In order to focus on exports, Maruti Suzuki India is planning to set up its third manufacturing plant in Gujarat. The new plant will be located at a distance of 300 km from Mundra Port, which has been assisting Maruti to export vehicles to European and African markets. In order to meet the demands abroad, the car maker will start producing 2,50,000 cars annually from 2015-16 in initial phase, which will include some future models as well.
Maruti is not the only car maker to plan a new plant, as Tata Motors and General Motors have already set up factories at Sanand and Halol. While, in order to make Gujarat their export base, Ford and Peugeot are investing large amount in the state. Gujarat is the new preference of car makers after Chennai and Maharashtra, mainly due to its port connectivity.
The recent Euro crisis and the economic slowdown have taken their toll on the majority of car makers; hence, the companies are now looking at non-European markets to increase their exports. To illustrate, the second largest car exporter is also concentrating more upon the Asian markets. The company has touched the one million mark in terms of exports recently through its A-Star, which is exported to Denmark through Mundra Pport.
Maruti has been able to hedge the European sales slump through its export market diversification strategy. Its export went down by 7.9 per cent in 2010-11, with total export volumes of 1,27,379 models against 1,38,266 cars shipped in the previous year. The exports to European market accounted for 75 per cent of more than 1,47,000 cars shipped in all in the last financial year. All other car exporters like Hyundai, Nissan etc. are working on their export strategy as well to increase exports.
According to the Japanese car maker Nissan, during the last financial year, it crossed the 1,00,000 units milestone for the first time and has now emerged as the highest exporter of mid-sized sedans in India. After Hyundai and Maruti, Nissan holds the third position in terms of exports with a 20 per cent share in car exports during 2011-12.
Likewise, Tata Motors marked a growth of 9 per cent in exports, with 63,078 units shipped against 58,044 units exported last year. For Its Nano brand, the leading car maker is looking at the new markets like Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia and Bangladesh. On the other hand, the leading exporter, Hyundai witnessed a decline in its exports in the last financial year and the car maker is hoping to ramp up exports by focussing on non-European markets.
