Indian Export Market - Automobiles

Indian Automobile Export Market - A look at the biggest Automobile Exporters in India

PREFACE: The ranking has been done based on the basis of percentage contribution of Export to the overall volumes. The background for considering the % contribution and not directly export volumes is to measure the OEM's dependency on Exports and hence the focus of these OEMs on the same. Surprisingly, a lot of OEM's have garnered higher volumes in Exports compared to Domestic Sales and the intention of making India as a Manufacturing & Export Hub is quiet evident from that. Also the OEMs having higher Export focus are based at locations near to ports giving it the required accessibility. The Domestic Sales / Export volume is from April to July 2013 (Quarter 1 of FY14).   

India has gained importance by global automakers not only as a growing market, but also a strategic location to export its products. "Made in India" vehicles have found global acceptance because of its value engineering, localization and its central location. Carlos Ghosn was once found commenting on the issue - "If we get a product right in India then the product is ready to be accepted elsewhere.. in growing markets". The cost of making a car in India is 15-20% lower than any developed / even developing markets. India made products are also rebadged for various international markets. Now, strong export lineup is also considered as an advantage to offset the depreciating rupee!  

Passenger Cars –

·         Nissan emerges as the OEM with the highest dependency on Export. No wonder the OEM is undeterred with its poor performance in the Indian market, as it has been able to successfully expand its Export portfolio - kindly note that Micra is made ONLY in India for global markets. Also Sunny contributes significantly to the OEM. In the coming times, Datsun brand would also be based in India and would be exported to various countries - Do remember that Datsun's world premiere was done in India and for a reason!   

Source: ET

·         Hyundai has always set benchmarks in Exports - It is the country's largest car exporter and in 2010 touched the milestone of exporting over 10 Lakh cars! No wonder, "Made in India" Hyundai cars is being exported to over 120 countries! Also over 50% of its production is being exported.

Source: Business Line

·         Ford also has recently re-aligned its strategy to accelerate the export volumes to adapt to the changing Indian market conditions and strong global demand for compact cars and SUVs. With addition of Ecosport in its portfolio, not only making it a success in India - but also exporting the model to various other developing countries is also its part of the strategy. Ford is also looking at integrating India with its global manufacturing network as part of its "One Ford" strategy. 

·         VW India has been exporting cars since Pune last year as fully built units to markets such as South Africa, Srilanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia and LHD version of the Vento to West Asia.

·         Who can forget Toyota's big plans to the Indian made Etios / Liva for the global markets. The OEM currently exports to Indonesia & South Africa. The India-made Etios though didn't perform as it was expected in India - but is the 4th best selling car in South Africa!

·         Renault India exports the Duster to RHD markets - UK and Ireland. 

·         Maruti - is aiming to overtake Hyundai in exports. By 2020, Maruti is planning to invest Rs. 18,000 crore in new factories to support its expansion and export strategy. 

Despite current market challenges and macroeconomic factors, Export is the strategy being used by various OEMs to shield itself from the economic slowdown. 

A look at the India made products which are the best-sellers in international markets -

Source: HT

A glance at the Export volumes in Commercial Vehicles, Two & Three Wheelers –

*Force Motors volumes have been considered separately as its domestic numbers are nil.

Indian Car Sales Figures - August 2013

August 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

Highlights –

·         August 2013 - The industry continues its weak run and in all means have turned ANEMIC. The market response has been poor to all the efforts that the OEMs had to offer. Even with the DREAM discounts on the platter, customers remain to postpone their purchase decision. The situation worsens with the banks increasing the interest rates (say ICICI, HDFC) and the biggest nationalized bank SBI considers that any person with an net income worth Rs. 6 Lakh p.a is NOT worthy to buy a car! The new clause is a sham and have just added to the woes of the market. The industry is seeking stimulus from the government which itself is in a jeopardy :) The only breather can be the upcoming festive season - believe me, if the industry does not recover in the festive period, we may see the biggest downfall in the history of Indian automobiles. 

·         The biggest gainers were - Honda, Ford, Maruti & Hyundai - Anything in common among these OEMs??? Say "NEW PRODUCTS!". With Amaze, Ecosport, Stingray & Grand i10; the future is in the hands of the newly launched models. However, sustainability can only be seen if they can have "MULTIPLE" hero products in the portfolio. Do not be surprised if Renault sees de-growth in the coming months due to the decline in sales of Duster - the over dependency on a single model will cost it dear. Similarly we see Honda's & Ford's focus currently on Amaze & Ecosport ONLY. Honda City & Ford Figo have witnessed its worst sales, the story is similar to other models of the brands as well. LEARN from Renault's mistake - strategize and give equal importance to other cars in the kitty! 

