There has been
something of a miracle happening in India's motown when it comes to
exports. While export growth of cars and medium and heavy commercial
vehicles from India had slowed down to a single digit figure in 2005-06,
slumping majorly in the last quarter, car exports suddenly zoomed 47
percent in April – the first month of the new fiscal.
According to data
made available by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM),
Maruti Udyog itself reported an export growth of 27.5 percent in
overseas sales at 1,553 units, while Hyundai's India saw shipments going
up by a whopping 65.4 percent to 10,842 units.
Tata Motors also
registered a climb in its passenger car exports by 17 percent at 1,142
units in April 2006 as against 977 units in the corresponding month last
year.
The last fiscal
was a dismal year for India's automobile sector at 5.9 percent growth as
against a solid 28.2 percent upswing in 2004-05. Maruti, for instance,
had seen its exports slump by 28.87 percent to 34,781 units during
2005-06 from 48,899 units in 2004-05.
However, in April
this year the total automobile exports grew 28.3 percent at 75,917 units
against 59,132 units in the corresponding month last year.
This huge growth
story can be attributed to some extent to the tariff reduction on small
cars this year. Interestingly, India's car export volumes largely
suffered because of a dismal performance of Maruti Udyog on the exports
front. Maruti, on its part, attributed this to the failure of its Alto
model in the European market.
But now as the
growth pattern looks upward, reversing a long run of decline, it is
likely that the Indian industry will again be able to reclaim its market
share once again.
Hyundai played a
substantial role in helping the Made-in-India brand get global
acceptance during this period. Hyundai exported 1,02,092 units in
2005-06 as against over 82,093 units sold overseas in 2004-05 – an
increase of 24.36 percent –followed by Tata Motors, which posted 14,882
units against 5,466 on its export list.
Exports from the
Maruti stable dipped during the first nine-month period and touched a
low of 27,884 units as compared to 40,218 cars exported during
April-January, 2004-05
What
this zooming automobile exports from the country indicates is the fact
that India is fast turning into an outsourcing hub for automobile
companies worldwide. Already there are over a dozen global car giants in
the country - including GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Audi,
Isuzu and Nissan.
