Hatchbacks, sedans dominate, 2 SUVs jump in, Auto News, ET Auto

New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki India Limited took the lead in the car exports from the country during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022. The carmaker was followed by Hyundai Motor India and Kia India at second and third positions, respectively.

Overall, the passenger vehicle exports from India grew 43% in FY22 to 5.77 lakh units as against 4.04 lakh units in FY21.

The topmost exports model in the country stood out to be Maruti Suzuki’s Dzire, marking a growth of over 300% compared to the previous fiscal year when it was not even a part of the Top 10 list. This was followed by the Baleno and Swift models. In FY21, Baleno was at number 9 and Swift did not make it to the list.

Maruti Suzuki began vehicle exports in 1986, and its first large consignment of 500 cars was to Hungary in September 1987. Today, it exports to over 100 countries and its top passenger vehicle export markets include Latin America, ASEAN, Africa, Middle East and the neighbouring regions.

The company, which had only two models (S-Presso and Baleno) in the list of Top 10 cars exported from India in FY21, has now increased the number to four in FY22, while also grabbing the top three spots in its kitty.

Maruti Suzuki noted that it has overall exported a record 238,376 units in FY 2021-22, its highest in any financial year.

This was followed by Hyundai whose Verna sedan, Creta SUV and Grand i10 hatchback made it to the list. While Verna witnessed a marginal decline, the other two models reported growth in exports over the previous fiscal.

Kia India’s best-selling model Seltos also made it to the top 5 list in FY22, albeit on a marginal decline of 1.3%. In FY21, the model was at number 3.

Nissan Sunny and Volkswagen Vento were also amongst the top 10 cars exported from India in 2021-2022. While the Sunny sedan saw a growth of 4.1% over last year, it dropped down three positions- from being number five in FY21 to number 8 in FY22. Shipments for the Vento sedan also grew by 22.4%, however it stood at number six spot during the two years consecutively.

Ford’s EcoSport model, which grabbed the first position in exports during FY21, was nowhere to be seen in the FY22 list. Its shipments dropped from 39,750 units in FY21 to 15,382 units in FY22, marking a year-on-year decline of 61.3%. Ford India halted its vehicle manufacturing operations in India in September last year.

Chevrolet Beat is another model which was at number 4 in FY21, but did not make it to the list this year. The model shipped 28,619 units in FY21, which came to nil in FY22. The parent company General Motors, which exited the Indian market in 2017, had been using its Talegaon plant to produce cars for exports till 2020 and since then, it has not been functioning.

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Owing to several factors impacting the automobile industry since last year, vehicle exports from India recorded a sharp jump in Q1 FY22. With a slower sequential recovery of the domestic sales and the fear of the third wave looming large, ETAuto analyses the constraints lying ahead for the Indian automobile exports, and will the export growth trend in April-June 2021 quarter sustain the momentum in the remaining quarters.