Nowadays car companies in many countries in the world make sports cars. These include German, American, Japanese, French, and British companies from all countries. But several decades ago, in all these countries, sports cars did not exist or only one or two companies made sports cars with great difficulty.

It was challenging to make these cars and to find customers for such expensive sports cars at that time. But there was one country whose car companies were very expert in doing both these things, and that was Italy.

Italy was a country where every car manufacturer used to make only sports cars and even today, if we see, seven out of eight car companies here make only sports cars.

Among these, the most famous sports car manufacturers today are four in Italy. Those are Ferrari, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, and Pagani. People must have heard many stories about them but perhaps no one knows one thing and that is, Ferrari started with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari started with Lamborghini and Lamborghini started with Pagani. The primary reason for the opening of all these three companies was disagreements and feelings of revenge. 

This article will disseminate a story that you must have heard less frequently. This is also an opportunity to learn from the experiences of great people on how and when you leave your comfort zone and experiment differently, you reach the greatest heights.

ALFA ROMEO

This story starts with Alfa Romeo. This company started in 1910. This was the time when cars used to be so expensive that only rich people of the same level as today's private jets could afford them and if you had to sell your cars to such rich people, your cars had to prove they were capable. Simply printing advertisements for cars in pamphlets and newspapers did not work. That's why most European car brands used to participate in races and Alfa Romeo also started doing this. That's why in 1920, Alfa Romeo released its first sports car named Torpedo and this car could produce 30 horsepower.

Enzo Ferrari working as a racer in Alfa Romeo

As soon as it was launched, this company started winning races continuously. In which he won the first race in 1920. When the Giuseppe company won the race in Mugello he came number one and positioned second in the Targa Florio race, none other than Enzo Ferrari. Yes, Ferrari's founder. Enzo Ferrari started his racing career in 1908. At that time he was only 10 years old. After racing for a few years, i.e. in 1919, he joined the racing team of Alfa Romeo. Now he was working as a racing driver in Alfa Romeo he used to participate in the races that were organized locally and at the same time, he also used to work in the Milan sales depot of Alfa Romeos. But in 1929 he left his permanent job at Alfa Romeo and founded his racing team called Scuderia Ferrari. 

To build this team he took a loan of one million Liras from the local bank. Apart from this he also got backing from some fellow elite, amateur racers. At the same time, he also got support from Italy's famous tire company Pirelli. Now, even though Ferrari had received a lot of support, despite all this, the money they received was only that much that they could only set up a racing team. And just setting up a racing team is not enough, you also need cars to race. So to source these racing cars, he went to George Remini who was the commercial director at Alfa Romeo. In this meeting, both of them set up a partnership due to which they would get cars from Alfa Romeo to participate in racing events. 

But there was a twist in it. See alfa also participated in racing events as I told you earlier. And he knew that if he gave his new racing cars to Enzo Ferrari then Alfa would not be able to win against him. That's why this agreement was reached between the two, and that was that Scuderia or Ferrari would use Alfa's cars to participate in the new race and Alfa would race with its new cars based on new technology. But these things did not last long. Because Alfa Romeo's factory was acquired by the Italian government when World War 1 was going on. 

Beginning of Ferrari

That's why Ferrari focused on making its cars and started R&D. The amazing thing is that he also started winning with his car. Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo has returned to the game and the thing to note is that the partnership between Alfa and Ferrari has not ended yet. And when Alfa returns to the races, they find that their partnership has become a joke and Ferrari continues to win races. So Alfa Romeo bought 80% shares of Scuderia and they became the owner. Enzo Ferrari worked as a manager in this racing team for some time, but in 1939 he was thrown out from his racing team by Alfa Romeo. And this thing reminds me of that phase of Steve Jobs when he was thrown out of the Apple he created himself.

Well, Enzo Ferrari was very angry with all these things, and what he did was that with his savings and the money, he got by selling the racing team, he decided to start his own sportscar company. At the end of 1938, he started it and the name of this company was Auto Avio Costruzioni. This is the same company that later became Ferrari. But for the first four years, he could not change the name due to a non-compete agreement with Alfa Romeo. Well, anyway Ferrari started. 

Ferrari started making many cars; throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s, they made many sports cars. Ferrari emerged as the world's largest and most advanced supercar manufacturer. All Ferrari sports cars were made in very limited quantities and hence were super expensive. For that reason, only a few millionaires and billionaires could buy Ferrari.

How Ferrari owner’s insult created Lamborgini

There was a person, Ferruccio Lamborghini. Who was the owner of Italy's largest tractor manufacturing company and he used to own many Ferrari cars. But he often seemed a little unhappy with his Ferrari cars. And the biggest reason for this was the clutch of these cars. He believed that Ferraris' clutches break very easily. That's why one morning in 1963, he goes to a neighboring village in Maranello with his complaint and knocks on the door of a person and the person whose door he knocked on was Enzo Ferrari himself. It is believed that this meeting was very small. 

In this, Mr. Lamborghini explains to Mr. Ferrari how the quality of his clutches is very bad. He gives many suggestions as to how he can improve the clutches of his cars so that they last longer. Ferruccio Lamborghini told his point to Enzo Ferrari but Mr. Ferrari didn't like this constructive criticism. And instead of thinking about it, he tells Mr. Lamborghini something that has changed the entire sports car industry. Go back to your tractors, farmer.

Beginning of Automobili Lamborgini

Mr. Lamborghini felt very bad after this insult. Because he was also an engineer and his tractors were considered the best in Italy, he felt that Mr. Ferrari underestimated him and because of that very insult, he made a fitful decision. And that decision was that now he will also start a sportscar manufacturing company which will make faster and better cars than Ferrari and this time the work is also started very quickly. A small factory was opened in Sant'Agata, in which, within four months, Lemborgany made its first sports car, which was named Lamborghini 350 GT.

 Now if you pay attention, this is more shocking, isn't it? when a brand that had only made tractors to date, made a full-fledged sports car in just four months, how did Lamborghini do this? Ferrari itself was involved in the success of Lamborghini, not directly but indirectly. Because allegedly Enzo's wife Laura Ferrari was making very important decisions on the factory floor. And Ferrari's senior executives were very happy with this. Instead of listening to him and finding a way out, Enzo threw them out of the company. 

Someone's Trash, Another's Treasure!

And these five gentlemen who left Ferrari included Ferrari's chief engineer and development manager. And these senior employees approached Lamborghini and included it in their company. These five people, along with the rest of the tractor-making engineers, very quickly made a beautiful sports car. 350 GT received a good response and 13 customers bought the car immediately. And within its total timeline, 120 units of this car were sold. But this car did not make much difference to Ferrari. He was not afraid of this car, he believed that we make a perfect car from it. But the next car launched by Lamborghini shook not only Ferrari but all the companies around the world because that was the Miura. 

This car used to look too futuristic for the mid-60s. And it was a rear mid-engine car like F1 cars have always been. And this thing was very rare at that time for any car to come with a rear mid-engine configuration. And because of all these things, Miura proved to be a huge commercial hit. The production of this car started in 1967 and continued till 1973 and within that time, 764 units of this car were sold, which was a huge number for cars of this type at that time. After this, Lamborghini started launching sports cars one after the other. After this Espada was launched, then came Islero, then came Jarama, and then came Urraco. Now Lamborghini is launching sports cars one after the other but none has become as famous as Miura until Countach. Looking at the Countach, it seemed as if this car had come from another world and it was also the fastest Lamborghini ever.

How Pagani was diverse from Lamborgini?

But the most powerful variant of it came in the last days i.e. in 1998. The person who was leading this project was none other than Horacio Pagani. Yes, the same person who today owns Italy's most exclusive car company. Mr. Pagani was very fond of cars since childhood, he even made a Formula Three sports car at the age of twenty. Due to this, he got a job at Renault. But after spending some time there, he reached Lamborghini and started his career there by doing basic jobs like sweeping, etc. But due to his hard work and talent, he got recognition in Lamborghini. And he gradually climbed the company's corporate ladder and at one point he reached the chief engineer position. He also started working on the final version of the Lamborghini Countach as I told you. But there came a time when things got worse between Lamborghini and him. Mr. Pagani always used to work on the body and design language of cars. The recognition he got was because of his skill and even in Renault, he was called to improve the body of racing cars where he worked before Lamborghini. And he also wanted to do some big work for Lamborghini and that big work was autoclave.

Pagani’s reason for leaving Lamborgini

An autoclave is a machine inside which a very strong vacuum is created so that carbon fiber parts can be made. Mr. Pagani wanted Lamborghini to invest in the autoclave so that Lamborghini's cars could become much lighter and more rigid and could get ahead of the competition. But his statement was rejected by saying that when Ferrari does not have an autoclave, what will we do with it? As if Lamborghini's goal was only to follow Ferrari. Well, that was not even their mistake because in the 80s, no one used to make carbon fiber cars. But still, Mr. Pagani was very ambitious and he was not going to stop at these things and that is why he resigned from Lamborghini, by borrowing money, he bought an autoclave in 1987. And started his own design consultancy company, whose name was Moderna Design. 

