Ford pips Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki to emerge as largest car exporter in February

Ford India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American car maker Ford Motors, pipped Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) and Hyundai Motor India to emerge as the largest car exporter for February 2017. Ford exported 15,688 cars during the month in comparison to 10,407 vehicles by Hyundai and 9,545 by MSIL, according to statistics released for the month.

Ford India's exports also rose 32 percent on a year-on-year basis, while the corresponding growth rates for Hyundai and MSIL were 15.5 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Ford India had exported 6,264 cars in January 2017. Models exported by the company include Figo, Aspire and EcoSport.

Honda Cars exported 748 cars, while Toyota Kirloskar shipped 903 units of Etios. 

In calendar year (CY) 2016, Hyundai was the largest exporter, followed by Ford. Hyundai India exported 1,51,266 units, while Ford India finished second at 1,37,997 units. However, among the two contenders, Hyundai saw a 9.6 percent dip from its CY 2015 exports, while it grew 39.2 percent for Ford India.

For the 10-month period ended January 2017, passenger vehicle exports from India rose 17.24 percent to 6,24,939 units from 5,33,034 units in the corresponding period last fiscal. Nissan Motor India exported 85,134 units and Volkswagen 69,896 units.

Recently, Nissan crossed the milestone of 7,00,000 cars in exports over seven years.

Most of the car makers in India reported robust growth in domestic volume sales for February 2017. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), India's largest car maker by volume sales, posted 11.7 percent increase, Hyundai Motor India 4 percent, Renault India 26.8 percent, Ford India 52 percent growth and Honda posted 9.4 percent. Nissan volumes grew 25 percent and TKM's 12 percent.

Mahindra's passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market declined 13 percent to 20,605 units from 23,718 units in February 2016.