Unless you have a strong reason & desire to opt for PG from a foreign University, I'd advise you to rethink your decision. Cost wise, it's going to be a BOMB; which I believe is going to be an important factor.

German Universities seem to be preferred destination for automobile enthusiasts wanting to do MS.

Here are answers to some of the questions you've asked -

1. Not sure what you intend by 'OK with living expenses'. It all depends on how well you are financially prepared. I'd recommend you should be prepared for at least an year's expenses at the rate of about 500-800 euros per month.

2. English or German would depend on the University you choose. Lately, I've been told that German Universities offer courses in English. I'd however short-list Universities that exactly teach what I'm looking for.

3. The lingua franca is German; and you should be prepared to understand German and have a working knowledge of German to survive well. [based on experiences shared by friends and my ex-colleagues]

4. When will you start earning? Depends on a lot of factors. Can't be answered.

5. No clue.

6. Will depend on University. But it shouldn't matter because those Universities would enroll a candidate as long as he/she's ready to pay 😀 . It's business, you see. Check the eligibility criteria.

7. People who say & actually return after completing MS courses are rare - and there's a reason for it. With all the loans to repay and manage living expenses; people don't come back. None of my friends who went for MS ever came back. Reason - they can't. Most of them don't want to.

8. Someone on CE should really create a list of German Universities offering MS in Automobile engineering. It's long due.

9. Both Germany and USA have advanced in automotive engineering. It'd be a strong reason to believe that they're better. A better informed answer can come only from someone who's already done a course from Germany / USA. What defines a 'better place' would need some criteria to evaluate these countries on.

Unwanted $0.02: I think there's more scope for automotive engineering in India these days. But that's my opinion because I've never been a fan of PG studies. TATA and BAJAJ (and even others) have been doing quite a lot of interesting projects in their R&D departments. I think that's the place to be! 😀