The automotive industry plays a key role in the day to day activity of human life, not only by providing mobility but also by the enormous impact of the industry on economic, environmental, and social activities throughout the globe (Xia et al., 2015). As arguably the largest manufacturing sector worldwide, the industry faces high profile environmental challenges; they are held responsible for deteriorating air quality, contributing to global warming, and for ineffectively handling end of life automobiles (Orsato and Wells, 2007). These environmental challenges and governmen tal globalization policies have forced many automotive firms to shift towards using specific practices to help incorporate sustainability (Govindan et al., 2015a; Zhu et al., 2007). These practices, termed SSCM practices (Jayaraman et al., 2007; Linton et al., 2007; Carter and Rogers, 2008), help to reverse the well-known adverse effects of the industry, and the use of environmentally-friendly and socially beneficial practices may help to improve the profitability of the business. According to a report by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) by Brundtland (1987), sustainability is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainability creates balance between the economic, social, and environmental aims of organizations (Székely and Knirsch, 2005). Evidence indicates that to achieve sustainable performance, some practices in the traditional supply chain must be incorporated (Govindan et al., 2016d; Gimenez and Tachizawa, 2012; Taticchi et al., 2013). Thus, the benefits of SSCM practices are well understood, but the challenges associated with their implementation and understandings are not as clearly identified especially in developing nations such as India (Epstein, 2008). Since inception, the automotive industry has been a major contributor to the Indian economy. The AMP 2026 report by Auto Tech Review (Automotive Mission Plan 2016–۲۰۲۶ − A Curtain Raiser, 2015) estimated that automotive sectors will contribute more than 12% of the overall GDP of the country. Automotive industries also face environmental and societal pressures from customers, employees, and partners due to globalization (Zhu et al., 2007). In the present scenario, Indian automotive industries are at peak pressure to shift towards SSCM, due to continuous globalization pressures, rules and regulations framed by the government, and from daily increases in societal awareness and standards. Hence, Indian industries now consider the social and environmental issues more vitalthan ever (Kannan et al., 2016), and they face difficulty in identifying the prominent SSCM practices for improving their sustainable performance (Thanki et al., 2016).