Automobile sector in India has been a major provider of employment to job aspirants for quite some time now. Globalization and the accompanying growth in Automobile sector have resulted in expansion of job opportunities for automobile engineers in this sector. Other than this, candidates with the required skills have also been absorbed by the automobile industry that covers various segments such as manufacturing industries, production plants, service centres, government transport corporations, private transport companies, insurance companies, motor vehicle departments etc.

Automobile engineering

Automobile engineering or automotive engineering is the branch of engineering which deals with how to design, manufacture, repair, and service automobiles such as buses, trucks, and cars and the respective engineering subsystems.

An automobile engineer designs, tests and develops vehicles and automobile components from concept stage to the production stage. Even after a vehicle is launched in the market, he improves the vehicle as per customer feedback.

What makes an automobile engineer?

Since it is one of the most challenging careers, success in automobile engineering is conditional to certain essential competencies in the candidates:

• Domain knowledge: In order to be successful, an automobile engineer must possess thorough knowledge of mechanical engineering, combustion, electrical and electronic systems and fuel technology. These domain skills are directly involved in the production of vehicles. For example, automobile engineers use their knowledge of mechanical engineering , combustion, vehicle structures and aerodynamics while developing a vehicle.
• Excellent communication skills: They should have excellent communication and man management skills, since their work involves lot of interaction with a variety of people. Besides, they should display uncommon flexibility not only in understanding but also in application of new technologies.
• Analytical and problem solving skills: The very nature of work in this industry requires the engineers to be adept in analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Advanced computer skill: They should also be armed with advanced computer skills and knowledge of electronic and electrical systems, since modern vehicles are increasingly using more sophisticated technology these days. For example, some cars now have computer-controlled engine systems and digital display dashboards.
  
  Design engineers also make use of computer-aided design (CAD) technology, and do computer simulation and physical testing, at the designing stage.
• Team facilitator: An automobile engineer should be a team facilitator, always willing to to take responsibilities.
• Attention to Details: Automobile engineers have good attention to detail (ATD) skills, since they have to pay attention to detail at every aspect of their job.
• Physical qualities: As they have to work with heavy equipments, automobile engineers should be physically fit and strong with a good hand-eye co-ordination and should be able to work for long hours.
• Ability to work under pressure: The job often requires them to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines.

Career Scope

With foreign automobile majors like Volkswagen, Audi, Ford, Hyundai and Renault targeting India as a base for manufacturing cars, the scope for a career in this Industry is rising rapidly. Despite a slump in demand, Indian automobile industry has created lot of job opportunities.

Depending on their qualification, and specialization automobile engineers can opt for careers like Automobile Engineering Technicians, Safety Engineering, Emissions Research, Performance Engineer, Vehicle Dynamics Controller, Operations Research and Designing.

Specialization

On the basis of their work, automobile engineers can be mainly classified into three streams like Product or Design Engineers, Development Engineers and Manufacturing Engineers. While Product Engineers/Design Engineers deal with the designing and testing of the components and systems, Manufacturing Engineers create and assemble the whole parts of automobiles and Development Engineers connect all systems in a completed automobile.

Remuneration

The salaries of automobile engineers are in commensurate with the challenges they take. An automobile engineer earns between Rs. 250,000 and Rs. 600,000 per annum. While the vehicle manufacturers account for the highest salaries, product development firms paid the least. Senior engineer with the rank of a divisional head with 18 years' experience can draw between Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 30 lakh per annum. [Source: PayScale India]