India is already emerging as a robust export hub in the cell phone market worldwide with global MNCs such as Apple and Samsung choosing the country as a manufacturing centre after China. Now it is the turn of the automobile market to follow the same path with established brands exporting automobiles made in India that open up opportunities for the Indian manufacturing sector.
The Indian passenger car market features established names such as Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors to Kia Motors and Morris Garage. The models that emerge from the factories of these companies are now increasingly finding their way into the export markets.
Car export numbers
In FY24, 672,105 passenger vehicles were reportedly exported from India. This recorded a rise of 1.4% compared to FY23. The top exporter was the brand that sells the most cars in India – Maruti Suzuki. It sold 280,712 cars abroad. The second and third slots in the export list were occupied by South Korean majors Hyundai Motor India that shipped 163,155 vehicles and Kia Motors – only 7 years old in India – which exported 52,105 cars. The fourth exporter in the last financial year was German MNC Volkswagen India which shipped abroad 44,180 passenger vehicles.
Exporting to highly developed markets
A remarkable point about the emergence of India as a manufacturing source is the fact that Maruti and Honda are sending some of the cars back to the highly developed market like Japan, which is a leap forward compared to yesteryears when Indian made cars were chiefly sent to less developed African markets.
According to reports, 40% of the car exports comprise SUV models. Earlier, about 20% comprised SUVs. Further experts have told the media that about 15-16% of the vehicles manufactured in Indian automobile factories are shipped abroad.
Push to ‘Make in India’
“Given the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Viksit Bharat programme, we realised that the ambition cannot be fulfilled by domestic demand alone. India has to take a larger share of the global market, which is by exporting more. And it became clear to us, whether it is for India or for our own business, we have to export more and we have to grow it exponentially,” Rahul Bharti, executive director, corporate affairs, Maruti Suzuki was quoted in the media as saying.
It is clear that the Centre is going to highlight the achievements of the Indian automobile factories to polish the ‘Make in India’ story on the global stage.
