Top players
in the Indian auto industry believe the country’s
passenger car exports are poised to touch the 1
mn mark by 2010.
India exported around 1,92,000
cars in 2006-07. The Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM), the auto industry association,
is however optimistic about the industry projections.
Dilip Chenoy, director general of SIAM said, “With
so many capacities from major players in the pipeline,
we are sure this industry will exceed the earlier
trend of 40 % CAGR and take us to the 1 million
mark. Targets mentioned in our automotive mission
plan are achievable.”
Maruti Udyog, the undisputed leader
in the domestic market with over 51 % of the market
share, exported 38,000 passenger cars in 2006-07,
just about 6.4 % of its total sales. The Company
however plans to export over 2,00,000 cars by the
year 2010.
Jagdish Khattar, Managing Director
and CEO of Maruti Udyog admitted that there were
several infrastructural hurdles that had to be overcome
in order to achieve the projected figures. He however
believed that the million mark could be achieved.
Maruti has in fact been aggressively
trying to expand its export markets, with several
delegations of dealers and distributors from 24
countries including the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Cameroon,
Tanzania, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, etc.
visiting India in the first quarter to study Maruti’s
marketing strategy.
Maruti has already made inroads
into Indonesia and the Philippines, the traditional
Honda and Toyota strongholds, and has managed to
bag export orders of 11,000 units of the Zen Estilo
to Indonesia and 1,500 units of the Alto to the
Philippines. Last year it exported to markets like
Algeria, Sri Lanka, Chile, Sudan, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt and Nepal.
The Company’s export target
this fiscal is 55,000 units, a 45 % leap from the
previous year’s export figures.
Hyundai Motor India (HMI), has
had the lions share of passenger cars exports from
the country, in 2006-07, about 60 %, with the Santro
accounting for over 91 % of its exports. MD and
CEO of HMI, H S Lheem too is optimistic about the
projected figures, revealing that Hyundai was planning
an increase in the volume of passenger car exports
to approximately 3,00,000, in the next couple of
years. The country has already penetrated the car
markets in 67 countries, including Latin America,
Europe, Africa and West Asia.
The Company also revealed that
it was set to export 50,000 CKD (completely knocked
down) units to Russia, the CIS and Taiwan where
there was a considerable price advantage. |
