Chennai is nicknamed the "Detroit of Asia"[1] due to the presence of major automobile manufacturing units and allied industries around the city.
A number of big motor companies has presence along the 60 km Automotive Corridor which includes BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Mitsubishi, Caparo Group, Komatsu, Caterpillar, Ashok Leyland, TVS, and others. Oragadam is regarded as the epicenter of this corridor which boasts of the National Automobile Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP). This corridor is served by three major ports—Chennai Port, Kattupalli Shipyard and Ennore Port.
The 4-wheeler vehicles in Chennai is the base of 30% of India's automobile industry[2] and 35% of its automobile component industry.[3] [4] Besides the commercial industry, the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) has been established in Avadi to produce military related vehicles. Avadi also boasts of the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), a new engine testing facilities.
| Company | Location | Capacity | Products | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chennai port[5] | Buses, haulage vehicles, special application vehicles, diesel engines | |||
| Pillaipakkam[6] | Dost truck | |||
| Mahindra World City, New Chennai[7] | BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series, BMW 7 series, BMW X1, BMW X3, Mini Cooper | |||
| Caterpillar | Thiruvallur | Off Highway Trucks, HEX, Back-Hoe Loader, Skid Steer Loader | ||
| Oragadam[8] | 36,000 | BharatBenz trucks, Mercedes-Benz buses | ||
| Maraimalai Nagar[9] | 200,000[10] | Ikon, Fiesta, Mondeo (discontinued), Fusion, Endeavour, Figo, Ecosport | ||
| Research and development for automotive and farm sector [11] | ||||
| Engines for BMW[12] | ||||
| Engineering Office[13] | ||||
| Trekker (discontinued), Landmaster (discontinued), Contessa (discontinued), Ambassador | ||||
| Irungattukottai[14] | 600,000[15] [16] | Accent, Elantra , Getz (discontinued), i10, i20, Verna, Santro, Sonata, Terracan (discontinued), Tucson | ||
| Integral Coach Factory (ICF) | Railway coaches | |||
| 12,000[17] | Lancer, Lancer Cedia, Pajero, Montero, Outlander | |||
| Nissan | 200,000 | Micra, Teana, X-Trail, Datsun Go | ||
| Research & Development, Programs & Projects, Global Purchasing Hub, Supply Chain, Process & Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, KD Excellence Center & Product [18] | ||||
| Citroën C5 Aircross | ||||
| Renault | 200,000 | Logan, Pulse, Scala, Fluence, Duster, Koleos, Kwid | ||
| 1,200,000[19] | Classic, Bullet, Bullet Continental, Bullet Sixty-5, Thunderbird, Bullet Electra-X, Bullet Machismo 350/500, Mini-Bullet 200, Fury, Explorer, Silver plus, Mofa, Interceptor 650, Continental GT 650. | |||
| Oragadam | ||||
| Vallam | ||||
| TAFE Tractors | Tractors | |||
| Wrightbus[20] | Buses | |||
| Vallam | 500,000[21] | wiper motor manufacturing facility | ||
| Vallam Vadakkal | 450,000[22] | Bikes | ||
| Porur | 450,000 | Tractor |
| Company | Plant Locations | |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance Tire Company | Gangaikondan | |
| Apollo Tyres | Oragadam | |
| Bridgestone | Oragadam | |
| CEAT | ||
| JK Tyres | Sriperumbudur | |
| Michelin | Thervoy Kandigai | |
| MRF | Arakkonam, Tiruvottiyur |
Auto component companies have their manufacturing plants in and around Chennai i
The Automotive Corridor, also known as Detroit of Asia, is a 60 km long corridor in Chennai, India. This corridor alone accounts for 33% of commercial vehicles, 21% of all passenger cars, and 35% of auto components which are produced in the country. The corridor stretches from Gummidipoondi, 50 km north of Chennai to Maraimalai Nagar 35 km south of Chennai and passes through Tiruvallur, Sriperumbudur and Oragadam. It is estimated that a part of this corridor from Tiruvallur to Maraimalai Nagar alone, by 2012, would produce around 1.25 million cars, 35,000 commercial vehicles and other automotives per year.[24]
Major tyre manufacturing companies alone have committed investments around $4 billion in Tamil Nadu of which 90% has been invested in the Automotive Corridor. A number of tyre manufacturing companies have set up factories in this corridor and are as follows.
| Company | Plant Locations | Investments (crores of INR) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance Tire Company | Gangaikondan | ||
| Apollo Tyres | Oragadam | 2600[25] | |
| Bridgestone | Thervoy Kandigai | ||
| CEAT | |||
| Dunlop | Ambattur | ||
| JK Tyres | Sriperumbudur | 1600[26] | |
| Michelin | Thervoy Kandigai | 11000 (4000 in Phase I till 2016) | |
| MRF | Arakkonam, Tiruvottiyur (2 plants) | 1400 |