Manager-Testing facility

Quality Standards of the Indian Car Market Now

Not too long ago, India had just two car manufacturers, Ambassadors and Fiats. And if one did have the experience of the cars in those days, the less said the better about their quality, or the lack of it. Today one would have to be a collector to consider these.

The entire car industry is dominated by international standard cars which come with high levels of quality and performance, with literally hundreds of models competing in the Indian markets.

A car is after all just an assembly of various components and if the components are of poor quality, then so is the car. Post the liberalization of the closed Indian economy in 1991, the competition increased with such suddenness, that many companies ceased to exist.

But something good happened to the automotive industry. They grew and improved and improved and look at where this industry in India has reached and that too in such a short span of time.

This was possible since the industry was forced by the OEMs to adopt quality management system standards and have them certified, starting with the ubiquitous ISO 9000, then to the demanding and stringent automotive industry standard QS 9000 and now to the ISO/TS 16949, which is not more prescriptive but is more strongly controlled right through to the certification body and its auditors.