Global car mfrs export more from India

Source: The Dollar Business Bureau

The domestic market has not been too friendly for automobile manufacturers in India, but some of them found exports as a way to sustain this competitive and sluggish economic scenario.  

The automotive industry in India, one of the largest in the world, produced 23.37 million vehicles including passenger, commercial, three wheelers and two wheelers in the fiscal year 2014-15. The country is also a major exporter of automobiles. Automobile exports increased by 15% in the fiscal year 2014-15, over the previous year.

In the last fiscal year 2015-16, India’s exports of passenger vehicles grew to 6.54 lakh units, an increase of 5.2%. 

During the FY 2015-16, Indian units of four prominent manufacturers of passenger vehicles shipped more cars and utility vehicles, compared to what they sold in the domestic market. 

Exports, specifically from companies such as Ford Motor, General Motors, Nissan Motor, Volkswagen, have helped them better use their capacity and obtain gains even if sales in local market remained sluggish.

General Motors, the Indian unit of the American auto maker, saw the fastest growth in its exports, as the company shipped more than 37,000 units to foreign markets in the fiscal year 2015-16, a 17-time hike over the previous year. Selling under the brand of Chevrolet, GM exports Chevrolet Beat hatchback as the only model from India. 

Nissan, the Japanese auto-maker, is among the biggest exporter unit-wise, with around 1.12 lakh units shipped overseas in the last fiscal. In terms of volume, the figures declined 7.2 % than the previous fiscal. However, the Japanese automaker is the third largest exporter from India, after Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki. 

Ford Motor, one of the largest exporters from India, is just trailing behind Nissan. The company shipped about 1.11 lakh units of passenger vehicles to overseas markets, an increase of 36% than the year before. Ford EcoSport, a compact SUV model, was among highest selling models with 83,325 units shipped.

Despite posting a 9% decline in domestic sales in 2015-16, the exports of Volkswagen, the German automaker, grew 17% from the previous year, with around 76,000 units shipped overseas. Volkswagen Vento, the mid-size sedan, was the most shipped model for the automaker, with 63,157 units.