Maruti Suzuki may dominate the bestselling cars list in Indian market, but a completely different picture emerges when we look at the most exported cars. In 2018, the most exported cars list is dominated by foreign manufactures such as Ford and Hyundai.
Ford Ecosport tops the list with 91,694 units exported in 2018. It was at number one position in 2017 also. Ford and Hyundai grab three positions each in the list while the rest is taken by Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Nissan and Maruti Suzuki.
At number two is Chevrolet Beat with exports of 79,495 units. GM has stopped selling its cars in the Indian market, but exports are still on. Chevrolet Beat is manufactured at Talegaon facility near Pune and exported to markets such as Argentina, Chile, Peru and Central America. Beat was at second position in 2017 also with exports of 81,157 units. At third spot is Ford Figo with exports of 57,353 units.
Other cars featured in the list are Volkswagen Vento (53,801), Hyundai Grand i10 (50,350), Nissan Sunny (42,534), Hyundai Creta (40,138), Hyundai Verna (31,751), and Ford Figo Aspire (18,863 units). 2018 list of most exported cars is quite similar to 2017, with just a rearrangement in position of certain cars in the list. Only exception is Hyundai Verna that is a new entrant in the list. Nissan Micra that was there in 2017 list is missing in 2018 list.
In the top 10 list of most exported cars in 2018, India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki stands at 8th position with exports of 38,363 units of Baleno. This is a downgrade for Baleno, as it was at 7th position in 2017 with exports of 40,012 units. Maruti recently revealed that they have plans to pump up exports to 10% of their total production. This means, if they achieve their aim of manufacturing 2 million cars in 2020, they plan to export 2 lakh cars a year – which would make them leader in car exports as well.
It’s surprising to see that other leading home-grown car manufacturers such as Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have failed to make it to the most exported cars list. It clearly shows that Indian car manufacturers have an uphill task of making their products sellable in international markets.