Tamil Nadu Timeline

IndustryDMK-AIADMK alternation

Hyundai Motor India formed, plant at Irungattukottai

· Irungattukottai

Hyundai Motor India formed, plant at Irungattukottai
Indian auto, CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Hyundai established an Indian subsidiary and a car factory at Irungattukottai near Chennai, where the Santro, its first car, was launched in 1998.

The South Korean Hyundai Motor Company created Hyundai Motor India Limited, a subsidiary it owned outright, on 6 May 1996. The company put up its first factory at Irungattukottai, close to Sriperumbudur and to the west of Chennai. Its debut model, the Hyundai Santro, went on sale on 23 September 1998 and proved hugely popular. Over time the works became one of India's biggest car plants and a significant source of exports, giving the area's motor industry a central anchor.

Related events

  1. 1948

    1. 7 Sep 1948EnnoreIndustry

      Ashok Motors (later Ashok Leyland) founded in Madras

      Raghunandan Saran founded Ashok Motors in Madras to assemble cars; it became Ashok Leyland in 1955.

  2. 1984

    1. 26 Jul 1984HosurIndustry

      Titan Watches founded as Tata-TIDCO joint venture with plant at Hosur

      Titan Watches Limited was incorporated in Chennai as a joint venture of the Tata Group and TIDCO, with a quartz watch plant at Hosur.

    2. 1984TambaramEconomy

      Madras Export Processing Zone set up at Tambaram

      The Union government set up the Madras Export Processing Zone on GST Road at Tambaram to attract foreign investment and boost exports.

  3. 1995

    1. Oct 1995Maraimalai NagarIndustry

      Ford enters India with plant near Chennai

      Ford re-entered India through a joint venture with Mahindra and set up its main car plant at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai.

  4. 2006

    1. 2006SriperumbudurIndustry

      Foxconn opens plant in Nokia SEZ at Sriperumbudur

      Foxconn India opened a factory inside the Nokia Special Economic Zone at Sriperumbudur to supply Nokia, anchoring an electronics cluster near Chennai.

  5. 2007

    1. 29 Mar 2007Mahindra World City, ChennaiIndustry

      BMW opens its car plant near Chennai

      BMW Group Plant Chennai began operations, adding a luxury carmaker to the automobile cluster around the city.

Open in the timeline explorer