This company had big clients like Aprilia, Daimler, and even Lamborghini's enemy company Ferrari. But the design form was probably only a stepping stone for him because later he launched his own car company, whose name was Pagani Automobile. In the late 90s, he launched his first car, Zonda and later Huayra also came. They released many different variants of only two cars over the years. But this car is so exclusive that till 2022, Pagani has sold only 450 such cars. Some of their models are so exclusive and so expensive that the worth of one of their cars is twenty times that of a Ferrari.

Carbon Fiber Body Speciality of Pagani

Well, apart from the exclusivity, Pagani also had one specialty. As we know, his love for autoclave was also visible in his car company and that is why Pagani became the only company that started giving carbon fiber cars from the very beginning and also became a company whose all the cars were made only with carbon fiber. He set such a trend in the market that if any sports car brand wants to call its car a hypercar, then its car should be completely made of carbon fiber. 

Well, this was the story due to which, due to resentment and disagreement, three big supercar manufacturers were born in Italy. What did you learn from this story today? Please tell me in the comments.

 You must know about this legend if you were also born in the 90s like me or even earlier than that. This scooter was used to carry both people and heavy luggage and it used to have a very strong body. If this scooter crashed in TATA Punch, even that could also break isn't it too much that LML NV and Bajaj Chetak used to be rivals at one time? Just like Mahindra Scorpio and TATA Safari with the changing times, Bajaj Chetak was discontinued. But the complete brand LML was closed you might get amused after knowing that. During the early 2000s, LML was the second biggest scooter manufacturer in India. 

However, in 2017, LML was discontinued because of too many losses. I know, these scooters had superb engines these scooters used to have exceptional build quality and these scooters used to come with a classic design just like Vespa they used to look wonderful. But if the scooters manufactured by LML were so wonderful Why did the company have to close its operations? If we look on the other side, The other Indian two-wheeler companies have become the biggest two-wheeler brands in the world Bajaj, Hero, and TVS.

How did they do so? 

In this article, let's understand this two-wheeler brand's business case study and get the answer to this question in detail. The primary business of Lohia Machinery Limited, LML revolves around Finished Leather Goods and Synthetic Yarns, and this company was established in the year 1972 In Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. LML was focussing on its primary business and was also trying to enter more businesses, the other business in which LML was involved was the manufacturing of sophisticated machinery. These machineries were used in the fiber industry Like crimping machines, row texturing machines, Assembly Twisting Machines, screen printing Claridges, up, Twisting Machines, and more machines like these.

Name Behind LML

The company was also named Lohia Machinery Limited because it was involved in the manufacturing of Machinery, the machinery manufactured by LML used to have exceptional quality because of their magnetic crimping machines. The production capacity increased manifolds and in the year 1982, this machine was generating a production capacity of 3 tonnes in a single day. During this time, the French and Italian engineering firms established strong relationships with LML at that time, LML had just started to manufacture its twisting machines. In collaboration with these foreign firms the French Lesanie and Italian Mario, the relations of LML with French and Italian firms were becoming strong because of their primary machinery manufacturing business. But the chairman of LML was looking somewhere else as well, He knew that French and Italian brands manufacture superb two-wheelers.

The links LML has created with these foreign firms because of their primary business with the help of those foreign firms, LML can launch its scooters in India and they can lead the scooter market in India Because, at that time, the majority of the Indian population could not afford four-wheelers, That's why the majority of the Indians used to own two-wheelers looking at this opportunity, 

In 1982, Indian LML and Italian Piaggio formed a technical collaboration. Yes, it is the same Piaggio that is famous all around the world for its Vespa Scooters. But this collaboration between LML and Piaggio was not straightforward and why am I saying this? To understand this we need to go a little back in time before LML, the Italian Piaggio was involved in a collaboration with Bajaj under the collaboration of Piaggio and Bajaj, the Vespa 150 scooter was launched in India. This was a complete metal body, 150 CC two-stroke engine. But later on, this Vespa 150 Scooter was converted into Bajaj 150 and Bajaj made many changes to the looks of this scooter's headlights, etc. In the year 1977, the collaboration between Bajaj and Piaggio ended, and with this, Piaggio filed a lawsuit against Bajaj for patent infringement Piaggio asked the court to stop Bajaj from selling this scooter in foreign markets immediately and after this, Piaggio and LML came into the picture. We had just discussed this the scooters manufactured by LML that looked like Vespa were introduced in the market during the early 90s. During this time, the Italian Agnelli family that owned Piaggio decided to form a proper joint venture with LML and launch their scooters in India with this, a joint venture was established between Piaggio and LML And Piaggio had also acquired 28.5% stakes in the LML-Piaggio joint venture In this joint venture, many scooters were launched in India. Earlier LML Vespa NV 2 Stroke, select 2, and select 4 scooters were famous during that time because of their Superb Look, good fuel efficiency, and strong metal body. These scooters could be used for both personal use and carrying heavy luggage as soon as these scooters were launched in India. These scooters were loved by the Indian population and during the 90s, LML became the second biggest scooter manufacturer in India after Bajaj. But this success did not last for long and today, there is no existence of LML. Why did this happen? 

There are two main reasons behind this

The first reason is the Agnelli family They used to own the Piaggio brand. All the scooters of LML were based on the Vespa Scooters or their technology through this, we can understand that LML was completely dependent on Piaggio for its scooter business. Due to this fact, this collaboration was formed during the early 80s some problems were observed in both of these brands after some time. This Piaggio brand was owned by the family as mentioned earlier and this family had a huge reputation in Italy at that time the head of Piaggio was Giovanni Agnelli. He was only 26 years old, his uncle was Gianni Agnelli and at that time he was the head of the Fiat group with this fact, you can understand that the Agnelli family had a strong grip on the automotive market in Italy. Why I have told you all this about the family? Because the decisions made by the Agnelli family were the reason behind the downfall of LML, the first choice of the family was Bajaj. Even after their prior experience with them and this statement was even given by Giovanni publically. But still, the Agnelli family formed a tie-up with LML, unfortunately, this tie-up was broken when at the early age of 33 years Giovanni Agnelli died because of Intestinal Cancer. Immediately after this family announced to end of the tie-up with LML and after this the situation became poor Deepak Singhania who was the chairman of LML at that time took back the stakes of Piaggio in LML and in the year 1999, Piaggio and LML settled outside the court and this joint venture was ended in the year 1999, this distress became a huge reason behind the downfall of LML, now they can sell only those scooters whose designs were not provided to LML by Piaggio. That means scooters from the P series but LML at its end made these P series scooters highly innovative because, of course, LML was already in trouble and debt as well. Hence, according to me, they could not innovate much Because a huge amount of money is required for Research and Development everybody knows about this the effects of this were even visible in the sales of LML Because LML used to keep 25% of the share in the Indian scooter market in the year 1998 it was at second place in terms of sales of scooters. 

In the year 2000, the market share of LML was reduced to 22% Now, this change might not look significant to you but the share of other minor companies was increasing continuously. In the scooter market in India if we look at TVS-Suzuki. In the year 1998, this joint venture only had a market share of 7.1%. In the year 2010, this share was increased to 10.2% and obviously, it was happening because the majority of the Indian two-wheeler brands were involved in joint ventures with Japanese brands. Due to this, these Indian two-wheeler brands had access to the technology that LML did not have but Japanese brands did one more thing that destroyed LML and that was motorcycles. During the early 2000s, Indians preferred buying motorcycles because of their mileage and speed because of the Japanese tie-up Indian two-wheeler brands like Bajaj, Hero, and TVS became experts in manufacturing motorcycles. But LML did not have any such expertise which is why LML could not introduce motorcycles in India for a very long time and that's why LML lost its control over the Indian market in terms of motorcycles LML introduced motorcycles like Freedom, etc India and even made Shahrukh Khan their brand ambassador. But still, the sales of LML continued to decline. 

One more problem was also associated with LML apart from the motorcycles and that was the Honda Activa that was launched in the year 2005. When Activa was launched in India in the year 2005 at that time there was no such scooter in India that was so refined and had such an automatic gearbox Activa proved problematic not only for LML. But it also destroyed Bajaj, Bajaj had other star products in its fleet apart from Chetak Like Pulsar. Bajaj discontinued manufacturing scooters gradually and they shifted their complete focus to Motorcycles but LML did not have any other means to save itself and neither of their scooters came close to Activa. That's why LML continued to suffer losses and in the year 2017, LML was discontinued. But I would say one thing because I had driven the Chetak scooter of my father a lot during my childhood that's why I liked these bulky and heavy metal scooters very much and the scooters introduced by LML in its last days. Those scooters were only for niche enthusiasts because in the end, for its revival LML introduced the 200 CC 4-stroke scooter this scooter was named Star Euro 200. LML also launched a similar-looking 150 CC automatic scooter and trust me, driving these scooters would be fun. Especially the geared scooters because a 4-stroke Chetak scooter and any present-day scooter could not match its torque.

Re-Entry of LML

Now, what happened cannot be changed but LML is soon going to re-enter the Indian market this time they are going to launch EVs, and the EV scooter showcased by them on their website looks very high-tech. But a personal request and suggestion for LML is that they should also launch a scooter in India that has the shape of Star Euro. It would be joyful if a similar scooter was launched in India.

