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Our Bureau

New Delhi, July 13

It’s not just the domestic segment where the auto industry is witnessing a slowdown, even the export market is growing at a lower pace with sales growth figures for the first quarter of 2007-08 turning out to be lower compared to the corresponding period in 2006-07 according to the SIAM report.

In exports, while passenger cars and scooter-scooterettes sales have declined, the commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and motorcycles have recorded lower growth rates than the previous fiscal.

“There has been a relative decline in exports, but it is difficult to expect 50 per cent growth every year in certain categories. But we are anticipating 40 per cent growth in exports across all segments in this fiscal,” said Mr Dilip Chenoy, Director-General, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Maruti

Although Maruti Udyog Ltd’s exports grew 17.02 per cent during the quarter at 8,828 units and Hyundai’s exports were up 5.9 per cent at 32,664 units, the overall passenger car exports saw a seven per cent decline.

This is primarily due to the fact that Ford, which was earlier exporting about 5,860 completely knocked down units has now stopped including this data in its export figures.

However, in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle category, exports rose by 33 per cent. At a company specific level, Ashok Leyland saw a 5.94 per cent dip in exports at 760 in its passenger carriers, Tata Motors reported an increase of 33.43 per cent selling 1,273 units.

The goods carriers segment, meanwhile, saw an increase in exports of both the players. Ashok Leyland recorded 49.07 per cent increase in sales at 647 units and Tata Motors recorded an increase of 48.52 per cent at 1,959 vehicles.

“With the fluctuations in the domestic market, most vehicle manufacturers are expanding their export base. Two-wheeler makers such as Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors have set up their base in Indonesia. Similarly, Tata Motors have started operations in Thailand,” said an analyst from a leading securities firm requesting not to be named.

However, the slowdown in growth rates of exports could either be a result of reduced demand in existing export markets or due to their inadequate supply capacities, he added.

In the two-wheelers segment, the scooter-scooterette category saw a fall in exports by 52.44 per cent, although the in the domestic market the segment grew by 17.97 per cent during the period. The motorcycles exports went up by 34.17 per cent, though the domestic sales fell by 14.50 per cent.

Here too, at a company specific level, the scores have been mixed. Bajaj Auto saw a double digit decline in sales in domestic market. The company, however, increased exports of its motorcycles by 61.86 per cent with 1,14,551 units as against 70,771 units reported in the corresponding quarter last year, leaving the domestic major Hero Honda behind. The company saw a fall in its exports by 27 per cent to 21,169 units during the quarter.

More Stories on : Automobiles | Exports & Imports

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