A Million Cars for a Billion People by Gautam Sen - Book Review

There are not many books written about the Indian automotive scene or even cars specific to India. Sadly, only a few and very senior automotive journalists have managed to successfully translate their writing passion from magazines to books and Gautam Sen is definitely one of them. Having authored detailed books on the vintage and classic cars of the country, Gautam’s crack at having a book that takes you through the automotive history of India along with constant comparisons to international events is certainly worth a read.

What starts out as one of the most detailed explanations of the humble beginnings of the automobile from steam powered locomotion devices to the Benz Patentwagen (which incidentally we drove recently), to early electric powered cars, A Million Cars for a Billion People is a quick yet detailed way of acquainting yourself with accurate facts and figures. The story then eventually proceeds to how motoring moved to India at the turn of the twentieth century and how it prospered till the clampdown on foreign manufacturers by the government.

This book also takes you through a detailed trip of the license raj era where Indian has only about a dozen or so vehicles to choose from if they wanted a car and how the Maruti 800s arrival in India in late 1983 really started the automotive revolution in India. Of course, the recent people’s car, the Tata Nano has also been explained in a level of detail that befits Gautam Sen’s narration and proficiency. We also like how Gautam has a whole section dedicated to the Korean manufacturers like Hyundai that have come to completely revolutionize every single segment they have entered into. That said, we would have loved to see a lot more pictures and illustrations that of course add to the rich history of the bool.

On the whole then, A Million Cars for a Billion People is a must have for everyone even remotely interested in automobiles and also for those who aren’t. The sheer level of history and fact in the book make it an excellent read across interests and age groups and is certainly one that you must have on your bookshelf or Kindle.