Micra, the hatchback from Japanese automobile major Nissan, has trumped the Hyundai i10 to become India’s most exported passenger car in FY15. Nissan exported 76,120 units of the Micra in FY15, overtaking the FY14 numero uno i10, whose exports fell to 23,961 units from 109,074 a year earlier.
The second position went to the Hyundai stable, the Grand i10, which recorded 63,585 units while the Volkswagen Vento (a sedan), with 56,064 units, came in third. Ford Ecosport, with 55,178 units, took the next spot.
Cumulatively, though, Hyundai continued to maintain the top spot, followed by Maruti Suzuki. Nissan occupies the third position.
Analysts say most of the demand for the Micra comes from markets such as South Africa, eastern European countries and Mexico. Nissan’s objective is to use India as a manufacturing hub.
During the last financial year, Nissan produced 82,715 units of the Micra. Out of that, 8,536 units were sold in the domestic market and 76,120 were exported.
An industry source told FE that Hyundai’s Turkey unit has started production of the i10 for European and other markets, which led to a steep decline in exports from India.
“The demand for Hyundai i10 and i20 was very high in the domestic market and the waiting period for these models was extremely long. As result it was a conscious decision on the part of Hyundai to cut down on exports to make its products available in the domestic market,” said the source.
According to Siam data, exports of passenger vehicles by OEMs declined 9.9% to 47,992 vehicles in FY15. The top five automobile exporters from India —Hyundai, Maruti, Nissan, Ford and Volkswagen —have managed to register decent growth in the number of vehicles exported.
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