The boom is over in Detroit. But now India has its own motor city

The car industry in the region around Pune, Maharashtra, is growing apace as manufacturers see the potential for the Indian market to overtake China.

The tiny Mahadev Temple is beginning to look out of place on its hill above the village of Chakan, 30km from the Indian city of Pune. Just a few years ago, its squat bulbous cupola looked down over an empty plateau of farm and grazing land. Now, more than 2,500 workers swarm over the 2.3sq km of land beneath it. By early next year, the steel and concrete hangars rising from the scrub will have become a Volkswagen plant able to churn out more than 110,000 cars a year.

To the other side is another sprawling 4sq km plot tipped to house a factory for the ultra-low-cost car planned by Indian motorcycle giant Bajaj and France’s Renault. And just 10km away in Talegaon, General Motors is putting the finishing touches to a factory which will produce 120,000 cars a year. The Mahadev Temple is now the centrepiece of one of the world’s most rapidly industrialising regions.


Dr Thomas Dalhem, who is in charge of setting up the plant for Volkswagen, says: “They speak about the Detroit of India, but I don’t like it. If you think back to when the car industry in the US was booming, then you can compare it to Detroit.”

The plants announced so far add up to investments of more than