Saar: We outpaced all other major markets to grow at 9.5 per cent in 2017

Top 10 Automotive Markets - 2017

India is now the world’s fourth-largest automotive market, according to the number of units that were sold last year. In the table above, you can see that India pipped Germany in terms of units sold and grew at the fastest pace out of the top 10 automotive markets globally. India sold just over 4 million units, in other words over 40 lakh units, in 2017 which include passenger and commercial vehicles. In Asia, India stands at rank 3, behind Japan and a long way off from China’s numbers.

In terms of year-on-year growth, only two markets saw a dip in their numbers. The USA, which is the second largest automotive market in the world, witnessed a decline in unit sales by 1.6 per cent. Its ally from across the Arctic Ocean, UK, took the biggest hit in terms of vehicle sales, with numbers falling by 5.4 per cent. If we look at the other end of the scale, Brazil followed India in terms of unit sales growth. Its 9.2 per cent in the positive helped it to outnumber Italy and Canada, which grew at 6.8 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively. In Europe, France, with 26 lakh unit sales and a growth of 5.1 per cent, stood just behind Italy in terms of year-on-year growth.

In India, utility vehicles are spearheading the sales figures in passenger vehicle segment. Sales numbers of products such as Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Creta have been off the scale, whereas other manufacturers like Tata, Volkswagen, Skoda and Jeep launched the Nexon, Tiguan, Kodiaq and Compass respectively in the last one year. Even Ford launched the refreshed EcoSport to try and regain the throne in the sub-4 metre SUV segment.

The future of the Indian automobile industry seems promising, with the government heavily investing in upgrading the infrastructure, streamlining the norms for bans and promoting the use of EVs (electric vehicles).