 Around 12 years ago, the world's most prestigious motorsport event was organized in India. The Indian Grand Prix Formula 1 racing event was inaugurated in 2011. The event took place at the Buddha International Circuit near the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Formula 1 entered India on a contract of five years from the year 2011 to 2015, Formula 1 event was to be organized every year at the racing circuit developed by the Jaypee Group.

But something counter happened and the organizers were in such a situation that all the races were concluded in three years. After this, Formula 1 racing was never organized in India The Jaypee Group found itself amid a financial crisis. Because of the development of the racing tracks to promote the event Jaypee Group had invested a considerable amount of money. But a very big question arises here why did the Formula 1 racing event exit from India?

Why did the Formula 1 racing event stop taking place in India?

The Government of Uttar Pradesh was the biggest culprit behind this when the Formula 1 event was organized in India. Many problems were to be addressed before it was to be organized in India when Formula 1 cars and other stuff were imported to India. The organizers had to face heavy difficulties in getting clearance from the customs and the organizers had to cope with several bureaucrats as well even for minute jobs, this was also because both the central government and state government were not supporting the race organizers, but all these problems were minute. 

The state government of Uttar Pradesh itself created the most significant problem Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh back then. The government of Akhilesh Yadav refused to consider Formula 1 racing as a sporting event and a 25% entertainment tax was levied on this racing event. According to the government of Uttar Pradesh motorsports is not any kind of sport. But it is an entertainment event due to this high amount of entertainment tax Formula 1 exited from India and has yet to return. 

Now, from the beginning of this Mega event of racing that is Formula 1. We can observe that, the different governments of India were never interested in motorsports and how Formula 1 was completely burned in the dirty politics of India. But everything has not been completely finished because another significant motorsport event is being organized in India. Yes, here I am talking about MotoGP and do you know?

MotoGP Bharat 

Things that hampered the growth of Motorsport In India!

This article will be related to MotoGP and will address the causes behind hampering this motorsport. As discussed previously the failure of the Formula 1 racing event and the state government of that time was responsible for that failure. I have done this because the state government was completely against the organizers for organizing this event at one time. But today as the government has changed, the BJP is in power in both the centre and the state of Uttar Pradesh. This situation has completely reversed today we can observe that if Yogi Adityanath was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. This event would have never been organized in India I am not making any of these statements on my own. This is told by the organizers of Moto GP the organizers of Moto GP have highly appreciated the enthusiasm shown by Yogi Adityanath and later in this article, we will understand step-by-step. 

How state government has contributed heavily to organizing this motorsport event. But before that, I want to give you a disclaimer this article does not hurt any sentiments politically. Whether it is inducing a ban on car modifications or increasing taxes on cars. But being a motorhead we should definitely appreciate the government if something good is done by them. If these motorsports events are not organized in India. It is not a positive thing for India because today, India has the third-largest automobile market and Motorsport events act as fuel for these types of markets.

What is MotoGP?

First of all, let's understand the MotoGP and then we will discuss the other things. Motorcycle races have been organized for around 100 years. This means from the time motorcycles came into existence. But these races were considered motorsports in 1949 by FIM FIM (Fédération Internationale De Motorcycle). After the introduction of this organization in motorcycle racing everything started happening in an organized manner and motorcycle racing was converted into a worldwide championship event. During the early stages, many teams from European countries used to participate in these races, and today, countries all around the world participate in these sporting events. Races were categorized based on the size of the engine of the motorcycle bikes from 80 CC to 750 CC used to be a part of these races.

But during the late 90s, the premiere class that means the most powerful bikes. These bikes used to have an engine capacity of only 500 CC, these engines used to have 2 strokes only. But Moto GP was introduced in the year 2002 till now, the premiere class of motorcycles was not called Moto GP. This name was given in the year 2002 and in the year 2002. The capacity of the engine was increased to 990 CC and motorcycles with four-stroke engines were introduced.

Different Types of Races

Later, the size of the engines was modified many times but the size of the engine was fixed at 1000 CC or 1 Litre. And even if we observe today Bikes with engine capacity of 1000 CC or 1 Litre are the most powerful machines on the racing. But Moto GP is not alone in participating in the race. Moto 2, Moto 3, and Moto E are also organized along with the Moto GP. The size of the engines of motorcycles is smaller in Moto 2 and Moto E racing events and only electric bikes are a part of the Moto E racing event If we talk about the rules of the Racing Events. 

The rules are very simple 22 riders take part in a race that belongs to different teams and they start the race from a grid position which bike has to withdraw from the front of the grid and the last position is decided by the qualifying speed. I talk about the Moto GP race, It is simple sprint racing. The team that completes all the laps early and stands at the first position at the end of the race as well. Is the winner of the race. The teams participating in these races could have different names like Ducati Corso, Gresini racing team, or Repsol Honda.

Who makes MotoGP Bikes?

However, the motorcycles used in these races are developed only by legacy motorcycle manufacturers. Because not all can perform this type of extreme engineering, Riders from any country can participate in these events. But they are exclusively bound to their respective teams and I take the name of the world's most respected rider. He is Valentino Rossi He is top-ranked in the Moto GP titles. Now all the history and rules that we have just got to know I have only provided you with a summary of these. If we would have gone into detail, the whole aim of this article could have been disturbed. You can get all the other details related to these motorsports events on the internet. You can read it from Wikipedia and after this, watch the Moto GP racing event on Jio Cinema on Sunday. Now let's talk about the main motive of this article and that is Moto GP Bharat. 

How did Moto GP succeed despite Formula 1's failure?

Let's understand how the Moto GP event became successful despite the failure of the Formula 1 racing event. Similar to Formula 1, Moto GP is also getting organized by a private enterprise and Fair Street Sports is organizing this event. But unlike last time the central government of India and the state government of Uttar Pradesh have highly supported the organizers in organizing this event. 

In an interview with the Hindustan Times, the COO of Fair Street Sports, Mr Pushkar Rajsrivastava said that Promoters have signed a deal for seven years with Moto GP and this is a huge fact. But he also said that he and his partner Got the inspiration to introduce Moto GP in India when Motorsports was announced as a sporting activity in the year 2019. Now unlike Formula 1, organizing this huge motorsports event does not require paying high amounts of tax. But Dorna is the commercial rights owner of Moto GP, It was not easy to convince Dorna to organize Moto GP in India because Dorna was not sure about the efforts of the Indian government as they knew what happened with Formula 1.

How Motor Sport was introduced in India?

But still, they entered India They met with the Cheif Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, and Union Minister, Anurag Thakur, and Dorna quickly realized that these people were highly passionate about organizing this motorsports event and this enthusiasm was not only visible in their conversation. However, we observed that all the approvals and compliance processes were very smoothly addressed by the government, and all the NOCs were issued on time. 

Organizers did not have to visit multiple offices to get their processes done and recently Moto GP through their official X account thanked the CM of Uttar Pradesh and PM of India. For their help and last-minute visa approval for all the riders, the racing event could not have been organized without any riders. Here the government is mentioned many times because support from the government is highly crucial in organizing these events the government of many countries even funds racing events like Moto GP and Formula 1.

Advantages of Motorsport event in India

The Indian government also funds other sports but in a country like India where people have a low-capita income. It is not adequate to spend the money of the taxpayers on these types of events still the passion of the Indian government towards motorsports this time Is very positive whether it is including motorsports in the category of sports. Working dedicatedly to organize this event on time because tourism also increases by organizing these types of world-class motorsports events recently Shri Narendra Modi has also spoken about increasing tourism in India through sports as it is done in Qatar and not only tourism. 

India is the capital of the world in terms of two-wheeler riders and that's why it is considered that India has more passionate fans of events like Moto GP instead of the European countries if you are also a big fan of these motorsports events. Do watch Moto GP on the Jio Cinema app.

 In September 2022, the road, transport, and highway minister of India Mr. Nitin Gadkari told all the car makers in India to stop selling unsafe cars to poor Indians. Nitin Gadkari said this because the secretary of the road, transport, and highway minister of India, Mr. Anurag Jain said that all the deaths happening due to road accidents in India have been observed at a speed less than that of the other countries. This means that if any car met with an accident in Europe due to high-speed, still, there are fewer chances that the occupant would die. But the chances of a fatal accident are higher in India even at low speeds.

But why is this so?

This is because the cars running in the US and Europe are safer in comparison to India and we have discussed it many times in the past that the cars that have a 5-star rating in Europe. The same models have got 2–3-star ratings in India. An Indian NGO has even cleared this fact an NGO named “Save Life”. When investigating the crash accidents that happened in India, they found in 66% of the accidents that the passenger compartments in the car have been impacted as well seats were deformed in 34% of the cases and 30% of the accidents were a result of absence of safety braking system in the cars.

What is Bharat NCAP?

The Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) is a game-changer for India's automotive industry. It signifies a monumental shift in prioritizing safety standards in vehicle manufacturing. By rigorously testing and rating cars for their safety, it empowers consumers to make informed choices, ultimately leading to safer roads and reducing accidents. This revolutionary program elevates the safety bar for cars in India, saving lives and enhancing road safety.

Why are large quantities of unsafe cars being sold in India?

