Nissan Micra tops India passenger car exports

Nissan’s Micra was India’s biggest model exported in 2014-15 with 76,120 units sold, followed by the Hyundai Grand i10 with 63,585 units and the Volkswagen Vento with 56,064 units sold.

While the Grand i10 has also been a success in the domestic market with 99,088 units sold, the Micra and Vento have not fared that well but have made a mark for their manufacturers in foreign markets. More units of the Vento and Ford EcoSport were exported in 2014-15 than in the year-earlier period with EcoSport sales increasing from around 17,000-odd units to a whopping 55,178 units, more than 200 percent.

Other models that made it to the Top 10 as far as exports go include the Nissan Sunny with 38,759 units and Hyundai i20, another domestic success that sold 38,144 units abroad.

In the model-wise pecking order, Hyundai had three models in the Top 10 pecking order while Maruti and Ford India had two apiece. The Alto sold 31,594 units and the A-star, which was withdrawn from India last year, sold 28,697 units. Like the EcoSport, the Ford Figo’s export numbers surpassed that of the domestic sales which were down 40 percent.

In terms of fuel splits, the overwhelming numbers of cars exported were petrol with the Micra leading followed by the Grand i10 and EcoSport.

For both Ford India and Volkswagen, India has been designated as an export hub. For VW, this was a theme that it organised at its pavilion at the Hannover Messe earlier this month in which India was the partner country. For Ford, the newly-inaugurated Sanand facility will be its hub for compact car exports.

Overall, India exported 622,470 vehicles (casrs, UVs and vans), an increase of 4.42 percent over 2013-14. Company-wise, Hyundai remains India’s top exporter at 191,221 units followed by Maruti Suzuki at 121,701 units, just a tad ahead of Nissan which sold 120,331 units.