We take a look at the most exported cars from India in the first half of the current financial year. The Ford EcoSport emerges as the leader.
India is slowly becoming a major car manufacturing and exporting hub thanks to the low cost labour available here and the easier regulations and norms. Over the past few years, the number of cars which are being exported from here has been increasing which has increased the overall numbers too. Cars like the Ford EcoSport and the Volkswagen Vento are exported in higher numbers than the local sales which says a lot about the strategy of the companies.
In the first half of FY16, it is the Ford EcoSport which was exported the most and it witnessed a growth of 57.8%. This pushed it from the fifth position which it had last year to the first position this year. This also meant that the Nissan Micra went a position lower with its figures being almost consistent. A surprise entry to the list is the Maruti Suzuki Alto which comes in at the third position after witnessing a 219% growth in export numbers.
The Volkswagen Vento and the Hyundai Grand i10 are the ones who have fallen a couple of places lower thanks to the EcoSport and the Alto. While the former suffered from a slight decline of 2.1% over the first half of previous year, the latter saw a hefty 27% decline. The next two positions have also been occupied by Hyundai cars in the form of Xcent and i10 both of which saw just under 15,000 units of exports. The latter is on the backfront in India after the launch of the Grand i10 which is its replacement.
Occupying the last few positions are the Nissan Sunny, Hyundai Accent and the Ford Figo. While the Sunny and Figo are sold in the Indian market, the Accent has been discontinued and is now sold only in very few countries. With more and more manufacturers setting up plants in India and expanding existing facilities, the export numbers are sure to rise further in the coming years. The Make in India initiative by the Indian government is also a nice way to increase production here.