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[Krishna with Flute]

Isuzu Motors India Tops Commercial Vehicle Exports in FY2024-25​

Story by support@india.com (India.com News Desk)
• 21h•
2 min read

Isuzu Motors India Tops Commercial Vehicle Exports in FY2024-25© Ankit Dubey | samriddhi Kaushik
Isuzu Motors India (IMI) has recorded the highest export figures for commercial vehicles (CVs) from India in the financial year 2024-25. The company exported 20,312 units, a 24% increase over the previous year's figure of 16,329 units in FY2023-24.

This marks the first time IMI has led the CV export segment, although it has been among the top three exporters in recent years. The company's manufacturing plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, produces vehicles for both left-hand drive (LHD) and right-hand drive (RHD) markets. These include destinations across Asia and the Middle East, such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan.


The Sri City facility supports both domestic and international demand and recently rolled out its 100,000th vehicle. IMI has also been expanding its sales and service network in India to support its operations and customer base.

Rajesh Mittal, President and Managing Director of Isuzu Motors India, stated that the company's operations in India follow ISUZU's global manufacturing standards. He noted that the Sri City plant is aligned with the company's overall manufacturing approach.

Toru Kishimoto, Deputy Managing Director, commented on the growing volume of exports and the role of the India facility in meeting demand across multiple regions. He pointed out that the vehicle portfolio manufactured in India is aimed at fulfilling the requirements of overseas markets.

Isuzu Motors India continues to export a range of CVs, with a focus on pickup trucks, using its Indian operations to supply both the domestic and export markets.

MSN

 

[Bilal9]

Foreign automakers quit India over dismal sales​

On May 13, Tesla officially abandoned its efforts to enter the Indian market.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Rohini Mohan

BANGALORE - With Tesla deciding not to set up its manufacturing plant in India after a year of discussions, the electric automaker joins the dozens of foreign companies that have either shelved plans to enter India or pulled up stakes in the past five years.

On May 13, Tesla officially abandoned its efforts to enter the Indian market and started to reassign local employees when it could not get the government to lower import tariffs for foreign electric vehicles (EVs).

Tesla had sought to first test demand in India by selling EVs imported from production hubs in the United States and China at lower tariffs. But the Indian government had wanted it to first set up a local manufacturing facility.

The same week, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk met Indonesian president Joko Widodo in the US over investment opportunities in the South-east Asian country.

At least eight foreign automakers - including General Motors, Fiat and Ford Motor - have left India, the world's fourth-largest automobile market, since 2017.

US auto major Ford Motor stopped production in its Chennai and Sanand plants from September 2021. It also shelved plans for a plant manufacturing EVs for export on May 12 despite getting government approval for production-linked incentives.

The company, which has been in India for over 30 years, had invested about US$2.5 billion (S$3.4 billion) in plants, and incurred losses of over US$2 billion.

In April, Nissan's Datsun stopped making its cars in its Chennai plant over low sales performance. American motorcycle makers Harley-Davidson and United Motors (UM) exited in September 2020 and October 2019 respectively, citing lack of demand for their products.

Italian carmaker Fiat stopped operations in India after seven years in March 2019 over poor sales. In December 2018, a few months before its decision to stop production at its Ranjangaon plant in Maharashtra state, the company sold a mere 75 cars, while local market leader Maruti Suzuki sold over 119,000.

South Korean SsangYong Motor Company pulled out in 2018, while General Motors exited in 2017 after over two decades in India due to mounting losses and inadequate interest in its Chevrolet and Opel models.

The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada) said the "sudden exits" of Ford, GM, Man Trucks, Fiat, Harley and UM motorcycles caused a total loss of 64,000 jobs and dealer investments of 24.85 billion rupees (S$440.4 million).

Analysts say the reasons for the dwindling interest could be unfavourable policies like high taxes on imported and locally made cars, and lower-than-expected demand for cars, especially after falling incomes and unemployment in the pre-pandemic economic slowdown worsened into hardships during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Inflation hit an eight-year high in April. Diesel and petrol prices were also at an all-time high until the government trimmed fuel taxes on May 22.

