Left-hand drive markets now go for Made in India vehicles, Auto News, ET Auto

MUMBAI: Car or truck and business auto makers in the place are increasing their ability to make left-hand travel cars to use unutilised ability at their plants to meet up with escalating global desire for this kind of cars.

Exports to left-hand travel (LHD) markets begin to signify a big possibility for automobile firms this kind of as Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ashok Leyland as they are increasing to newer LHD markets in South and Central The united states, Africa and West Asia, sector insiders said.

“These markets require reasonably priced cars and for firms, it is an possibility to reinforce their Indian functions,” said a senior formal of a Delhi-primarily based automobile corporation who asked for not to be discovered.

Honda has started exporting its fifth-generation Metropolis sedan to 12 LHD countries generally in West Asia in 2021. “This marks the beginning of generation of left-hand travel Honda Metropolis in India for exports and reaffirms our dedication to the ‘Make in India’ initiative,” said Rajesh Goel, senior vice president and director, advertising and marketing and product sales, Honda Cars India.
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Corporations like Honda, Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors concentrate on a three-fold raise in LHD export volumes from India, corporation insiders said.

Though India is a right-hand travel market, LHD cars account for virtually 87% of the whole passenger auto market in the earth, with China remaining the greatest market followed by the United states.

Globally, top carmakers this kind of as VW, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and luxurious makers provide between seventy five% to 95% of their generation to LHD markets.

Producers in India are now tracking desire from LHD markets to finetune their generation strategies, industry experts said.

“OEMs (primary products makers) are sitting on big unutilised ability and we are beginning to see desire for global facts for LHD markets for their future auto programmes,” said Ravi Bhatia, president of Jato Dynamics, a global provider of facts and intelligence on the automotive sector.

Producers require to accommodate auto adaptability for each driving specifications at the design phase and make their generation strains versatile for each RHD and LHD cars, he said.

To make their exports lucrative, firms require to review segments, basic safety and emissions polices and purchaser value benefit anticipations in each of the markets cautiously, Bhatia said.

Major 10 markets by quantity for LHD cars

Major Good quality Designed in India

Car majors now recognise that cars produced in India are pretty competitive on charge as effectively as high quality, which is driving their export technique, industry experts said.

“In the previous three decades, even though we’ve viewed the domestic market slowdown, our generation ability at the manufacturing plant in Chennai ongoing to raise due to export needs,” a Nissan Motor India spokesperson said. The corporation manufactures LHD variations of its cars at its alliance plant and Nissan Sunny contributes to additional than 60% of exports, the particular person said.

Veejay Nakra, chief govt, automotive division, at M&M, said LHD markets are projecting robust expansion in the submit-pandemic period and the lengthy term.

The corporation exports LHD variations of its passenger cars and choose-up versions like KUV100, XUV300, XUV500, Scorpio SUV and choose-up, and Bolero choose-up “to South and Central The united states, North and West Africa, Middle East and the Asia Pacific countries this kind of as the Philippines”, Nakra said.

Tata Motors exports business cars with 750 kg payload, little business cars, and major business cars with up to 60-tonne gross auto fat to LHD markets in the Middle East, the African continent, Southeast Asia and South The united states, and carries on to expand to newer markets.

“We have also been introducing a new selection of solutions at frequent intervals, which has fuelled the expansion in these markets,” said Rudrarup Maitra, vice-president, business auto international company, at Tata Motors.

Ashok Leyland COO Nitin Seth said the corporation is increasing its LHD selection by eight-9 solutions of LCVs and buses in a phased method to expand its global footprint and “look at international markets additional aggressively”.

Skoda Volkswagen India has been manufacturing and exporting LHD variants of VW Polo and VW Vento to additional than 60 markets globally although Hyundai exports LHD variations of Atos (Santro), Grand i10 five doorway (Nios), Grand i10 4 doorway (Aura), New i20, Accent (Verna), and New Creta to about 80 countries across Africa, Middle East, Latin The united states, and Asia.

Major 10 makes by volumes for 46 countries