·         Maruti Suzuki reported 51.5 percent growth in overall sales at 76,018 units as against 50,129 units in the same month last year. The ugly duckling gets revamped in August - i.e. the blue-eyed boy Wagon R has a makeover variant Stingray to support the brand. In overall Wagon R does a respectable number of 12748 units. Swift bounces back to >14k numbers and also exceeds Dzire numbers by a whisker. Estilo, A-star and SX4 continue their under-performance. Appreciate Maruti Suzuki's decision to stop production of Estilo - even the iconic Zen title couldn't save it. A-star & SX4 are all set to be revamped - hope to see their production ready facelifts in the coming Auto Expo. Alto had a pendulum swing throughout the year and has been extremely difficult to comment on its performance - August emerges slow for the brand. The LUV is finding difficult to retain its love among the buyers - Ertiga struggles at ~ 4.5 k figure and does less than an Innova as well! 

·         Its Grand Masti time for Hyundai! - the strategy to challenge Maruti seems to be put in place with the upcoming GRAND i10. The neatly designed hatchback is intelligently placed between i10 & i20 and the diesel variant availability makes it all more lucrative. The launch price of Rs. 4.29 Lakhs have made the competition all more wary. The biggest challenge is to avoid cannibalizing its own brands - don't you think i10 buyers would move towards Grand i10 diesel and i20 buyers would find i20 costly? All depends on Hyundai's efforts on avoiding loss of focus on the sister brands.

·         Toyota is leaving no stone unturned in order to revive Etios Twins - the recent facelift and aggressive marketing campaigns blended with humongous discounts is the resultant of the same. The Japanese major very well recognized that it cannot survive only on the laurels of Innova and needs a good product portfolio to sustain. But with all the efforts Toyota is struggling to maintain the figures of over 2.5k for both the brands. Innova again comes to the rescue and scores over 5k for the first time in past 5 months! Fortuner wonders on what slowdown is and maintains its steady performance of over 1300 units.

·         The rough ride worsens for the Indian Auto majors - M&M and Tata. Passenger car sales for Tata Motors have almost halved from 22.311 units in August 2012 to 11,564 units last month. For Mahindra, sales declined 27.5 percent to 15,281 units in August 2013. Both the OEMs are strong players in upcountry market and their downfall clearly depicts the negative sentiments in the Rural part of the country too! Just imagine, a brand such as Bolero which was refusing to step down the 9.5k mark three months back is struggling to touch 7k in the current scenario. However Bolero, Scorpio & XUV shows resilience in terms of letting go and holds the hope of the automaker to jump back in the race. 

Source: Business Line

·         Duster scores below 3k figure for the first time in past 14 months! - Is it the Terrano effect? Or else the brand is simply losing its sheen - do you think its much pricier than the uber sexy Ecosport? Sustaining the volumes of Duster would be the key to survival for Renault - it is gone all vocal in terms of aggressive TV campaigns, discounts and even buzz marketing (remember Gang of Dusters?). Even John Abraham has been roped in for promotions. Renault - it is high time to start delivering through other brands as well!

·         Honda continues its dream run - the icing of the cake would be additional production capacity and bringing diesel offering on all of its other carlines. Though Amaze was able to maintain the >6k mark in August, Brio & City stood lacking in their numbers. Honda still has the challenge to remain aggressive for all its brands and give equal attention. 

·          GM has seen it all in past 6 months - the automakers plan to go gaga with all its new launches took hit initially with the Tavera fiasco and then later with the production halt of the Sail twins. While the US major was reeling to fire all its cylinders (quite literally) - the veteran Beat and the newbie Enjoy supported the OEM - both the brands combined contributed 76% of overall sales. With the start of sales of the Sail Twins - expect the additional numbers in September. 

In these tough times, a good month is what the industry requires - While most parts of the country would celebrate Ganesha Festival this September, lets hope the Industry STARTS delivering numbers and gives the boost for the coming festive season. 

