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Hans India
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Hans India
India-made cars gain traction in Japanese market
Maruti Suzuki and Honda Cars India have clocked a robust increase in exports to the Japanese market, reflecting the improving quality and acceptance of India-made cars in developed markets. According to figures compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), India's car exports to Japan jumped to $616.45 million in the first nine months (April-December) of 2024-25, which represents a close to 3-fold jump over the $220.62 million worth exports in full financial year of 2023-24. The Maruti Suzuki India is the biggest exporter its off-roader sport utility vehicle (SUV) Jimny to Japan. Mexico, Australia, and South Africa are currently the top four export markets for this car. This is the second SUV after the Fronx that the company is exporting to its parent company in Japan. The company exports its Fronx SUVs to Japan from its Guajart plant with the consignments being shipped out from the Pipavav Port in the state. Maruti launched the Jimny in India in June 2023 and started exporting it to various countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa from October 2023. While over 22,000 units of this five-door car were exported from India in 2023-24, the company had already exported over 38,000 units of the Jimny in the first nine months of 2024-25. Honda Cars India exported 45,167 units of SUV Elevate during the first nine months of 2024-25, mainly to Japan, which is twice the number of sales of these vehicles in India. The company launched the car in Japan in the third week of March where it is being sold as the Honda WR-V. It is the company's first made-in-India car to go on sale in Honda's home market Japan. The WR-V brand was discontinued in India in 2023. However, the moniker is in use globally. Export of the car had begun around December-January, and it was launched officially in March. In the two-wheeler segment, Yamaha India also has plans to export its premium R15 bike model to Japan as the cost of manufacturing in India is much lower. This reflects India's potential as auto manufacturing hub even for the advanced countries. Overall, India's car exports rose 15 per cent to 7,70,364 vehicles in FY23, outpacing the 2 per cent growth in domestic sales. Compact SUVs now constitute over 25 per cent of exports, with mid-sized passenger cars and utility vehicles also seeing strong demand. Industry players aim to increase the export share to 30 per cent within five years, according to a SIAM report. This was the best ever annual performance driven by demand for global models being manufactured in India. With manufacturing quality improving, some companies have also commenced exporting to developed markets, according to a SIAM statement.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Japan makes it to top five markets for India-made cars
Japan emerged one of the top five export destinations for Made-in-India cars for the first time in the last fiscal year, underscoring steadily growing global acceptance of cars built in the country, including developed markets. Key Indian exporters include the local units of Suzuki Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co , seeking to increasingly leverage the country as a production hub. Vehicle shipments to Japan rose to $616.45 million in the first nine months of FY25, from $220.62 million in FY24, showed commerce ministry data, collated by SIAM. Globally Competitive Models The Indian government is yet to release detailed data for vehicle exports and imports for the March quarter. However, industry insiders expect the trend to accelerate given that Maruti Suzuki began exporting the Jimny SUV to Japan this January. 'Over decades, we have built a base in quality, cost, efficiency and technology in car manufacturing. This has given us volumes and economies of scale,' said Rahul Bharti, senior executive officer at Maruti Suzuki India, adding that going ahead, the company would also export a 'large number' of e Vitara electric SUVs , manufactured in India, to the developed markets of Europe and Japan. Japan is itself a major carmaker and top exporter, shipping out 5.12 million vehicles in 2024. While Honda Cars India exported 45,167 units of SUV Elevate — mostly to Japan — more than double of the 22,321 units it sold in the local market, Maruti Suzuki has on sale SUVs Fronx and Jimny in the country. Notably, parent Suzuki had to initially pause fresh bookings for the Jimny five-door due to higher-than-expected demand post launch. The car secured around 50,000 orders within four days of launch in Japan. 'Indian OEMs have been not only expanding into key markets such as Africa and Latin America but are also beginning to enter developed markets (like Japan) with globally competitive models,' said Shailesh Chandra, president, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Kunal Behl, vice president, Honda Cars India said the company aims to establish India as a 'key export hub in its business globally'. While the proportion of exports is likely to remain at about 30%, absolute volumes will rise over the next few years as the company's total volumes grow on the back of new model introductions in India. In the two-wheeler segment, Yamaha is planning to shortly commence exports of premium motorcycles to Japan. Itaru Otani, chairman, Yamaha Motor India Group, said, 'The sourcing cost, the labour cost, is quite low in India compared to other countries.' 'We are exporting nearly a third of our output to 58 countries already. We started exports to Europe from India at the end of last year. The next step is to ship to other advanced markets like Japan and the US,' said Otani. Overall, India's car exports grew by 15per cent to 770,364 vehicles last fiscal, widely outperforming a 2per cent rise in domestic sales at 4.3 million vehicles. While more than 27per cent of vehicles exported are compact passenger cars — measuring up to 4 metres in length and up to 1.4-litres — the share of compact SUVs — also up to 4 metres in length — are on the rise. Compact SUVs fare well Chandra said exports of compact SUVs are performing well, currently comprising more than a quarter of total exports. 'There is also a steady demand of mid-sized passenger cars having engines up to 1.6-litre, constituting about 20per cent of the share of PV exports,' he said, adding exports of utility vehicles — of 4-4.4 metre length — have also risen significantly with a more than 18per cent share of overall exports, 'As an industry, we would closely monitor global geopolitics and would leverage any opportunities that exist in enhancing exports,' Chandra said. On their part, passenger vehicle makers have set an ambitious aim of doubling car exports to 30per cent over the next five years.
