India's auto export may grow 15% this fiscal

The government on Monday said the country's total vehicle export is likely to increase by up to 15 per cent in the current fiscal, as demand from Europe is expected to rise.

"We may see a 10-15 per cent increase in auto exports over and above the last fiscal's export," Joint Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industry Ambuj Sharma told PTI.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the overall vehicle export from India grew by 17.90 per cent at 18,04,619 units in the last financial year, while the same stood at 15,30,594 units in 2008-09. Sharma said most of the European nations that are growing will lead to an increase in consumer spending and demand for auto sales in those regions.

The European nations are a major destination for the Indian auto industry's passenger car export.

The country's car export registered a robust growth of 33.23 per cent in the last fiscal, at a time when many major global auto markets witnessed a decline.

The growth was fueled by a scrappage scheme rolled out by many European nations during last fiscal to boost small car sales. Under the scheme, various governments had offered incentives to buy new cars in exchange of old ones. Hyundai Motor India and Maruti Suzuki India made the most of this scrappage incentive programme.

The scheme, however, got exhausted and Indian car exporters are now exploring new destinations like the Latin American nations. Export growth in the last financial year was good also in the two-wheeler category, which registered 13.54 per cent rise.

The surge in two-wheeler exports was led by Bajaj Auto, and Hero Honda, with sales of their motorcycles. SIAM had earlier requested the Indian government to give impetus to overseas sales by various measures such as expanding the list of focus markets, which give duty benefits.