Chennai is nicknamed the "Detroit of Asia"[1] due to the presence of major automobile manufacturing units and allied industries around the city.
A number of big motor companies has presence along the 60 km Automotive Corridor which includes BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Renault-Nissan, Mitsubishi, Caparo Group, Komatsu, Caterpillar, Ashok Leyland, TVS, and others.
Oragadam is regarded as the epicenter of this corridor which boasts of the National Automobile Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP).
Avadi also boasts of the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE), a new engine testing facilities.
It is estimated that a part of this corridor from Tiruvallur to Maraimalai Nagar alone, by 2012, would produce around 1.25 million cars, 35,000 commercial vehicles and other automotives per year.