So, the question arises, India has the 3rd largest car market in the world, Why unsafe cars are being sold in huge numbers in India? The biggest reason behind this is the absence of India's own dedicated car assessment program. As you might have observed some of the bigger countries or groups of smaller countries have their own assessment programs, like NCAPs Latin, NCAP for Latin America, CNCAP in China, USNCAP and IIHS for the US, and European NCAP in Europe.

But in the year 2022, Mr. Nitin Gadkari said “It is highly essential for the cars that are getting sold in India to be assessed in Bharat NCAP because many lives are lost in India due to road accidents”. It also hampers the Indian economy because the people who lost their lives in road accidents are youngsters in the majority of the cases and these are the future of India. This is why Bharat NCAP will become fully operational from October 2023 and the most surprising fact is that all the major car brands in India, have already sent around 30 cars for testing all the mass market car brands have given statements in support of the Bharat NCAP.

Whether it is Hyundai, TATA Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Kia, or Skoda everybody is in support of Bharat NCAP and even Maruti Suzuki has said to support this initiative not only this, the executive officer of Maruti Suzuki, Mr. Rahul Bharti has said that Maruti Suzuki has already sent at least three of their cars for testing at Bharat NCAP.

But do you know, the active participation of Maruti Suzuki in this program, which is sending three cars together for testing? Is a very surprising fact, do you know why I am saying this? Because Bharat NCAP is not mandatory and through this statement, I mean that achieving a certain Bharat NCAP rating to sell cars in India is not at all mandatory. Even the brand could also choose not to send any of its cars. It's totally up to the brand whether it sends any vehicle for testing or not. This is because the job of Bharat NCAP is only to provide details to the public about the number of ratings any particular vehicle has achieved. It has become similar to the warnings written on any cigarette pack. But smoking and chewing tobacco is not at all illegal.

Is Ncap really necessary? 

Now it is not like this is the case with the Bharat NCAP only NCAP ratings are not made mandatory anywhere in the world. This means any brand can sell its vehicles without these ratings as well whether it is Euro NCAP or the American IIHS and that's why I have said that the momentary participation of Maruti Suzuki in this program and sending three of its cars for testing together is a massive fact. We observed that the performance of Maruti Suzuki in the Global NCAP has always remained poor and no magic is going to be observed in the Bharat NCAP. Because almost every testing that would be done in Bharat NCAP would follow the norms completely. As it is done in the Global NCAP testing this is because Bharat NCAP has been associated with the Global NCAP And that's why I am not going to discuss every point.

This article is not related to How Bharat NCAP is good or poor concerning Global NCAP. Or how does Bharat NCAP stand in front of Global NCAP? If you want to know about that there are ample numbers of articles on Google and even there are several videos about that on YouTube as well you can refer to them.

The main purpose of this article is that when Bharat NCAP is exactly similar to the global NCAP, and it is not mandatory as well why are so many car makers especially Maruti Suzuki participating actively in this program? Poor ratings can hamper their reputation as well, 

There are primarily two reasons for this:

1. The cost of testing is the first reason we need to discuss Global NCAP.

At Global NCAP, the procurement of vehicles is done in two ways. In one way, Global NCAP takes the vehicle anonymously from the showroom and then they test the vehicle. But it is done only when OEMs deny to provide their vehicles for testing. Like, Maruti Suzuki denied providing its cars for testing, but the majority of the car makers sent their cars for testing. Because they know in advance that their cars will perform better and every car maker from India to Germany is included. 

In this process, an executive from the Global NCAP randomly selects a car from the production line. Then the brand sends the car to the UK bearing all the costs. The car is tested in the UK three to four units of any vehicle are taken. The cost of those units, the cost of transportation of sending the cars from India to the UK, the expenses of the manpower used in the crash tests, and the cost of facilities that are going to be used. Every type of expense is to be borne by the car manufacturer and this cost is in the range of a few crores. As I have heard it takes around INR 2-3 crores. 

The cost also depends on the car And now if we talk about the Bharat NCAP. The way of procurement of cars by Bharat NCAP is exactly similar to the path of Global NCAP. Every piece of expense is to be born by the manufacturer here as well. But there lies a difference here and it is that Unlike the Global NCAP, the cars would not be sent to the UK now. But to do this, already 6-8 government-certified test centers have already been inaugurated in India. These are situated near the different auto-hubs in India Like Gurugram, Chennai, and Pune. The test centers are situated near these sites. It has been estimated that this will reduce the expense of the car manufacturer by almost 75%. This was the minor reason car manufacturers actively participated in the Bharat NCAP program.

2. Public trust in the government and car makers' advertising are the main reasons.

Due to this as discussed earlier in this article in the major car markets. The cars don't need to get a certain number of ratings in the NCAP. But still, the cars available in those markets are highly safe and the biggest reason behind this is the public's trust in these ratings. In the majority of the car markets, NCAPs were introduced many decades ago like IIHS. It was made by many insurance companies in the US. This organization became active in the year 1959 and in the year 1995, this organization also started front-end crash testing, and then gradually, many NCAPs were introduced Euro NCAP was introduced in the year 1986 and A-NCAP was introduced in the year 1983. The benefit of the early introduction of these NCAPs was that the customers of cars in these countries became highly educated about the importance of car safety. It was also because the governments of these countries were supporting these organizations and people trusted their government more than any random organization. 

Similar could be observed with Global NCAP in India and that's why without any governmental forced mandate. Only safe cars are being sold in these countries because the people in these countries don't want to buy any unsafe car and if you want an example, you can look at the recently launched Scorpio-N in Australia. When this car was launched in Australia this car was reviewed by the media of Australia. They had provided this Verdict. If you are one of those people who puts safety as one of your top priorities when it comes to buying a new car. Especially in 2023, then it not might be right for you this is probably something that disappoints me about this car there is no autonomous emergency braking. The fact that it doesn't come with any active safety is a real letdown, especially in 2023 and if this is your family car, you want your car to be as safe as possible.

Reviews of Australia

Australian reviewers are criticizing Mahindra and Mahindra for not providing a high-end safety feature like ADAS in a family car. Even though this car is available in Australia at a price of half that of Everest the Fortuner Scorpio-N competes with this car neck-to-neck. Still, they are highly concerned regarding this and in India, ADAS is not provided in 90% of the cars, and from here we can understand that due to the presence of A-NCAP in Australia for many years. The people of Australia are highly concerned about the safety features provided in cars. 

A similar is going to be observed with the Bharat NCAP in India Because here the government is testing the vehicles and now people would become highly aware of the safety provided in cars in India. Therefore, they would demand their car manufacturers to provide the government safety level sticker on the car and this is the main reason behind providing so many cars together in a short period Companies like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai are also participating in this program. Because they know that they used to ignore the Global NCAP, they would not be able to deny Bharat NCAP because the Indian government is involved in this and I believe if every brand starts providing its car to Bharat NCAP considering it to be mandatory.

Maruti Suzuki testing for Bharat NCAP

Maruti Suzuki would also be forced to provide its cars as well in the future This can lead to two things – Either their sales would decline sharply because of poor ratings or they could become the car brand with the best safety ratings. But still, I believe that Bharat NCAP should have been made mandatory or at least some points should be made to be followed strictly like if any car obtains less than two stars. That car would not be allowed for sale in the market. The car companies that completely neglect the safety features in their cars would definitely need to follow these rules. Do let me know in the comment section whether you agree with me or not 

 You are likely familiar with various car companies' brands, such as Volkswagen, Toyota, BMW, etc. unless you have been living under a rock for the past few decades. The Japanese giant Toyota is the most prominent of these well-known companies, producing the largest number of vehicles worldwide. However, this list does not highlight the most valuable car companies. Instead, it reveals the companies that have paid the most debt globally. It is not uncommon for businesses to acquire debts to function, so being in debt is not necessarily a significant issue for these companies.

If you look closely at the list, you'll notice a peculiar trend. Out of the 12 companies listed, 6 of them are automotive companies, with Toyota being the company that has acquired the most debt at $186 billion. It's strange to see this trend persist not just in the current year, but in the past as well. In 2019, the most indebted companies also included automotive companies like VW AG, Daimler, Ford Motor Company, and BMW. Upon analyzing data from the past five years, I found that aside from major players in the automobile industry, no other industry had acquired such a large amount of debt. While telecom companies do acquire high amounts of debt, this trend is not as consistent as it is with automotive companies.

It appears that the same situation is now occurring with car companies. This raises a significant question: Why is this exception limited to car companies? Additionally, there is concern over whether these companies may face bankruptcy after acquiring such substantial loans. However, there is no need to worry about this colossal debt causing trouble for these companies, as such an outcome is highly unlikely to occur.

What is the reason for car companies to never go into debt?

Keep the thought of going bankrupt aside, Volkswagen and Toyota are highly profitable automotive brands at this point in time almost every car company acquires a particular amount of debt. Whether it is a significant company or a minor one, this is because operating a car company requires a massive amount of capital. This factor alone is not sufficient, to keep these companies in the list of the top 10 most indebted car companies from around lakhs of the automobile companies around the world. The reason behind that is the finance wings in these companies. 

