Carmakers Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, Honda and others deploy more robots as job loss fears gain ground

Three hundred robots whirr to life every morning all over Hyundai's Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai, rubbing shoulders with 1,500 employees and 7,000 contract workers. Together, man and machine churn out one car in less than a minute; over 600,000 cars roll out of the factory every year. The number of robots inhabiting the factory has increased more than 10-fold in a decade. 

This alliance between man and machine is an uneasy one even as automotive companies from Chennai to Chakan, Gurgaon to Sanand, slowly deploy more robots. Honda Siel, in its journey from 30,000 cars a year to 120,000, has almost tripled automation levels - from 20% to 55%. Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant is highly automated compared with its older Gurgaon facility. Ford India deployed 90 robots to meet high demand for its small car Figo. Automobile News