Friday, January 27, 2012
By Manoj Kumawat
Maruti, Hyundai and Nissan car exports surge due to fall in rupee value
The car industry seems to have suffered financially due to the weakening rupee domestically but there is a positive side to it as well. It has given a thrust to exports as the foreign buyer has to give less dollars to the Indian car company for the car. Reportedly, Maruti, Hyundai and Nissan have bagged surprisingly good orders abroad despite of a meek demand at home. Inspired by this trio, Japanese car maker Toyota will also export cars from India. Nissan Motors is soon to start exporting Nissan Sunny sedan from India besides the Nissan Micra hatchback.
As per reports, Maruti which exports its global hatchback Maruti A-Star, Maruti Alto hatchback, and Maruti WagonR and small car Maruti Estilo has export orders for as many as 4,500 cars. Maruti also plans to export the yet to be launched MPV Maruti Ertiga through the completely knocked down unit route. Besides there has also been a proposal to market Maruti Swift Dzire CS globally. Notably, Maruti Swift Dzire CS will be launched in India on February 1.
Among the major export destinations is South East Asia apart from a steady demand in the European markets. Enthused with the promising export orders, Arvind Saxena, Hyundai Motor India director has reportedly said that the rupee devaluation has strengthened export orders for the South Korean car company. Hyundai currently exports 40 percent of its production in India and these include Hyundai i10, Hyundai Santro and recently launched Hyundai Eon.
India majorly exports hatchbacks to Europe and other regions such as American continent and some West Asian countries. Following the devaluation of rupee, these has been 16 percent increase in exports in 2011 compared to last year. The total exports rose to 501,794 units in 2011. Another major factor that could have given a thrust to exports is that the products exported from India are attractively priced compared to other destinations following cheap labor and other lower establishment and overall costs of production. However, Indian car companies have faced losses due to devaluation of rupee and consequently they had to pay more rupees for the same car component. Though major car companies have thus increased the prices of their cars to compensate the loss.
