from the political arena which is beyond the scope of the thread and forum but something our manufacturers have ridden the wave very well.

The only way you can say that our homegrown brands have made it is when the international market warms up to our products instead of the well established brands. I'm thinking Hyundai which has taken the game to Honda and Toyota in a big way compared to pre 2007.

Our brands can definitely do it but right now, there's nothing to be actually proud of.

[Prowler]

I am happy that some Indian companies continue to flourish even in these competitive times - specifically Tata motors and M & M. They are innovative and offer cost effective vehicles (at least to some extent).

A couple of decades earlier I was about to book a Maruti Zen and at that time Tata introduced Indica and immediately Maruti slashed the price of Zen by Rs.50,000/-
Tata introduced the slogan - More car per car as their line of cars offered more space and value.

'Foreign' built cars aimed for aspirational value and Brand value to differentiate from the simple and often crudely built Indian cars. Many of us who couldn't afford the Mitsubishi Pajero suddenly had the option of buying a true blooded SUV in the form of Tata Safari at a price that didn't break your bank.

[Nithesh_M]

No. If anything we must learn from other countries especially UK whose local manufacturers where selling subpar unreliable machines to people in the name of "British engineering" with nice UK flag on to fool people into buying them. When people realised they were being fooled in the name of nationalism and that they could buy something that's more reliable for better price, the UK based automotive industries shut down one by one.

When a brand has to use nationalism to sell its products you have to see what they're hiding behind it. If a product is genuinely good and manufacturer has a good aftersales reputation it will sell and create goodwill for a manufacturer.

Its even more repulsive to me when a homegrown manufacturer uses its local political clout to make rubbish rules and hit foreign brands with additional taxes so people don't have a choice to look elsewhere.

[IshaanIan]

Having been enamored by cars ever since I was a kid; wondering if there would ever be another Japanese sports car revolution after the sad demise of the NSX, to watching Lamborghini's success and then corruption with all the unnecessary limited editions, to watching Tata screw up our very own and probably only shot at a people's car, to hearing about the Dieselgate scandal pitching European manufacturers in a bad light and eventually revealing every manufacturer regardless of region of having acted poorly in this regard, to the onslaught of Hyundai's and finally now towards the appliance like regard that tesla and several other manufacturers are treating what ought to be our beloved engineering marvels, one thing I have learnt is that nobody is good out there. I feel the only automotive manufacturers that we as enthusiasts can anymore support are Koenigsegg and Pagani. They treat the car as it ought to be in this era of facelifts, gaudy lounge lighting and OS updates. They build cars with passion and strive toward engineering feats and offer support to allow you to continue to upgrade and enjoy your car endlessly. I only wish we had another mass market manufacturer take a stance and do things the proper way.

[Malyaj]

Nope. I don't feel any pride. These companies have been in the game long enough. What I feel is a sense of relief (for lack of a better word) that we have 'finally arrived in the arena' to fight it out against the known quality players. 'About time' rather than 'attaboy'.

I do feel good about the fact that it is a homegrown Tata that is leading the charge in EVs in India and not some Korean or Japanese company. But pride is not the word I associate with it.

Edit: I do feel a sense of pride that we have a thriving automotive scene in India, that we have (almost) all tiers of suppliers, who work like a well oiled machinery to give us reliable cars. It's not something that many countries can boast of. But I cannot single out Tata or Mahindra for contributing to that. Everyone company has pulled it together.

[Superleggera]

Yes, I do, especially when they build safer cars. To sustain long-term, home-grown manufacturers need to reduce their product life cycle, you can't have Scorpio and Safari running with same silhouette for more than 15 years!

[Comrade]

I do feel a sense of pride that Mahindra and Tata have been able to catch-up to world class design and manufacturing techniques within 30-years within their financial means, within the Indian market size, and without going broke. We need to give them credit when Japanese and European manufacturers had much more experience (almost 50 yrs ahead) in designing and manufacturing cars.

And today, it is Indian manufacturers that are innovating and delivering out of the box products like nexon EV or Mahindra Thar or ScorpioN when all foreign manufacturers are waiting on sidelines to see what clicks before committing themselves. eg: Jimny follows Thar although Suzuki could have had the first mover advantage.

Our duo is also forefront on the safety aspect compared to others. Further, Mahindra is always one step ahead of everyone else in offering desirable products with first-in-class premium features, and at same time the products (even new segments like EV) have remained extremely price-competitive.

[lamborghini]

There is definitely a sense of pride in seeing our homegrown brands surviving - it means we're on the right path to building world class vehicles.

Just over the past few years, our home grown brands have made significant leaps in terms of providing all rounded vehicles : safe, practical, well equipped, quality interiors, sorted ride and handling, explosive engines, etc.

Next step for our manufacturers would be to sort out the niggles & service quality : a fear that is there in the minds of many buyers who then end up picking a 'foreign' brand.

While we don't own any at the moment : I would love a Tata EV or a niggle free XUV700 / Thar / Scorpio-N / Safari in the garage!

[AYP]

I definitely do feel happy when I see the homegrown brands doing well. However, I will definitely not compromise on quality and face niggles just for the sake of supporting the local brands. I would pick up the Hector over the Harrier due to this very reason.

So, I am in 2 minds with respect to the poll. I would like to vote for both option 1 and 2 but it is a single choice poll only.

[Nissan1180]

If possible, one more option could be added for people who have purchased products from homegrown brands, encouraged friends and family to do so as well, but now regret their decision. I would vote for this category and would advise anyone who is considering a TML vehicle to be cautious about long term reliability and serviceability concerns.

[Cresterk]

I used to when I was abroad and used to thump my chest and brag about all the progress and how advanced the car companies were getting back home to all my foreign friends. Then I came back here and faced ground reality when we tried to buy a Tata Safari and later a Tiago EV and now I feel quite silly

[Sahil]

Voted Yes, does give me immense sense of pride seeing Indian car makers bring world class quality to their products and also export them to some parts of the world. Or Tata turning around JLR.

But what angers me is Tata not bringing their flagship cars such as the RR Vogue and Sport as CKD models. If MBIL can locally make the S class and BMW the 7 then why can’t Tata bring their flagship to be made here.