Hardened steel is widely used in automotive industries to manufacture components such as transmission shafts, gears and bearings. Surface Coatings for Cutting tools designed for high hardness are used for machining these hardened steel components. The introduction of car parts made of light high strength steels has resulted in formability problems during sheet metal forming. PVD and CVD coatings on forming tools have been obtaining best results is stamping under severe conditions. Due to high hardness and low coefficient of friction, Diamond like carbon films are used to coat engine and power train components. The present paper describes the role of surface engineering in automotive industries. © 2015 Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences.