Ford becomes largest exporter of cars from India in December 2016 as it endured a phenomenal YoY growth of 262.36 percent
Ford India may not be enjoying a great deal of success in the domestic market but the same cannot be said for its export division as it overshadowed Hyundai in the month of December 2016 to sit atop the board. Hyundai, the second largest passenger car maker in the country, is also the leader in exports from its manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu but it had been surpassed last month as Ford endured a phenomenal YoY growth of 262.36 percent.
The final month of 2016 saw the American brand registering 17,904 units of export as opposed to just 4,941 in the corresponding month the previous year. Amidst bumped down to second, Hyundai was not far behind as only 797 units separated each other but the worrying part was that the South Korean auto giant had to face a YoY sales decline of 23.19 percent. At a drop of over 5,000 units, Hyundai shipped 17,107 units as against 22,273 in December 2015.
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Ford began exporting cars from Indian plant to European countries in the middle parts of 2016 and thus extending its reach to as much as 50 nations worldwide including parts of ASEAN, Europe, Middle-East and Africa among others. One of the primary models Ford export is the Figo hatchback which is known as KA+ elsewhere alongside its subcompact sedan sibling, the Figo Aspire.
The brand exported 11,630 units of the Figo twins in December 2016 which is nearly ten folds increase compared to just 1,751 examples in the same month the previous year. On the other hand, Hyundai recorded a huge decrease due to comparatively less exports in numbers of Xcent, old-gen i10, Grand i10, Getz and Elite i20. They combined export stood at 11,031 units last month compared to 14,678 in the December 2015.
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The EcoSport is a major player for Ford’s global aspirations and in Dec 2016 a total of 6,274 examples were exported – 1,429 units more compared to Hyundai Creta. Ford invested $1 billion in Sanand production facility back in 2015 and it has an annual capacity of manufacturing 2.4 lakh vehicles. At the closure of 2016, Nissan, Maruti Suzuki and VW occupied the next three positions in terms of export numbers respectively.