A look at the top 20 cars of the month -

Indian Two Wheeler Sales Figures - July 2013

A look at the Top 50 selling Two-wheelers in India for July 2013 (including bikes, scooters & moped) -

July 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

Indian Car Sales Figures - July 2013

July 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

Highlights –

·         July fares as per the expectation – Being an inauspicious timeline (hindu calendar - Ashada) where most of the customers prohibit any financial decision; car industry is the worst hit during the period. July also saw huge discounts floating in the market to revive consumer interest and struggled to arrive at the current position! The industry reportedly dropped over 7% vis-à-vis last year and is expected to report the lowest numbers in the current calendar year. July 2013 would also be the NINTH consecutive month where the auto sector has witnessed de-growth!

·         The Indian Auto Industry was never so competitive and volatile. It is a period of “ONE PRODUCT WONDER” – OEMs such as Maruti, Renault, Ford & Honda could post growth only riding on the sales of their Wonder Products (Dzire, Duster, Ecosport & Amaze respectively). The industry has also been harsh on segments – in a time where we expected MUV/SUV to grow despite the turmoil; the Government imposed SUV taxes curbed this part of the success story too. The worst hit automaker from the policy proved to be M&M – its passenger car division saw a decline of 29 percent. The SUV major is forced to have planned plant shutdowns and announce non-production days to rationalize the lowered demand.

                                                               

Source : Business Line

·         Although Maruti Suzuki domestic sales grew by 5.8 percent, the growth cannot be justified – as Maruti had faced low production rate owing labour dispute during the month. However, Dzire proved to be savior again with an offtake of 15249 units. Alto family supported will with over 18k units. The performance of Swift and Ritz was the biggest disappointment with the brands de-growing 8% & 23% YoY respectively. The new found LUV (Ertiga) too had to face the heat and de-grew by a hefty 36% YoY in July (can you guess who’s “ENJOY”ing the scenario?). Zen Estilo, A Star & SX4 remains the pain brands for the automaker and show no hopes for their revival. Petrol-only Wagon R surprised all with an offtake of 13409 units.

·      Hyundai also took the planned periodic annual maintenance shutdown of its production facilities to cater the reduced demand. No wonder the Korean OEM de-grew by 6%. Eon, i10 & Elantra proved to be the heroes in distress and displayed significant Yoy growth of 39%, 10% & 709% respectively. It also means that petrol models are still fighting out the battle for survival.

·   The Indian UV major M&M may soon lose the touted third spot to Toyota. The gap between the 2 auto makers has reduced to just over 1k units. Mahindra’s dark horse Bolero too seems to reel under pressure – It is the first time in past 22 months that the brand has witnessed an offtake of less than 7k units!!! (Previously reported in Aug 2011 – 6554 nos.). Scorpio still stands till tall in its segment and refuses to bow to Duster (Scorpio – 3256 units, Duster – 3089 units). Quanto may soon follow Aria’s footstep – a capable offering to fail, owing to market dynamics. Verito + Vibe posts a disappointing tale – combinedly does 1027 units (Dzire & Amaze galore!). XUV 500 bounces to 2k figures – thanks to the reduced excise duty and an effective price revision of over 33000 rupees.

·  Toyota is leaving no stone unturned in terms of reviving Liva & Etios – the brands still performs far below expectation and manages to cross 2k and 2.5k units respectively. Innova too ends up performing over 4.5k volumes. Fortuner emerges as the star performer with 1669 nos and ends up awing us all (don’t be surprised to see Fortuner volumes overtaking Liva & Etios figures in some months!)

·   Honda is reaping its seasonal fruit – the much awaited first diesel offering from Honda performs as expected and posts its all-time highest offtake! The Brio too joins the party and contributes 2.6k units. City lies low and manages to near 2k nos. In overall – Honda reported a sales growth of 156 percent during July selling 11,223 units, compared with 4,386 units in the corresponding month in 2012. All thanks to Amaze – the company now plans to start a third shift from November to reduce the waiting period.

·  Following Honda’s footstep is Ford – it made us wait over 18 months to launch the Ecosport - since it was showcased in Auto Expo. The compact SUV has taken the consumers by storm and is now commanding a waiting period of over 8 months. Who said the industry was facing a slowdown! Ford’s Domestic sales also went up by 26.15 per cent to 7,867 units in July this year as against 6,236 units in the same month last year. The company now seems to shift its entire focus on Ecosport – other brands such as Figo, Fiesta & Endeavour seems to be forgotten – bad move Ford!

