Automobile export surge: Catching the trade winds

Auto exports surged across the board in the first quarter of 2021, with two-wheeler exports three times the figure for 2020

At a time when domestic auto sales have been choked by Covid-19, Indian manufacturers finally have something to cheer about: the export market. According to data from SIAM (the Society for Indian Automobile Manufacturers), India’s total auto exports in the first quarter of fiscal 2021-22 (Q1, from April to June) was 1.4 million units, over three times the figure in the same period in the previous year. Two-wheeler manufacturers saw an especially large boost, exporting about 1.1 million units in this period, compared to 337,983 units a year ago. With the industry having seen major disruptions over the past year and a half due to Covid lockdowns and cutbacks on discretionary spending by consumers, this has proved a major relief. As a matter of fact, export figures for two-wheelers in Q1 2021-22 were better even than figures from pre-Covid times, higher than exports in the previous three years (see graphic Outward Bound). Exports of passenger vehicles in Q1 2021-22 totalled 127,115 units, up from 43,619 in the same period in 2020-21. “Exports this year will definitely be better than last year, since many countries we export to did not go through the strict lockdowns that India has seen,” says R.C. Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki. His firm shipped the most passenger vehicles during this period—45,056 units—followed by Hyundai Motors India, which shipped 28,881 units.