COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Exports of made-in-India cars surge 142 pc in April

Made-in-India passenger cars, led by market leader Maruti Udyog Limited, set the foreign streets on fire as exports surged by 142 per cent in the first month of the current fiscal.

However, the two-wheeler industry, the star performers in the domestic market, failed to impress in the markets abroad and saw exports dropping by 44.7 per cent in April 1999, according to latest figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or SIAM.

While the entire commercial vehicle or CV industry witnessed a 59 per cent erosion in exports, the heavy and medium CV segment saw sales in the foreign markets improving by 6.3 per cent. But light CVs pulled down the market as their sales hit a major stonewall abroad to crash by 87 per cent year-on-year.

Multi-utility vehicles and three-wheelers also recorded a marked growth in exports, the estimates revealed.

In the pasenger car segment, Ind Auto marked its entry into the foreign markets exporting five units during April this year as against none in the same month last year.

Maruti's exports surged by 141 per cent during the month to 979 units from 406 units a year earlier while Mercedes-Benz sold 30 units of the E-class abroad as against 12 a year earlier.

In the multi utility vehicles or MUV category, Telco left the rest of the players in the rear view offloading 372 units during a single month. Maruti sold 42 units of its MUVs abroad during the period while Mahindra and Mahindra sold a mere nine units.

Light commercial vehicles or LCVs continued to be trapped under recessionary conditions and their exports witnessed major erosions with the opening of the new fiscal. Eicher Motors saw sales in foreign markets dropping 92 per cent from 65 units in April 1998 to just five units in April 1999.

Telco's light truck sales also dropped by 90 per cent from 149 units to 14 vehicles. Swaraj Mazda and Mahindra and Mahindra both sold four units each of their light CVs.

In the medium and heavy CV segment, Ashok Leyland saw a good demand for its heavy trucks in the markets abroad. The company sold 38 units during the month as against 18 a year ago while Telco exported 63 units.

Hindustan Motors saw a cent per cent erosion in exports as it failed to offload a single unit abroad. It had exported 36 heavy trucks during April 1998, the SIAM figures revealed.

The two-wheeler industry began the new fiscal on a dismal note. Having failed to impress buyers abroad, exports declined for the bi-wheeler industry slipped by 44.7 per cent. Mopeds led the slide with a 54 per cent drop followed by scooters (40 per cent) and motorcycles (41 per cent).

In the scooter segment, Kinetic Motors (erstwhile Kinetic Honda Motors) was the only player to record growth in retail sales abroad. It sold 764 units during the month, up 40 per cent from 544 units a year ago.

Bajaj Auto saw demand for its scooters crashing in the export markets as sales skid off track to settle at 115 units, down 85 per cent from 820 units in April 1998. LML Limited also witnessed a 46 per cent drop in exports at 301 units.

Bajaj Auto seems to be having a tough time abroad as its motorcycle exports also came crashing down by 98 per cent during the month to a mere 26 units from 1,573 units a year earlier.

Hero Honda was the only other player in the segment to have witnessed a negative growth in exports to touch 732 units from 1,249 the previous year.

Escorts Yamaha sold 1,673 units during April 1999 from 1,556 a year ago while Royal Enfield retailed 98 units abroad from 34 last year and TVS-Suzuki's motorcycle exports stood at 124 units in April 1999 as against ten bikes in the same month last year.

In the mopeds category, Bajaj Auto's exports slipped by 90 per cent to 62 units, followed by Majestic Auto, which was down 61 per cent. TVS-Suzuki, however, could not manage to sell a single unit abroad during the month. Escorts Yamaha and Kinetic Engineering's moped sales, however, improved during the month.

In the three-wheeler industry, Bajaj Auto was the only player to have exported its products from India. Sales abroad grew 46 per cent to 1,486 units from 1,012 units a year ago.

UNI

Business news