·  General Motors announced India’s one of the largest vehicle recall in July’13 for Tavera. It is also experiencing trouble in manufacture of Sail twins. However, the impact was low and the US automaker managed to post a 10.73 percent decline in sales at 6,503 units, compared to 7,285 units in the same month last year.  The fight was well supported by Beat & Enjoy. The newly launched MUV is sailing at an average ~2.2k units and its success is very much required by its OEM.

·  Renault’s multi-crore pan India campaign of 2 years celebration offer couldn’t pull the volumes to grow significantly. In a Month-on-Month comparison (July’13 v/s June’13) – Duster, Scala, Fluence & Pulse degrew by 32%, 52%, 41% & 95% respectively. The new brand ambassador of Pulse (Anil Kapoor) also failed to revive the brand. Renault would have a tough time once Terrano is showcased in August.

Considering the current scenario, August too seems tough and the auto makers would be in tremendous pressure to perform. Be assured of high-discounting and heavy marketing of cars this festive season! The only positive in the entire fiasco would be – “It is the best time to be a car buyer – plenty of options and equally lucrative discounts J”.

Indian Car Sales Figures - June 2013

June 2013 Sales Figures - Pan India

HIGHLIGHTS:

·         The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India reported 12.6 per cent decline in total sales in June this year at 84,455 units. The company had posted a total sales of 96,597 units in the corresponding month last year. For June 2013, MS reported 7.8 per cent decline in domestic sales at 77,002 units, over 83,531 units in June 2012.

Diesel v/s Petrol June'13
OEM	Brand	Diesel	Petrol
Maruti	Dzire	8097	4451
	Ertiga	3316	1634
	Ritz	2080	1177
	Swift	12040	5196
	SX4	176	138

·         Trend to watch for – Petrol starts contributing to over 50% of diesel sales and is catching up fast. But, with incessant price increase of gasoline make the trend as volatile as mercury!

·         Hyundai’s domestic sales stood at 30,610 units during the month, up 0.52% from 30,450 units in June 2012. Surprisingly the old warhorse Santro saves the day for the Korean major by posting its highest offtake number in past 15 months. i10 & i20 dutifully performs with over 8k and 5.5k figures. Sonata breaks the 20 nos jinx and has a offtake of 14 nos. Verna drops to below 4k numbers for the first time in past 6 months. Has the Ecosport already haunted the touted opponent? Eon sustains the 7.7k figure.

Diesel v/s Petrol June'13
OEM	Brand	Diesel	Petrol
Hyundai	Elantra	271	120
	i20	2731	2897
	Verna	2878	1001

·         M&M reports a double digit de-growth after a longgg time. Total sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV500, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 17,232 units as against 19,792 units in June, 2012, down 12.93%. No wonder the ‘Car of Steel’ – Bolero led the drop of 18.4% MoM. The MoM de-growth of other products is surprising as well – Quanto (-30.3%), Rexton (-33.6%), Scorpio (-29.8%), XUV (-35.8%) & Xylo (-29.5%). The UV major which was shielded from the downfall in the industry had to succumb at last and has made the OEM shock with awe. The Indian automaker has strong plans of recovery with the launch of new low-priced XUV (reduced the GC and save on the SUV tax!); also the OEM is all set to announce hefty schemes for all its models.

·         Toyota Kirloskar Motor reported 19.45% decline in its domestic car sales at 13,805 units in June 2013. Can anyone explain the consistency of Fortuner volumes in this tough times? – The top premium SUV garners offtake volume of 1561 nos effortlessly. Innova bounces to ~5k nos. India-made Liva & Etios continue to disappoint.

Diesel v/s Petrol June'13
OEM	Brand	Diesel	Petrol
Toyota	Corolla	179	204
	Etios	1456	669
	Liva	1234	717

·         Tata Motors passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 11,804 units in June, down 31.54% from 17,244 units in the same month last year.

·         Honda Cars India Ltd reported over three-fold increase in its domestic sales for June 2013 at 9,297 units. The company had sold 2,667 units in the same month last year. Read the statement by Mr. Sen (Senior VP – Honda) to know the reason – “We are extremely delighted with the consumer response to Amaze which has surpassed all expectations and is further gaining momentum. We already have more than 18,000 happy Amaze customers and we hope to add many more going forward.”

