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Ford helps double Indian car exports in 11 months

India's car exports rode on Ford's Ikon sedan to more than double in the first 11 months of the current year to 42,444 units, data from an industry body showed.

Ford Motor Co's wholly-owned Indian unit exported 27,572 cars or 65 per cent of total exports. The Ikon is the only car that Ford makes in India and it began exporting, mainly to its units in Mexico and South Africa, this financial year.

Ikon, derived from the Fiesta and designed especially for India, are exported in knocked down kits but without the engine.

Total exports jumped 105.1 per cent in April-February from 20,690 units in the same year-ago period, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, said.

In the full previous year to March 2001, exports totalled 22,913 cars.

But exports of India's two largest car makers fell.

Exports of top-ranked Maruti Udyog Ltd fell 35.5 per cent to 8,559 units while those of second-ranked Hyundai Motor India Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co, dropped 14.6 per cent to 4,494 cars.

Maruti is a 50:50 venture between the Indian government and Suzuki Motor Corp, Japan's largest mini car maker. It exports cars and its sole utility vehicle Gypsy to over 50 countries.

Nearly 70 per cent of these are to Europe and mostly comprise the 1.0 litre Zen and the 1.1 litre Alto cars.

Hyundai exports its 1.0 litre hatchback, the Santro, to some markets in South East Asia and the Middle East.

Exports of Indica, made by third-ranked Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Ltd, more than tripled in April-February to 1,689 units, the data showed.

Telco, also the country's largest truck and bus maker, launched the 1.4 litre Indica hatchback in 1999 and has ambitious plans to push its sales in Europe this year.

Small hatchbacks make up over 85 per cent of the new cars sold in India and a government automobile policy announced earlier this month aims to develop India into a hub for small cars.

Ford officials have said they are uncertain whether exports would do as well next year owing to a widespread economic slowdown in its export markets.

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