Source : Bloomberg.

Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- India, whose auto market is 19 percent of China’s,
has the edge in exports.

Suzuki Motor Corp.,
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=7269%3AJP>Hyundai
Motor Co., <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=005380%3AKS> and Nissan
Motor Co. <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=7201%3AJP> are making
India a hub for overseas sales of minicars as incentives lift demand for
smaller, fuel-efficient autos. Helped by cheaper labor and a surging local
market, India this year overtook China in auto exports and is challenging
Thailand and South Korea as an alternative production center in Asia.

“There is a worldwide shift toward fuel-efficient, compact cars,” said Jayesh
Shroff<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Jayesh+Shroff&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>,
who helps manage about $7 billion of assets including carmaker shares at SBI
Asset Management Co. in Mumbai. “This offers a huge potential for India and
it can emerge as a leader in the small car segment.”

Maruti Suzuki India
Ltd.’s<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MSIL%3AIN>exports
more than doubled to 79,860 this year. It aims to ship 130,000
vehicles in the year to March, 86 percent more than last year, said Chairman
R.C. 
Bhargava.<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=R.C.%0ABhargava.&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>

The automaker rose 0.5 percent to a record
1,554.6<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MSIL%3AIN>rupees at
the close of trading in Mumbai today. Suzuki rose 1.9 percent to
2,160 yen in Tokyo while Hyundai rose 4.7 percent to 112,500 won in Seoul
trading.

Maruti Suzuki <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=MSIL%3AIN> sold a
monthly record 14,847 vehicles overseas in August. India’s exports of
minicars and hatchbacks gained 44 percent between January and July to
201,138, according to the Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers.<http://www.siamindia.com/>Total exports, including
vans, sport-utility vehicles and trucks, rose 18
percent to 229,809. Cars are exported to over 100 countries, and don’t
include the U.S. or Japan.

Full Control

In contrast, China’s exports slumped 60 percent to 164,800 between January
and July, according to government data. Vehicles produced in Thailand for
export declined 43 percent to 263,768, according to the Thai Automotive
Club.

South Korean exports dropped 31 percent to 1.12 million units, according to
the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association <http://www.kama.or.kr/>.
Japan, the world’s largest automobile producer and exporter, shipped 1.77
million cars, trucks and buses. Of those, 135 were minicars and 439,849 were
compacts.

Besides the 
attraction<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=INVSPASS%3AIND>of
serving a market where three of four cars bought are compacts,
automakers
will favor India to set up an export base as China requires companies to
form local joint ventures and India doesn’t, said Ashvin
Chotai<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Ashvin+Chotai&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>,
London- based managing director of Intelligence Automotive Asia Ltd.

“Natural Place”

“It makes companies more comfortable to have an export strategy when they
have full control,” he said. “They don’t have to give up some parts of the
profits to their partner.”

Small cars will account for 95 percent of the 690,000 passenger vehicles
India will export in 2015, according to Tim
Armstrong<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Tim%0AArmstrong&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>,
Paris-based director of IHS Global <http://global.ihs.com/> Insight Inc. In
2016, India may share the top slot with Japan as the world’s biggest small
car producer, building as many as 3 million units.

“All of India’s expertise has been the small car,” Armstrong said. “So
obviously it’s a natural place to turn to” to set up export units.

Toyota Motor Corp.
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=7203%3AJP>and General
Motors Co. are also expanding Indian factories and plan to
export compact vehicles.

Hyundai, <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=005380%3AKS> South
Korea’s biggest carmaker, plans to export 300,000 cars from India this year,
more than its sales in the local market, a first since setting up a plant a
decade back.

“Enormous Money”

Nissan Motor Co.,
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=7201%3AJP>Japan’s
third-biggest carmaker, will set up its first factory in India by
May and use it to export entry- level cars to Europe. Spending on the plant
is the most out of its global investments this year, said Colin
Dodge<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Colin+Dodge&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>,
executive vice president.

Production in India will help Nissan save at least five percent of costs, he
said. “We needed a car that can make money in Europe,” Dodge said in a June
interview. “Five percent saving is very significant. It’s enormous money for
us.”

Indian labor costs are about 10 percent of that in the U.S. and Europe and
raw material costs in the nation are lower by 11 percent, according to Puneet
Gupta<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Puneet+Gupta&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>,
an analyst at CSM Worldwide <http://www.csmauto.com/> Inc., an industry
consultant. Developing a car from the design stage in India may take $225
million to $250 million, while in Europe it may be $400 million.

“The single-biggest opportunity in the auto industry for India is the small
car,” said Vikas
Sehgal<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Vikas+Sehgal&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>,
a Chicago-based partner at Booz & Co., an industry consultant. “If India
loses in the small car market, it has nothing.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Vipin V.
Nair<http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Vipin+V.+Nair&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date:D:S:d1>in
Mumbai at
[email protected].


-- 
Thanks & Regards,
Abhishek Kothari

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