China became the largest car market in the world last year, with the highest sales figures beating the US for the first time in history. India now another major player and both the Chinese and Indian markets are one major reason for sustenance of the global growth in the auto industry. "Asia pacific markets-China & India-are the backbone of the global automotive industry. These two countries would sell enough vehicles on their own that would take the global markets out of red this year," said Dave McCurdy, Head of International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.
In spite of bad roads, over-populated spaces, poor driving conditions and lack of fuel purity, Indian auto market is witnessing growth that knows no bounds. "While China has grown by leaps and bounds, there is great optimism in India. We have one of the highest growth in several segments globally-like trucks and buses- but it could have been even better given the capacity and supply constrain the Indian auto industry is facing. Despite that, we would breach the production estimates for 2010 by a big margin," president Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' Pawan Goenka said.
The overall production data for April-August 2010 shows production growth of 32.38 percent over same period last year with industry producing 7,063,063 vehicles. Passenger Vehicles segment in April-August 2010 grew at 33.88 percent over same period last year. Emerging markets like Brazil and North Korea posted flat growth, while other markets showed negative growth rate – Ukraine (-84%), Russia (-60%), Austria (-52%), Sweden (-49%) and Uzbekistan (-43%).
