Scope of Automobile Engineering in India

• With the fast growth of new automobiles in the market, the demand for Automobile Engineers has risen. Automobile Engineering or Vehicle Engineering is a challenging career with a wide variety of career scope.  
• Automobile engineers deals with the various components of a vehicle, like, the designing, developing, manufacturing, testing, repairing and servicing of cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, etc .and other parts of the vehicles. 
• For the impeccable combination of manufacturing and designing of automobiles, different elements of Engineering like mechanical, electrical, software and safety engineering are used. 

• The basic eligibility criteria for a candidate who wish to pursue a career in Automobile Engineering is that, the candidate must clear their 10+2 examination or equivalent in science subjects with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics or Bio-technology, Bio-informatics, Biomedical with good passing marks in the aggregate.  
• Interested students can also opt for Diploma in Automobile Engineering after completing their class 10th examination. To get an admission in Post Graduate Diploma or an Engineering degree one need to have 50% marks. There are certain engineering colleges, where, mechanical engineering students can also opt for an Automobile engineering as an optional subject. 
• After completion of bachelor’s degree (B.E/B.Tech), one can also pursue for a post graduate degree; i.e M.E/M.Tech and after that if interested can go for their Ph.D degree. 

The course duration in Automobile Engineering are as follows:

• B.E/B.Techdegree in Automobile Engineering  - 4 years
• M.E/M.Tech degree and Post Graduate Diploma in Automobile Engineering – 2 years
• Diploma in Automobile Engineering – 3 years
• PhD course – 2 years

There are several Degree, Diploma and Certificate courses for an interested candidate who wants to pursue a career in Automobile Engineering. They are as follows:

• B.E. Automobile Engineering
• B.Tech. Automobile Engineering
• Certificate Programme in Automobile Technology
• Diploma in Automobile Engineering
• M.Tech. Automobile Engineering
• Post Graduate Diploma in Automobile Maintenance

After studying Automobile Engineering, one gets several employment opportunities in various fields. 

• The Automobile Engineers work on the planning, designing, developing, manufacturing and testing the performance of the automobile and their systems. 
• The Automobile Engineers gets work in manufacturing industries, production plants, service stations, state road transport corporations, private transport companies, insurance companies, motor vehicle departments etc.
• With the knowledge in Computer Aided Design (CAD), CAM (Automation), ERP, Automobile Engineers can find employment in computer aided industries as Designers. They can also join the Research and Development companies where they can design models of various vehicles. 
• Candidates with a Diploma in Automobile Engineering can start their own business like automobile maintenance workshop or automobile garages.
• Candidates with a B.Tech degree in Automobile Engineering and after completing their MBA can have a career in Marketing. 
• An automobile maintenance engineer can get the post of supervisory in a workshop, garage, or factory. 
• A candidate who has got a Master’s degree and an experience of 5 years in teaching at graduate level or having an industrial experience can get employed as a lecturer. 
• Those having PhD degree in Automobile Engineering can work as a researcher or scientist.
• Candidates having good communication skills are in demand in International companies like Volvo, Ashok Leyland, Telco, Ford, Hyundai, Maruti, etc. 

There are few skills that are required to become an Automobile Engineer. They are as follows:

• An automobile engineer should have knowledge of different features of engineering like mechanical, combustion, electrical and electronic systems and fuel technology. 
• They must have good communication skills, computer knowledge, analytical and problem solving skills. 
• The candidate must have the ability to think logically, organize his work, practicality, flexibility in his work, patience, to understand and to apply new technologies. 
• The candidate must have good mechanical skills to identify the problem. 
• An automobile engineer should have some physical qualities like they must be strong with good hand-eye co-ordination and should have good stamina to work for long hours.

There are various Universities and Institutes who are offering courses on Automobile Engineering through distance learning. They are as follows:

• SRM University, Chennai 
• Karpagam University, Coimbatore 
• Noorul Islam University, Kanyakumari
• St. Peter’s University, Tamil Nadu 
• International Distance Education Academy, Gujarat

There are various career opportunities in Automobile Engineering.  With experience and good working knowledge and qualifications a candidate can get employed in good companies like Volvo, Ashok Leyland, Telco, Ford, Hyundai, Maruti, etc. They can also get employed in education sector or work as a Researcher or Scientist. They can also have careers in 

• Automobile Engineering Technicians
• Safety Engineering
• Emissions Research
• NVH ( Noi
  • The basic eligibility criteria for a candidate who wish to pursue a career in Automobile Engineering is ,candidate must clear their 10+2 examination or equivalent in science subjects with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics or Bio-technology, Bio-informatics.  
  • The candidates are selected on B.E/B.Tech courses basis on the marks they get in their 10+2 examination and in the entrance examinations like IIT-JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT, State Entrance Examination, etc. which are conducted both at national and state level. 
  • In state level entrance exams selection is based on the rank a student get in the entrance exam. Similarly, selection to the M.E/M.Tech courses is through The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE examination). 
  • AMIE examinations are taken by Diploma holders which are equivalent with the degree holders. 
  • Several institutes take their own separate entrance exams. 
  • To make a career in automobile industry, the candidate should be hardworking, dedicated, determined and committed in his work.
  • The most important work of an automobile engineer is that he needs to work from the scratch of the vehicle.  He needs to do the designing, developing, manufacturing and testing the vehicle. 
  • He should have clear understanding of the mechanism of the vehicle like its internal combustion engine, electrical systems, motor transport affairs, workshop technology, etc. 
  • Automobile engineers are classified into 3 streams as per their specialties like Product or Design Engineers, Development Engineers and Manufacturing Engineers. 
  1. Product or Design Engineers works on the design and checks the mechanisms of the automobiles are in correct order or not. 
  2. Manufacturing Engineers creates and assembles the parts of automobiles. They work on the design and layout of the equipment, machine and line rates, specification of equipment and manufacturing safety procedures. 
  3. Development Engineers works on connecting all the systems in completed automobiles. They are responsible for the delivery of a complete automobile as directed by the automobile manufacturer, governmental regulations, and the customer who buys the product.
  • The salary of an automobile engineer depends upon his experience and qualifications. A fresher in this field can get a monthly salary of approx. Rs.15,000/- to Rs.20,000/- per month. 
  • Candidates passing out from the best technological institutes like IITs, NITs and BITS gets higher pay package as per their academic qualifications and skills. 
  • An experience of 3 – 4 years of an automobile engineer can get a salary of approx. Rs. 40,000/-per month. 
  • Major car manufacturer companies like Honda, Audi, Skoda etc. give higher pay packages to its employees along with other perks.