Did you know that big car companies like Ford, Toyota, and Volkswagen have their own finance departments? These departments help the companies' dealers keep their stock and assist consumers in acquiring loans. To do this, car companies receive a large amount of capital from banks at a lower interest rate. They provide this capital to individuals at a slightly higher interest rate than the one at which they acquired it, resulting in a profit. Due to this approach, car companies have acquired billions of dollars in loans. Although the majority of this capital is acquired by their finance departments, there may be more to the story.

How do Indian Car companies bear the debt?

Let's understand this with two Indian car brands. TATA Motors also has a finance wing. It is called TATA Car Finance and they provide loans exclusively for TATA cars, This finance wing comes under TATA Motors. But if we talk about Mahindra and Mahindra the name of their financial wing is Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services. But this wing does not come under the Mahindra and Mahindra car company and that's why it is listed as a separate entity in the Indian Stock Market. That's why Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services can also provide loans on different types of vehicles manufactured by Mahindra and Mahindra and even on the vehicles of other brands unlike TATA Car Finance, etc. However, the car companies that had acquired the most amount of debt in the world provide loans exclusively on their cars just like TATA Motors. We could observe one more thing from here and it is that more car companies are present in this list. More is the amount of debt they have acquired, Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, and Mercedes are the top companies in the world in terms of revenue we can observe here that the debt size is directly proportional to the size of the company. The bigger the brand, the bigger the debt.

Debt is directly proportional to the size of the company because these companies are selling more vehicles. As discussed earlier these car companies have to first acquire a loan from a bank. The more cars they sell, the more amount of debt these companies would acquire, That is the reason the bigger the brand, the more the amount of debt acquired by them from this, we can also understand that increasing debt figures means that these companies are performing well. 

The debt of Ford.

Since they are selling more vehicles that's the amount of debt is increasing and if we especially talk about Ford then they are escaping from going bankrupt only because of their lending firm. Do you want to know how? The sale figures of Ford is continuously declining in its home market and we can also observe internationally that they are stopping their operations in various markets one after the other. They had exited from Japan and India and are also declining in China. That's why the situation of Ford has become so critical in recent years that if they did not have any financial subsidiary. They could have reported bankruptcy according to a report published in the year 2020 The lending firm under Ford is generating 50% of the overall profit generated by Ford. This means the number of vehicles Ford is selling similar is to the profit they are earning through the interest from the loans they are providing to their customers. But usually, it is observed that the finance arm of any company generates only 15-20% of the profit for the company that's why it has been considered. In the case of Ford if they did not have any finance arm they were not capable of spending capital on the R&D of electric vehicles.

Now we understand that this mountainous debt on the car companies. Is not at all like any typical debt some car companies are even performing exceptionally but debt is acquired by almost every car company. Whether they have a financial wing under them or not are all such companies also profitable? No and from where there comes a U-turn in the story of the debt of these car companies. Now do read very carefully what I am going to say If you follow the car industry closely. You might have also noticed that apart from a few countries in the world. The majority of the countries in the world have only one or two car brands India has only two major car companies TATA Motors, and Mahindra and Mahindra. Korea also has only three major car companies Hyundai, Kia, and Ssangyong, While a country like Australia does not have any car brands and countries that had multiple or successful car companies in the past, the majority of those companies have been already sold out.

Why do car brands do not have any ownership of their own?

Let's talk about the United Kingdom Rolls Royce and Mini Cooper are owned by the BMW group. Bentley is owned by the Volkswagen group. Jaguar and Land Rover are owned by TATA Motors and this leaves only one car brand Aston Martin Its condition is so poor that It can file for bankruptcy anytime. Britain is not the only one that has such a condition. The majority of the European and American car companies have experienced this. It is considered that at one time there were around 300-400 car brands in Britain. But today it can be observed that the brands that are left today do not have any ownership of their own. This is not the case in Britain there are only two companies in the US i.e., Ford and Tesla. They have not filed for bankruptcy till now, according to a tweet written by Elon Musk The US had 1000 Auto start-ups at one time. But today all have become non-existent.

Why have so many brands shut down or been sold?

Even though they had a huge brand value. The answer is Debt other than lending departments, car companies require a tremendous amount of capital for their operations and it is considered that the car business is the toughest in the whole world. It is so difficult to operate a car company that developing a rocket and sending it to the moon is easier. Hear it from the owner of a space company car companies require heavy capital to set up their manufacturing plants to acquire the raw material, to manufacture their cars, to provide the salaries, and to ship their products as well. Apart from this, if the companies observe any problem in the whole batch of any car. They have to recall the cars, remove the flaws, and deliver them back to the customers and if I talk about the year 2023 only General Motors had recalled 6.5 Lakhs SUVs Jeep had recalled 2.19 Lakh cars. In the year 2023 alone Honda has recalled 5 Lakh cars.

Regarding the safety belt issues similarly Indian car companies have also done thousands of recalls. Alone in the year 2023, these expenses are highly diminished in front of a tremendous expense. It is also associated with the car companies and it is R&D For launching new models, And to also upgrade the current models, Automotive Brands have to spend a massive amount of capital. If you don't know, R&D stands for Research and Development apart from this, they have to spend huge capital on the R&D of the engines to continuously get stricter emission norms. Apart from this, safety norms are also getting highly strict around the world and that's why automotive companies have to spend a huge amount of capital on the R&D of both active and passive safety features the biggest transition that the world is experiencing at present. That is the world is shifting from IC Engines vehicles to Electric vehicles Car companies have to spend a huge amount of capital on this due to the same reason.

Debt of Tata Motors and Mahindra

TATA Motors and Mahindra Mahindra are the most cash-rich companies in India and come under the top 10 most indebted companies in India. Yes, because these companies also use the majority of the debt in the R&D of cars. You can observe the same in the chart car companies spend huge amounts of capital on the R&D of cars. What is the intensity of the R&D of these car companies? From this chart, we can understand that all the car companies that are present in this chart Volkswagen Group has spent the most capital on the R&D of cars. According to this list, TATA Motors has the biggest intensity in the R&D of cars, and take into account that here we are talking about the whole world, not India. Here R&D intensity means that what percentage of the sales these companies are spending on R&D of the cars? and TATA Motors has the biggest R&D intensity. This could be because the market capitalization of TATA Motors is less in comparison to the other companies present in this chart and TATA Motors is only limited to India. But obviously, since they want to grow, that's why they are spending huge amounts of money. In the R&D of their vehicles, As discussed previously almost every car brand has acquired a huge amount of debt. There is an exception as well, this brand has not acquired any amount of loan, and this company is Tesla!

How can Tesla accomplish this?

Because Elon Musk has created massive hype around him and Tesla. Due to this, the value of this company is touching the sky. A high value means that the stock price of Tesla in the stock market is very high. It is so high that the valuation of Tesla is double the valuation of Toyota. Even though Tesla has twice the brand value of Toyota. But, Toyota is far ahead of Tesla in terms of its sales since Toyota is a monstrous company. That's why the expenses of companies like Toyota are very high compared to companies like Tesla. But still, Tesla is not so small company it should have definitely acquired a certain amount of debt. However, Tesla has not acquired any debt because due to its increased share prices, they indulge in equity funding. They have acquired an almost negligible amount of debt Now, after reading this article, you might have understood, how difficult it is to operate a car company!

Next time you are about to criticize any car company blindly. You should keep one thing in mind. These companies are in a fight with many government policies and several odds as well and it takes a considerable amount of risk to deliver an affordable car to you. If you have loved reading this article please share this little piece of blog and don't forget to mention your thoughts in the comment section.

 Imagine a poor boy in a small village who works in the fields for 17 hours every day, just for one square meal a day. Now imagine that this boy became the owner of a car company worth lakh crore in the future. This is the story of the founder of Hyundai, Chang Ju-Yung's early struggles, Chung Ju-Yung was born in 1915 in a small village in Korea. He wanted to become a schoolteacher, but his family was so poor that he couldn't study much. 

As a child, he had to work in the fields with his family, but after working so hard, sometimes, they couldn't even feed each other and forget about proper clothes and medical care. Chung had to go to a nearby city to sell wood. There he saw that people had enough food and clothes without toiling in the field the whole day. Seeing all that made him really sad and frustrated. He wanted a better life for himself.

The Formative Years of Chung Ju-Yang

One day, he read in the newspaper that a big construction site in a city nearby needed laborers. This news motivated him to do something. In 1932, at the age of 16, Chung made a surprising decision. He was going to run away to the city. One night, Chung quietly left for the city with his friend. He reached Kowon City after walking about 160 km and started working as a construction laborer. It was hard work for measly wages. But Chung was happy because he was able to earn independently for the first time in his life. Life continued like this for about two months until he got caught. 

Chung's father found him and he had to come back to farming. His family was happy to have him back but Chung was not. These two months ignited a passion for construction and civil engineering in Chung. Also, he knew that he would never be able to beat poverty by working in the fields and that's why he tried to run away two more times. But each time, his father found him. Finally, in 1934, at the age of 18, he attempted his fourth escape, and this time, no one stopped him. He reached Seoul which is the capital of South Korea today. He did whatever work he found there.

