Car makers went through a rough patch in 2011

Despite a couple blockbuster hits here and there the year 2011 has been more fraught with depressed gloomy atmosphere. Hyundai EON, Mahindra XUV 500 and new Maruti Swift are just a handful smashing hits right from the start, but otherwise a majority of car manufacturers are gripped with some or the other tension on an overall. Maruti Suzuki India and General Motors have seen more than everybody's share of chaos put together with recurring strikes at their manufacturing plants. While Maruti India had to put up with a 60 day production loss on an overall from the thrice hit labour unrests, the General Motors was pushed into the gallows with a 50 day production failure.

See More Mahindra XUV 500 Pictures Read More on Mahindra XUV 500

Tata Motors India did manage to see a dismal growth in spite of the slow car market, but the abysmal Tata Aria sales has become the biggest reason for concern which no matter what the car manufacturer came up with did not fare up well. What the leading car manufacturer of the country thought would help in pushing the MPV sales came down flat. Tata Aria 4x2 variant with a substantial price reduction did not lift up the sales which touched the rock-bottom selling just 140 units in the month of November, while the rift with the West Bengal government was another stress point for the auto major. Nevertheless, all the three car manufacturers do have some ace cards up their sleeve for the year 2012, which could be their reason of hope for the success in the coming year.

See More Tata Aria Pictures Read More on Tata Aria

Maruti Suzuki India has 10 cars for display and launch put together, where Maruti Ertiga MPV is the one on which the auto major is betting really high. Another compact SUV concept and an MUV will also be showcased at the 2012 Auto Expo from the largest car manufacturer of the country. Tata Motors has the globally renowned new Tata Pixel concept car for Auto Expo and Tata Nano diesel launch slated for 2012. However, Honda Motors and Toyota Motors survived through an extremely rough phase where their entire production out of the Thailand unit was brought to halt due to the floods in the country. Still, Toyota India hopes to win the situation back with 2012 Toyota Fortuner, new Toyota Innova and the revamped Toyota Camry sedan.