Ford India’s SUV Ecosport beat Nissan’s hatchback Micra to emerge as the topmost exported vehicle from the country in FY16, data from Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) shows. In FY15, Micra was the single largest model exported from the country but now has been relegated to the second spot.
In FY 16, export of Ecosport, which is manufactured at the company’s Chennai plant, jumped by a whopping 51% to 83,325 units.
Ford India continues to export Ecosport to countries including Australia, Mexico, Taiwan and other destinations in Europe, Asean countries and South American countries.
The company is also planning to shift the production of the vehicles for exports to its manufacturing facility in Romania.
Micra’s export volumes stood flat at 75,456 units in FY 16. Volkswagen’s mid size sedan Vento came third in the list as exports volumes increased by 12.65% to 63,157 units during the same time.
“Companies, which are struggling in the Indian market look to utilise the cheap labour available in India for exports and this strategy also helps make optimum utilization of the existing manufacturing capacities. It also insulates them from the volatility of the Indian market,” said an automobile consultant.
Korean car maker Hyundai still remains the largest car exporter from India with popular models like the Grand i10 and Elite i20 being exported to countries in Europe and other Asian countries from the Chennai plant of the car maker. Hyundai’s exports from India got reduced as the company shifted its production for exports to manufacturing facilities in Turkey and other countries.
Hyundai’s exports fell by 9.57% to 135,405 units in FY16 as the company looks to increase production of cars for the domestic market.
“Hyundai is facing capacity constraints as the demand for some of the products in the domestic market is very high. So the company has consciously decided to move some of the production for exports outside India,” said an automobile analyst.
Maruti Suzuki increased exports of its small car Alto by 73% y-o-y to 54656 units in FY 16. Maruti is currently the second largest car exporter from India.