Chung's Employment at a Rice Store

First, a construction laborer, then a factory worker, and finally, he got a delivery boy's job at Bokhyang Rice Store. Customers and the shop owners were so impressed with his work that in just six months, he became the store's manager. After this, Chung worked very hard to grow the shop. Then, in 1937, the store's owner fell seriously ill and made a surprising decision. Thanks to Chung's hard work, he handed the store over to him. At the age of 22, Chung became the owner of a business as an employee. In the next two years, Chung worked even harder, and built trust and reputation in the market, which helped him grow his business. Everything was going well, but then suddenly a tragedy occurred. It was the World War II era, and Japan ruled Korea. Japan wanted sufficient rice supply for their army during the war, and it overtook all the rice shops in Korea, including Chung's rice shop. All of his hard work was destroyed at once. Chang was unfortunate, but he didn't give up. Starting Hyundai "If I put my heart and soul sincerely into whatever work I am doing, I will surely succeed." With this thought, he started looking for a business that the Japanese government couldn't control.

Chung's Automotive Repair Enterprise

Soon, he started focusing on the car repair business. In 1940, he took a loan of 3,000 won and opened an Ado service garage. But this time, he was so unfortunate that the garage burnt down just after a month of opening and everything was burnt to ashes. Chung's situation was very difficult. He had to pay his loan and compensate his customers for the loss.

If this situation occurred in anybody's life a normal person could’ve easily given up. But like always, Chung faced a problem head first. He took another loan of 3,500 won and built an even better garage. Chung realized that the biggest problem for the customers was the long period (waiting period) it took to get their cars repaired. So looking at this as an opportunity, he made speed his main focus. Where his competitors took 20 days for certain repairs, Chung's garage would do them in 5 days. His garage was so successful that in the next 3 years, i.e. till 1943, his workforce grew up to 80 employees. By this time, Chung had repaid all of the loans and settled his family in Seoul. Business was growing rapidly but then another disaster struck. Japan needed to make war-related equipment for World War II. So, Japan took its garage ownership and merged it with a local steel plant. Once again, his business was taken away from him. Chang had come back to square one. He was forced to return to his village with his family. But this time, he had 50,000 won saved. And he was confident that he would establish another business. 

What is the Genesis of Hyundai Motor Company's Establishment?

With the end of World War II, Japan's rule in Korea also ended. Northern areas of Korea had the Soviet Union's influence and America's in the southern area. Both of them fought the war against Japan in World War II. That's why Korea was divided between North and South Korea. Chung came back to Seoul in 1946 and restarted his car repair business. Business was old but this time, the name was new. “Hyundai Auto Service” -Hyundai means modern- The car repair business was going well, and that's when Chung noticed that America was constructing buildings for its military forces.

The Construction that Foretold Hyundai's Emergence

He spotted a big opportunity in the construction business. He didn't have much experience in construction. But he still had that passion for construction that he had since he worked as a laborer in the past. That's why, at the age of 31 in 1947, he created the Hyundai Civil Works Company and entered the construction business. He got many small projects in the beginning, but by the 1950s, his company was getting major construction projects. And now this was his major business. Everything was going fine, but we saw another twist in the tale.

In June 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea. North Korean troops were very close to Seoul. That's why Chung had to escape to Pusan with all of his savings. But even after such a big crisis, Chung didn't give up. At that time, the US Army was fighting the North Korean army along with South Korea. And they needed tents, warehouses, and army headquarters. Chung observed that Americans had no shortage of money. They just wanted reliable and timely delivery. And Chung gave it to them. He started with a small team and adopted the "Can Do" motto “If the price is right, they would do any construction project”. A war was underway and he had to face many problems and many losses. But once he gave his word, he never left any project in the middle. Due to this reliability, he developed a strong relationship with Americans. The war ended in 1952, but Chung continued getting contracts from America. Later, to rebuild the country, the South Korean government began building bridges, dams, and roads rapidly. Hyundai played a major role in all this and had exponential growth in the business. 

South Korea's biggest dam, Soyoung Dam, and the most important expressway, Kyungbu Expressway were made by Hyundai. Making Cars In the 1960s, Chung had reached his early 50s and owned a successful construction company owner. But he wasn't satisfied with this.

Hyundai Motor Company

Chung had already built thousands of kilometers of roads and now it was time to build cars to run on those roads. In 1967, Chung established the Hyundai Motor Company. In 1968, he had a deal with Ford in which he was going to assemble the Cortina cars. This joint venture ran successfully for two years. After this, conflicts started developing between the two companies. Ford didn't want Hyundai to build its own cars. And that's why, in 1973, Chung ended that partnership and started looking for new partners immediately. He tried to partner with General Motors and Volkswagen for their manufacturing technology. But everyone refused. Finally, in the same year, they partnered with Japan's Mitsubishi Motors.

Hyundai Pony

Mitsubishi was ready to give Hyundai its car-making technology. The best part was that as per this deal, Hyundai could sell its own cars. Around the same time, the South Korean government issued an order for automobile companies to build citizens' cars. A car that is affordable and reliable and only uses parts made in South Korea. In 1976, Chung set up a new plant and Hyundai produced South Korea's first-ever mass-produced car, the Hyundai Pony. Due to its affordability, this car was so successful in South Korea that Hyundai captured a 60% market share.

It became the biggest car company in South Korea. But there was one catch. The total car market of South Korea was only 30,000 cars. It was not sufficient to be profitable. Also, although Hyundai Pony was successful in South Korea, it was a huge failure in the overseas market. The quality of the car was not good. Its paint would fade in the heat. And it often had mechanical issues.

The visionary foresight demonstrated by Hyundai's founder

Due to these reasons, Hyundai Motor Company has been at a loss for the last 7 years. People suggested Chung that should close the company immediately. But Chung's decision shocked everyone. Instead of closing, he was planning to build a new car factory that would manufacture 300,000 cars annually. The company's management couldn't understand this decision. Who will buy 3,00,000 vehicles in a market of 30,000 vehicles? But Chang knew the answer. South Korean economy was growing rapidly and thousands of people were becoming economically empowered every year. That meant that the demand for cars was going to increase rapidly in the coming years. Plus, Hyundai's new vehicles were explicitly made to export to foreign countries.

This factory was built in 1980, and in 1982, Hyundai launched Pony 2 with many improvements. This car was not only a massive hit in South Korea, but it was also successfully exported to Africa, Latin America, and Canada. In the next few years, Hyundai sold 400,000 cars and became profitable. Hyundai was now established as a decent car company on a global level. But the toughest and biggest car market in the world, the USA, was still to crack.

Internationally, it was important to be successful in the USA to become a major car company from a decent car company, When Hyundai studied the US market, it realized that Japan had captured the compact car segment. And there's already cut-throat competition in the mid and large-sized American car market. That's why Hyundai targeted the sub-compact car market because the competition was virtually zero. Also, Hyundai saw that there's a huge second-hand car market in the USA. They offered their new Hyundai Excel at the price of a second-hand car. That too with a five-year warranty. This strategy shook the car market in the USA. Second-hand car buyers instantly shifted to the Hyundai XL. In 1986, Hyundai sold about 170,000 Excels in the USA. In 1987, they sold about 260,000 cars.

In these years, Hyundai XL became the top-selling imported car in the USA. Until then, no other car company had seen such an initial success in the US market. And with that, Hyundai was established as a major car company on a global level.

Hyundai Group

That year, at the age of 72, Chung retired from Hyundai and became the honorary chairman. After this, his brothers and sons managed the company and headed the company with the same type of determination. Today, Hyundai is the world's third-biggest car company. In just 2022, they sold about 40,000,000 cars. Even though, globally, Hyundai is known for its car business. But very few people know that there are 42 companies in the Hyundai Group. For example, Hyundai Elevator, Hyundai Information Technology, and Hyundai Heavy Industries, the biggest shipbuilding company in the world. And because of Hyundai, South Korea has raced ahead of Japan to become the world's biggest shipbuilding country.

Shaping South Korea: The Influence and Impact of Hyundai

For South Korea, Hyundai is not an ordinary company. Hyundai is an institution that rebuilt the country, created thousands of jobs, and won global recognition in South Korea. And all this was started by a village boy who didn't even have basic facilities like food, education, and healthcare. But he had immense passion, vision, and most importantly, a desire for better.

 Tesla would never set up its manufacturing plant in a country where it wouldn't get permission to sell cars before setting up the plant. This was said by the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk in a similar tweet, an Indian individual asked Elon Musk to launch Tesla in India as soon as possible. Elon Musk replied straight away, that India has the highest import duty in the world compared to any other country This statement is right. In India, the CIF or Cost Insurance Freight of any vehicle is under $ 40,000 or INR 32 Lakh, in this case, a 60% import duty is levied, and if CIF exceeds $40,000 then a 100% import duty is levied and an additional amount of 10% is charged for Social Welfare named CESS.

Due to this reason, the Indian government suggested Tesla that Tesla should assemble the complete knockdown unit of its cars in India and take 30% of the parts from local manufacturers. Still, Tesla stood its stubbornness and replied that the Indian Manufacturers were incapable of assembling the sophisticated parts of the Tesla. Due to this statement, the Road and Transport Minister of India, Shri Nitin Gadkari answered in an interview with India Today that, if Tesla thinks that they can sell cars in India by manufacturing them in China, they won't be permitted for this at any cost.

