This paper endeavors to present a classification, review and analysis of the
literature on Plant Maintenance Management Practices (PMMP) employed in Automobile
Industries. There is a considerable amount of published research available concerning
plant maintenance during the last few decades. Similarly many research articles are
available which focuses on various aspects of automobile industries. However, very few
studies focus on critical examination of maintenance practices in Automobile Industries in
particular. Hence considering the slump in automobile industries in the recent times, a
wide-ranging and focused review is attempted here and only those researches have been
examined which mainly concentrates on this core aspect. Thus one of the objectives of
this literature review is to investigate the present state of Plant Maintenance Management
Practices, based on studies conducted in different countries and published in a variety of
journals over the past two decades. An examination of 55 pertinent research studies have
shown that the publications can be grouped in two categories namely Conceptual and
Empirical Research. An analysis of these research articles published between 1990 and
2008, revealed that current maintenance practices ranges from conventional to the latest
techniques for optimizing maintenance function like TPM, RCM and Proactive
Maintenance. These studies focused more on maintenance problem solving and the main
difficulties are reported along with probable solutions. Another goal of the paper is to
analyze the articles by year and type of journal they were published in, to determine the
trends in maintenance management studies and recommend future direction for research.