Small cars, big haul

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Yogima Seth, Simran Arora: Oct 31 2009, 23:26 IST

Small cars from India are making it big in European markets where people are moving from gas guzzlers to fuel-efficient cars and taking the scrappage incentives being doled out by various European governments. The key growth markets include the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Moreover, global auto giants like Ford Motors, Toyota Motors, Renault and Nissan are making India a hub for overseas sales of small cars. Also the availability of cheap labour and a growing local market have in fact helped India to overtake China in auto exports and even assisted it to challenge Thailand and South Korea as an alternative production destination.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the total export of small cars from India increased by 53% between April and September at 1,97,249 units as compared with 1,29,090 units during the corresponding period last year. Of the total exports, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), the largest exporter of small cars from the country, sold 1,31, 744 cars during April to September this year and its nearest competitor Maruti Suzuki India exported 63, 140 units in the same period. Hyundai Motors exports i10 and i20 to European counties and Santro and Accent to non-European countries. Maruti Suzuki exports models like Alto, Zen Estilo and Ritz to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand and A-star to the European market.

Considering that the April-September 2009 export numbers were simply encouraging, HMIL and MSIL are betting big on their new products and have even set up high growth

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