Nitin Gadkari's Forceful Impact: Tesla Manufacturing in India

Still, now there is a twist in the story this battle that started in the year 2017 between Tesla and the Indian Government has come to an end. Tesla has lost the battle, according to the report published by the Financial Times. Now Tesla is interested in setting up its manufacturing plant in India. In this article, you will delineate how Tesla changed its mind and pivoted to 180 degrees! how this is an extraordinary achievement for India and the Indian government? To know about vacillating thoughts by Tesla. We have to dig deep into the roots of Tesla.

The History of Tesla: From Denial to India Entry

Tesla has been a revolutionary company since its beginning. They do not sell a car but the technology Tesla Roadster was launched in the early days of Tesla since it was a sports car it was not bought by many customers. But the launching of the Tesla Model S was an interesting event it was a luxury car that attracted people from all around the world. The launching of the Tesla Model 3 in the year 2017 was a bigger event. Because it was a mass-market electric car gradually it became the best-selling electric car in the world. 

Due to these cars, Tesla captured 50% of the EV car market in the US. Now this looks very fascinating but the ground reality is somewhat harsh. By the way, In the year 2019, 59 Million units of fossil fuels-based cars were sold around the world and only 2.1 Million units of EV cars were sold which only 3,66,000 units of Tesla Electric cars were sold in the year 2019. The biggest point to note is that 50% of the revenue of Tesla is generated in the US alone this makes it clear that Tesla does not have a major global presence and that's why Tesla wants to expand globally.

Why Tesla wants to expand Globally?

The manufacturing of Tesla cars is done in giga factories at their full capacity, These factories can produce 2 billion units of EVs around the year and Tesla has 3 such factories in the US. One each in Nevada, New York, and Texas but if look, apart from the US Tesla has two other giga factories as well one each in Germany and Shanghai, China. It is not a surprising fact that Tesla opted for Germany to set up its manufacturing plant since it is an auto hub similar to China is the largest auto hub in Asia. 

Tesla has highly benefitted from this decision Tesla had revenue of $ 40 Billion in the US and from China. Tesla generated revenue of $ 18 Billion gradually, China became the second largest market for the US where Tesla was selling 40% of EVs. Tesla was selling 50% of its cars in the US, 40,% in China, and the remaining in the rest of the world but everything isn't fruitful for Tesla in China.

Overcoming China's Dependency

Tesla was undoubtedly earning money from China but it also had to face many difficulties there what can be the biggest problem in the market? Yes, competition. China is the second-largest market for Tesla. But Chinese Manufacturers like BYD, Nio, Geely, Xpeng, etc. are giving tough competition to Tesla in the local market of China and their USP is a competitively lower price. 

As Chinese cars are much cheaper in comparison to these, the price of Tesla ranges from $ 40,000 to $ 70,000 in China and apart from this, the incentives provided by the Chinese government for pushing local industries and non-implementation of IP rights is a big problem for Tesla. In China due to these IP rights, Chinese Manufacturers can copy any product without any hesitation. They make various versions of Range Rover, Jeep Wrangler, etc. they can copy any product. Now these are the problems associated with the operation of Tesla in China.

The second problem Tesla must face in China is the quality Issue. We all know the manufacturing quality of China, especially in the early stages of any new product and if we look at the report published by Bloomberg then Tesla has to reduce its manufacturing capacity by around 56000 units due to quality issues. From December 2022 to December 2023 due to this bad quality of manufacturing, Tesla had to recall 1 million units of EVs. Apart from this, the US-China trade war is another problem for Tesla. 

“South China Morning Post” is a China-based news portal, According to a report published by this portal Chinese Government has suspended Tesla from expanding its manufacturing line in Shanghai. In the meantime, in March 2021 Reuters reported that due to suspicion of spying, The Chinese government is not allowing government servants to park their Tesla cars outside their offices due to these problems. The sales of Tesla in December 2022 were reduced by 21% on a year-on-year basis due to these problems, Tesla understood that it does not only require a major market. But a market whose relationship is good with the US and India is one of them.

Why Tesla Sees India as Its Only Viable Option?

Tesla wants to capture the South Asian Markets and as discussed above Tesla is fed up with China the second option which is the only viable option for Tesla to manufacture its cars is in India. Despite ignoring India easily in the year 2017 but now Tesla could not do this and the biggest reason for that is the work done by the Indian government in the past few years. To establish the ecosystem of Electric Vehicles in India. India might have started it late but now the Indian government is stringent regarding carbon emissions.

Schemes regarding Electric Vehicle

By the year 2030, the goal of the Indian government is to reduce carbon emissions by 45%, and by the year 2070, achieving the goal of net zero carbon emissions and EVs are going to play a major role if foreseen. That is the reason why the Indian government has launched the “Fame Scheme” which is the Faster Adaptation of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles. In this Scheme, the consumers are incentivized to buy Electric Vehicles, this policy actually works especially in cost-dominated markets like India and looks at the success of this scheme.

The Indian government has launched Fame-2 here an investment of 10,000 crores will be made under this scheme, EV infrastructure like charging stations and setting up plants for the manufacturing of batteries used in EVs. An estimated 20 Lakh passengers would be benefitted from this scheme additionally  4,00,000 charging stations would become functional. Together with this, the Indian government has asked companies like Ola and Uber to keep 40% of their vehicles as EVs in their fleet.

The semiconductor venture of Vedanta and Foxconn 

Apart from this, the Indian government is working hard to establish the EV ecosystem in India. In September 2022, a joint venture of INR 1,54,000 Crores was established with Foxconn and Vedanta For the Manufacturing of Semiconductors in India Semiconductors are highly essential. Semiconductors are used massively in EVs in comparison to IC Engine based vehicles, we can understand this fact with the example of vehicles manufactured by Ford. Ford’s focus is an IC engine-based vehicle it uses around 300 semiconductor chips but Ford Mach-E is an electric vehicle it uses around 3000 semiconductor chips. Hence setting up semiconductor manufacturing plants is highly important. 

Apart from this, Indian OEMs have even developed large component bases in India. Here fabricators, differential gears, and motors would be manufactured. Even after all this god made a joke with Elon Musk massive mines of Lithium were discovered in Jammu and Rajasthan and that's why major Indian brands like TATA Motors would be able to invest in the batteries of EVs. This shows the changing ecosystem of EVs in India Due to these reasons, Tesla is forced to set up its manufacturing plants in India. Selling and exporting cars from India the biggest credit for these achievements goes to none other than “Shri Nitin Gadkari”. This type of vision and attitude gives a direct warning to Tesla that you are heartily welcomed in India. If not, you will suffer because good electric vehicles are now being manufactured in India.

After all these initiatives We should learn from these for the future before opting for foreign-brand EVs we should establish the infrastructure and ecosystem for EVs in India. So foreign countries are forced to come to India whether by wish or not, now Tesla is going to manufacture its EVs in India.

How this will benefit India? 

The biggest benefit of the establishment of manufacturing plants in India would be the collaboration of Tesla with local manufacturers. Due to this, the local components suppliers and other companies would learn a lot. In contrast, the engineers working in these local firms would become highly successful when the people working inside Tesla would switch to some other Indian company or any other company operating in India. Their knowledge would be delivered to those companies this is very obvious. 

The biggest example of this is American Rivian, an Electric truck company. Many engineers work here that once used to work at Tesla, share their knowledge with each other With this, they can deliver superb electric trucks consumers would also be one of the most benefitted people in India. 

Tesla after introducing its vehicles in India the Indian companies or the foreign companies operating in India would be forced to introduce technological advancements. They would also be forced to bring their vehicles at cost-effective prices. That would be beneficial for the Indian consumers and market as well.

Thus, the relentless efforts of the Indian government, particularly Shri Nitin Gadkari's remarkable efforts and strategic approach influenced Tesla's decision to open a manufacturing plant in India, defying Elon Musk's previous denial.

 America is famous for its top fuel dragster, NASCAR, and IndyCar races. Car drift is a popular sport in Japan. World famous Dakar rally is organized in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, World Rally Championships are organized in various countries in Europe. Likewise, F1 and MotoGP are world-class motorsports. Races of these championships are organized in various American, European, and Asian countries. But in terms of motorsports, there is almost nothing in India.

Even though India is a vast country today, It has the 5th largest economy in the world, along with has 2nd largest road network in the world. Today, India has the 4th largest market of cars but still, no major motorsports are organized in India. Neither India is known for any of its specialized motorsport like Thailand.

Thailand has a very small economy in comparison to that of India but still, Thailand's own specialized motorsports are organized Thailand like Boat drag racing and sidecar motorcycle racing. Even though it is a developing nation still, many major international motorsports are organized in Thailand like MotoGP. A similar thing could be observed in Brazil as well which is also a developing nation, and the 12th largest economy in the world. But still, F1 racing has been organized in Brazil for a very long time. Hence the question arises When motorsports are appreciated a lot in many developing and developed countries then why it is not appreciated in India.