·         Ecosport making ripples? - Ford India sales up 20% in June within the first month of Ecosport’s billing!

Diesel v/s Petrol June'13
OEM	Brand	Diesel	Petrol
Ford	Ecosport	3429	573
	Fiesta Classic	281	83
	Fiesta	208	25
	Figo	1669	835

·         GM records a negative offtake! According to reports, a surprise check by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) this month led to the discovery of issues with the BS III diesel motors in the Sail saloon and hatch and the Tavera. While the 2.5-litre direct injection Tavera engine did not match up to emission norms, the Fiat-sourced 1.3-litre common-rail diesel engine in the Sail saloon and hatch is facing ignition problems. The issue has a major blow of over 2500 numbers for the US major with a drop of volumes of ~1.5k in Tavera and ~1k in Sail. Meanwhile, GM has ramped up the production capacity of its BS-IV Tavera. The Tavera sells around 1,500-2,000 units every month, of which 70-80 percent are BS-III.

Diesel v/s Petrol June'13
OEM	Brand	Diesel	Petrol
GM	Beat	1528	553
	Enjoy	2295	283
	Sail Sedan	-30	1028
	Sail U-VA	-24	533
Fiat	Linea	121	53
	Punto	580	21
Skoda	Fabia	82	50
	Laura	144	0
	Rapid	940	202
	Superb	51	75
VW	Jetta	182	25
	Polo	1949	1251
	Vento	1542	403

·         One sentence to sum up June’13 performance – “DOMESTIC CAR SALES STAY IN SLOW LANE”. Only the new launches could rev the engines up for the respective OEMs.

Source: ET

Kindly find mentioned the sales figure for the month of June'13 –

TOP 20 Selling Cars

Ford’s Urban Discovery!

Finally we have something that we have been waiting for since it made its first appearance in the Auto expo 2012 held in the capital. Calling it the most awaited or eagerly anticipated will be quite of an understatement since it is a lot more.  Some say it as neuvo ecosport and to some in Brazil it’s known as nuvo ecosport and it took almost 18 months for ford to Indianize it so that we can call it as The Ecosport.

First things first, it’s a spectacular looking masterpiece. The rectangular Audi inspired headlamps looks brilliant and certainly a lot of chrome is used on the front to add to its flamboyant character. At the back it looks even better with good proportions. The beauty to behold but that beauty is much more than skin deep. It has got 3 engine options two with petrol and one in diesel. As you steep in your senses feel nice due to plush interiors and upholstery quality. Centre console looks staggered with so many buttons but you get used to it pretty soon. Mind you, voice command system does recognize your voice (Indian Accent). Six air bags, cooled glove box, charging point in the rear, foldable seats makes up for the less boot space and extendable tray at the back makes a lot more sense than its competitors.  Microsoft sync system is another ace on practicality.  If the airbag deploys or the fuel tank gets cut off in a crash, Sync will automatically connect to 108, convey to the helpline your car’s longitude and latitude coordinates and allows you to talk to a person on the other side.

Talking about the ride quality of the diesel - it has got the perfect balance of comfort and fun, the response you get is quick and turbo comes in at low revs, in response to which steering command and the overall drivability of the car impresses you. And you don’t have to downshift again while overtaking. And you want to just hold on a while and cruise on highway, it’s comfortable as well.

But certainly the masterstroke comes in the form of pricing from Ford. The million dollar question – Will Ford end Renault’s dream run? We would say, with petrol starting as low as 5.59 Lac and diesel ranging from 6.69 Lac to 8.99 Lac, for top end it has got a huge field to play with. Certainly it will attract every buyer who is ready to spend between 5 to 10 Lac. It has got the fun of a Swift, ease of i20, strength of Vento, practicality of Dzire and Amaze, looks that could very well counter Verna and last but not the least everything Duster gives at a much higher price. The pricing was all possible due its under 4 meter body frame and economy of scale achieved by making Chennai the export hub.

We guess Ford has got everything right; it will take Ford to an altogether different league and will establish its name like never before. No doubt Ecosport is a breakthrough ‘discovery’ from Ford which would help establish itself as a forerunner in the challenging automobile space in the subcontinent.

(Author - Anshul Chawla - Is an automobile enthusiast who love and live cars! Can be ignited at anshul_chawla@live.com)