A business case study of the automotive cluster around the city of Ahmedabad

In 2010, Tata’s first Nano rolled off the assembly line near Ahmedabad, India; the plant was the first automotive manufacturing facility in the area. However, within just a few years, Ford, GM and Suzuki had opened new plants close by, and the region now produces a million cars annually.
It is accepted that businesses or commercial units agglomerate around a certain area – commonly known as clustering. In this way, the firm can take advantage of numerous spillover effects from its surroundings including lower transportation costs, a larger labor market, and heightened competition.
The object of this research for Harvard Business School’s Institute of Strategy and Competitiveness is to undertake a comprehensive case study on the intricacies of Ahmedabad’s automotive cluster. This will consist of a background on the competitive position of both India and Gujarat, an analysis of the cluster and its challenges, along with a series of recommendations on how both public and private stakeholders can further improve the cluster’s productivity.

Faculty Supervisor:

Thomas Ross

Student:

Varun Banthia

Partner:

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Globalink Research Award