Discover the intriguing reasons behind the lack of motorsports racing in India. Delve into the cultural, economic, and infrastructural factors that have hindered the growth of this thrilling sport in the country, and explore the potential for its future development.

Why Motorsport Racing Hasn't Revved Up in India?

Does India not have an audience for motorsports? No, Not! According to the Survey conducted by Neilson in the year 2019. India is among the top 5 countries in terms of F1 fans. The problem in India does not lie with the people but with the government bodies, the Indian government never tried to promote motorsports. But the state governments literally murdered the motorsports in India in the year 2011 when F1 racing was introduced in India. This game of motorsports is huge for business enthusiasts not only among the ones whose interests are hampered by the government.

But it harms the Indian economy as well F1 is not the only motorsport through which huge money is earned. F1 racing is the 5th largest sport in the world. Major motorsports like F1 also attract foreigners to your country Monaco and Saudi Arabia are two major examples that attract tourists in large numbers from foreign countries and that's why we will understand this in detail in this article the reason behind the lag of motorsport in India.

Why motorsports do not exist in India? And what all we are losing because of it?

To know about all these questions, we must have prior knowledge about the racing history of India India has an ancient history of motor racing. Motor racing was started in India before its Independence, In the year 1904, the Motorsport Union of Western India Conducted the first motor race in India, this race started in Delhi and ended in Mumbai. This race had a huge track to cover these types of races conducted in India because the European auto brands wanted the Indians to be convinced of the fact. The Indian roads can be used to drive vehicles. As there were not a lot of cars at that time the European brands wanted to promote their cars in India. So that rich people in India can buy their cars with this, there was an increase in the imports of cars. In India and till the year 1930, the majority of cars were imported into India from foreign countries.

But by the end of the 1940s, many Indian companies established joint ventures with foreign car manufacturers with this, the assembling and manufacturing of cars started in India and gradually, the number of cars started increasing in India, and due to this many people in India became enthusiastic about motor racing. To fulfill their passion, many car lovers in India started using airstrips developed during World War 2 as car racing tracks. Like Juhu airstrip, Sholavaram, located in Tamil Nadu, and Barrackpore, located in Kolkata. These airstrips were converted into racing tracks these racing tracks gave birth to local motorsports clubs in India, Madras Motorsport Club MG Club, and Mumbai and Bengaluru Motor Clubs.

What is FMSCI?

But still, India did not have any governing body for controlling the motorsports in India and at that time all these clubs together formed FMSCI. Even today, all the motorsports whether minor or major events that are conducted in India are controlled by FMSCI today If we observe, FMACI does not have anything to control. on one side Malaysia and Middle Eastern countries host world-class motorsports like F1, Dakar Rally, and MotoGP. On the other side, India does not organize any major motorsports events.

Today, India only has 1 or 2 global standard-designed motor tracks and these tracks are located explicitly in Delhi and Mumbai due to this, it is very difficult or next to impossible for learners and racing enthusiasts to carve their skills in a country where racing events are not conducted. Finding a racing driver in such a country is just like looking for water in a dried well even today, motorsports are primarily linked with Narain Karthikeyan in India. But he is not even a star racing driver because still, Narain Karthikeyan has not won any major motorsports world championship this absence of motorsports in India forces the Indian youngsters to opt for cricket over racing Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among the most famous Indian cricketers. But the question arises.

In India, car racing was started many decades earlier than in the Middle Eastern countries and when people used to ride on camels in Middle Eastern countries, people were driving cars on Indian roads. But then, Middle Eastern countries left India far behind in terms of motorsports,

Why does India have such poor conditions in motorsports? 

The previous Indian governments are responsible for this FMSCI was formed in the year 1971 in India In the year 1973, it was registered as a private company. As the first governing body for auto racing and rallying in India FMSCI started organizing Racing events in India. But as we already know, motorsport is a very cash-intensive business due to the lack of funds at FMSCI. It could not promote motorsports in India to a level that was expected. 

Suppose we compare India with the Middle Eastern countries, in those countries. In that case, national motorsports governing bodies are governed by the government, and with the help of their initiatives and policies motorsports are promoted. Today, the governments of those countries provide massive funding for hosting motorsports in their countries. 

In India, FMSCI was a private company that needed more funds from its beginning due to this reason, till the year 2004, despite motor racing becoming 100 years old in India F1 racing was never conducted. But to fill this void in 2007, discussions started in FMSCI to organize F1 racing for the first time in India, and in  2011, F1 racing was scheduled in Greater Noida. At Buddh International Circuit this track was developed to organize F1 races in India this event proved to be a commercial success in India. But with this event getting successful in India a tax dispute was observed.

Tax Disputation of Motorsport in India

In the years 2012 and 2013, two more additions to F1 racing were organized in India, and after this, F1 racing was never organized in India. The policies of the Indian government were responsible for this till the year 2015, the Indian government did not recognize motorsports as any sport. The Indian government did not consider motorsports as any sport when F1 racing was organized in India for the first time in the year 2011. A tax dispute was observed between the State Government of Uttar Pradesh, Jaypee Group, and the Indian organizers the Government of Uttar Pradesh at that time said that F1 is not considered a sport. It is considered an entertainment activity in India due to this, According to Indian law, It comes under the heavy tax slab of 60%. After this, the owner of Buddh International Circuit, Jaypee Group F1 racing was organized. In this circuit, the government and the Jaypee group tried to solve this problem. However the negotiations did not turn out to be successful the organizers had to pay 60% taxes for the next three years and in the year 2015, the 4th edition of the Grand Prix was supposed to be organized in India. 

But still, the tax disputes were not solved Due to this, F1 racing finally canceled its International contract with the Jaypee Group F1 made an exit from India and never came back and the government of India was responsible for this contract cancellation. The son of the Former FMSCI president, Vicky Chandok, and India's racing driver and MTV host, Karan Chandok said that F1 could never be organized in India until the Indian government funds motorsports. As told earlier, the allotment of funds is very rare because, until 2015, the Indian government did not recognize F1 as any sport. Due to this organizers were forced to pay heavy taxes one more major question arises here, 

Racing is considered to be a sport in the whole world why the Indian government does not recognize racing as a sport? 

Look, there is a simple reason behind this If the Indian government has considered it to be a sport. The Indian government had to support racing as well as any other sports since motorsports are very expensive. This could have laid a burden on the Indian government now, even though it could be a little expensive for the Indian government to consider motorsports as a sport in India at that time. But this has only negatively impacted the Indian government. Let me tell you how according to Karan Chandok the F1 racing event was organized in Istanbul, Turkey in the year 2007. Only 11 people were standing in the grandstand But when F1 was organized for the first time in India in the year 2011, at that time 1,10,000 people were present to watch the F1 racing. 

Will Motorsport be as huge as IPL in India?

This makes it clear that India has a huge motorsports fanbase. However, due to the policies of the Indian government, we could not commercialize the Indian motorsports fanbase. If the Indian government had done it today, Motorsports would have been as successful as the Indian Premier League the Indian government earned INR 200 Crores through the IPL in the year 2010. But today, only the IPL contributes around $ 300 Million to the Indian economy every year apart from this.

Tourism from Motorsport in India

If India hosts international motorsports it would captivate many tourists to India from all over Asia India is a lot cheaper than Malaysia and the Middle Eastern countries. While many tourist destinations are located in India these could be explored by the tourists. This will boost the Indian tourism industry like UAE For example in the financial year 2021-22, Motorsports contributed $ 4.8 Million to the tourism industry of the UAE In the year 2022, The size of the Global motorsports industry had a worth of $ 5.11 Billion And according to many market research firms. By the year 2027, it would increase to $ 12.9 Billion due to this reason, many countries are investing heavily in motorsports, and we again take the example of Saudi Arabia.

Current status of Motorsport in India

In January 2023, the government of Saudi Arabia Offered $20 Million to Liberty Media Corporation who is the current owner of the F1 group to buy the whole F1 group but Liberty Media rejected this offer. Now, If we look at the stance of the Indian government today it seems very positive regarding motorsports Motorsports were provided the status of sports in the year 2015 and FMSCI was included in the sports ministry-backed National Sports Federation of India Former racing driver Akbar Ebrahim who is the present president of FMSCI Believes that this would highly benefit the motorsports in India.

Firstly, conducting any type of championship whether cart, bike, or car racing would become very smooth. Second and most important, the participation of students from various schools and colleges would increase. The students who will be taking part in motorsports would get additional benefits in their schools and Indian colleges would also try to promote motorsports apart from this, if any local federation imports equipment from any foreign country to promote motorsports in India. Subsidies would be provided to them it could be also observed that various state governments are trying to promote motorsports together with the central government of India and taking steps in this direction, the Formula E event was conducted in Hyderabad, Telangana and very soon, MotoGP racing would be organized in India.

Conclusion

But at present, India is at an early stage in terms of motorsports, gradually, the motorsport market is becoming highly competitive in India. That's why we need to take bigger steps now this is not only limited to the Indian motorsports market. This will leave a highly positive impact on the Indian Automobile Industry as well because today Indian auto manufacturers are manufacturing vehicles with global standards and it would become very easy for them to bring their capability and talent in front of the whole world with the motorsports. The Indian auto manufacturers would be able to promote their vehicles easily.