About 15.12 million two-wheelers were sold in 2021, followed by 2.71 million passenger vehicles, according to market tracker Statistica. Some 570,000 commercial vehicles and 220,000 three-wheelers were sold that year.

Fada's retail data shows that from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 to 2022, demand for two-wheelers declined by 29 per cent and by 46 per cent for three-wheelers.

Sales of commercial vehicles fell by 26 per cent and passenger vehicles like cars by 1.7 per cent, showing that the downturn affected well-off buyers as well. Only tractor sales grew by 15 per cent.

India's auto sector has seen a slowdown for half a decade now, with sales plummeting 30 per cent even before the pandemic. This is due to multiple factors like falling demand, fuel price rise, over-dependence on China for crucial components like semiconductors, emission policy changes, and higher taxes as the government pushes the industry to shift to EVs. Market leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Japan's Toyota survive but have shrunk production targets too.

Fewer new foreign companies are also registering in India. According to data from the annual reports of India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs, new registrations have fallen from 157 companies in 2014, from when the reports are available online, to 83 in 2021.

In recent years, the Indian government has tried to woo global companies looking to diversify beyond China. But a February 2021 parliamentary standing committee report on the challenges and opportunities of attracting new investment in the post-pandemic economy observed that most companies leaving China "shifted their base to Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, etc, and only a few came to India".

Indian and foreign companies face challenges including administrative and regulatory hurdles, inadequate and costly credit facilities, tedious land acquisition procedures, inadequate infrastructure facilities, high logistics costs and a large unorganized manufacturing sector, the report said.

 

[Bilal9]

Ford Motor to cease making cars in India, take $2 billion charge​

• Manufacturing of vehicles for sale in India will stop immediately, and about 4,000 employees will be affected, Ford Motor said in a statement

Ford's Sanand, Gujarat plant

Ford Motor Co. has stopped making cars in India and recorded roughly $2 billion in restructuring charges, scaling back significantly in a country that past management saw becoming one of its three biggest markets.

Ford today said that it will shut down both of its plants in the country, becoming the latest automaker to exit the market. The US automaker will wind down an assembly plant in Gujarat by the fourth quarter, as well as vehicle and engine manufacturing plants in Chennai by the second quarter of next year.

Manufacturing of vehicles for sale in India will stop immediately, and about 4,000 employees will be affected, the carmaker said in a statement.

“The decision was reinforced by years of accumulated losses, persistent industry overcapacity and lack of expected growth in India’s car market,” said Anurag Mehrotra, managing director of Ford India. “We have not been able to find a sustainable path forward to long-term profitability that includes in-country vehicle manufacturing.”

Ford made the decision as it was not profitable for them to continue, according to a Reuters report, adding that the process will take about a year to complete.

The US automaker will continue to sell some its cars in the country through imports, said a report, adding that it will also provide support to dealers to service existing customers.

Ford is the latest carmaker to cease production in India, following companies such as General Motors and Harley Davidson to exit a market, which once promised exponential growth.

Foreign automakers have found it difficult to gain a foothold in the value-conscious Indian market dominated by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s cheap cars.

The Centre’s high tax regime, which imposes levies as high as 28% on gasoline vehicles, has also been a major roadblock. Toyota Motor Corp. last year said it won’t expand further in India due to high tariffs.

The moves by Ford are a further blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make-in-India programme, which encourages companies to manufacture locally. Tesla Inc. has urged Modi’s administration to allow it to import cars more cheaply before it commits to setting up a factory in the country.

Ford India racked up more than $2 billion in losses during the past decade and wrote down the value of its business by about $800 million in 2019.

Ford was one of the first global car companies to enter India when the economy opened up in the early 1990s. The company first set up shop in 1926 but shut down its initial operation in the 1950s.

Following the factory closures, Ford will import and sell some vehicles, including Mustang coupes, but the sale of models including the Figo, EcoSport and Endeavour will cease once existing inventory at dealers is sold.