In FY17, export to US was worth just $3.52 million but this year it has increased to $654 million and now US is the third largest export market for made-in-India cars
India has always been a favourite manufacturing hub for companies as low cost of labour charges help them to make more profit. The make-in India policy of our prime minister is also attracting lots of manufacturers to our domestic market. Mexico, Europe and UK were the most important export countries for made-in-India cars.
But things have changed due to Brexit and other factors, export to Europe and UK has come down and now US is the third largest export market for made-in-India cars. In FY17, export to US was worth just $3.52 million but in this FY it has increased to $654 million. But in large scale, US contribute just 9.2 percent of overall passenger car export.
US is among the largest car markets in the world and Indian exports don’t contribute much to them. The two American manufacturers Ford and General Motors are the biggest exporter to US from India. Ford is exporting only EcoSport from India and recently a four wheel drive variant of US spec EcoSport was spotted on test in India.
General Motors shut down its domestic operations due to huge losses and the company is focusing only on export. The American manufacturer exports new Beat along with some other models to its home country. We are expecting this trend to continue in coming months as other manufacturers are planning to give importance for export market.
The localization of MQB platform will certainly help VW group to make full use of its plants as India could be used as an export hub like other manufacturers. Hyundai is also one of the largest car exporters in India but they focus mostly on other countries, which is why the Korean manufacturer contribution to US from India is small.
India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki is also focusing on exports along with Renault and Nissan to name few. Mexico is the largest exporter of made-in-India cars with 7.7 percent growth in FY18 and total value of exports is $1.69 Billion. In FY18, the overall exports registered 10 percent growth to $7.1 Billion.