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Believe it or not, India is quietly becoming a production hub of high end vehicles for export to China. Iconic US bike-maker Harley Davidson, Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM and Mahindra and Mahindra have preferred to set up manufacturing facilities in India rather than in low cost China and export the output to the land of the dragon.
KTM, the premium European bike company owned 48 per cent by Pune-based Bajaj Auto (BAL), has identified two of its products under the Duke brand for export to China as completely knocked down (CKD) units. The initial target is to sell over 10,000 CKD units of these high end bikes annually in the initial stages. Exports are expected to commence in 2014. The two bikes include Duke 200 (Rs 1.35 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi) and Duke 390 (Rs 1.88 lakh) which are manufactured in Chakan in Pune as part of the company's joint development programme with BAL.
The strategy for KTM is to sell the higher powered engine bikes directly from its plants in Europe, while the lower engine powered bikes will be exported out of India and then assembled in an outsourced facility in China.
Confirming the plans, S Ravikumar, senior vice-president (business development), Bajaj Auto Limited said, “The China strategy for KTM is clear. They want to target the niche upper-end of the motorcycle market in China. They are not interested in the lower-end where there are many players and huge volumes. We expect there to be a large market for high - end bikes in China." The China thrust is part of the joint strategy of Bajaj-KTM to look at trebling exports to around 70,000 per annum from India, from about 25,000 currently. That effectively means about 13 per cent of the exports would come from selling it to China.
Explaining the KTM plan Stefan Pierer, chief executive officer, KTM Motorcycles AG said, “ We are in the process of setting up an assembly unit in China, which is expected to be commissioned sometime next year. CKD (completely knocked down kits) from both India and Austria are likely to be exported to China.”
Keeping KTM company will be Harley Davidson, which has lined up for export models developed on the recently unveiled Street platform to China from its manufacturing facility in Bawal (Haryana). Currently Harley does not have any plant outside US, except in Brazil and India and it clearly wants to leverage this plant for exports to China. Anoop Prakash, managing director, Harley Davidson India, said, “Harley Davidson has developed the Street platform after a gap of 14 years. Both Street 750 and Street 500 will be manufactured in India, the only other production hub for the models apart from Kansas in United States. These bikes will be exported from India to markets in Europe and Asia including China.” Production and exports of both the models on the Street platform are expected to commence in India mid next year. Prakash, however, declined to specify a timeline for starting exports to China.
Abdul Majeed, partner and leader (automotive practice), Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) explained, “Both India and China are key markets in terms of two-wheeler sales. Given that customer requirements in both countries are largely similar, two-wheeler makers operating out of India only stand to gain in cost leadership if they are able to attain quality parameters while exporting to China.”
The potential to gain volumes in electric vehicles too has drawn manufacturers like Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to explore opportunities in China. The discontinuation of government incentives on green vehicles has meant that Mahindra e2o has sold only around 400 units since its launch in March this year – numbers which the company was expecting to clock per month in India. The company is now looking overseas to sustain operations.
Mahindra & Mahindra group company Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles (MREV) is developing a variant of the electric car for exports scheduled to commence in early 2014. While the export variant would be first shipped to countries in the European region, MREV is additionally looking at opportunities to tap the growing market for electric vehicles in China. Chetan Maini, chief of strategy and technology, MREV had told Business Standard, “The export variant would be ready by early next year. We are looking at exporting the e2o to all markets we previously exported the Revai. We will also explore possibilities in China.”
According to industry estimates the Chinese market has the potential to sell around five million electric vehicles by the end of the decade. Nearly half of the 4,750 units of the Revai manufactured since inception were sold in around 24 countries mostly across Europe and West Asia.
“The automobile market in India has slowed down over the last two years. In spite of the fact that competition is intense in China, the significant volumes make it an attractive market. Rupee depreciation will additionally help Indian vehicle and two-wheeler manufacturers to price their products competitively in the Chinese market. OEMs are therefore increasingly looking east to scale up utilization of existing capacity and to expand their customer base across geographies”, said Puneet Gupta, associate director at automobile advisory firm IHS Automotive India.
According to data available with IHS sales of light vehicles (passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles of up to six tonne) in China is set to grow by 19 per cent to 16.20 million units in 2013 as compared to 13.6 million units last year. Sales of passenger vehicles have declined by 4.62 per cent to 1.4 million units and those of light commercial vehicles (up to 7.5 tonne) by 10.36 per cent to 260,423 units in the Indian market between April and October this financial year.
India slowly replacing China as auto mfg hub | Business Standard
KTM, the premium European bike company owned 48 per cent by Pune-based Bajaj Auto (BAL), has identified two of its products under the Duke brand for export to China as completely knocked down (CKD) units. The initial target is to sell over 10,000 CKD units of these high end bikes annually in the initial stages. Exports are expected to commence in 2014. The two bikes include Duke 200 (Rs 1.35 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi) and Duke 390 (Rs 1.88 lakh) which are manufactured in Chakan in Pune as part of the company's joint development programme with BAL.
The strategy for KTM is to sell the higher powered engine bikes directly from its plants in Europe, while the lower engine powered bikes will be exported out of India and then assembled in an outsourced facility in China.
Confirming the plans, S Ravikumar, senior vice-president (business development), Bajaj Auto Limited said, “The China strategy for KTM is clear. They want to target the niche upper-end of the motorcycle market in China. They are not interested in the lower-end where there are many players and huge volumes. We expect there to be a large market for high - end bikes in China." The China thrust is part of the joint strategy of Bajaj-KTM to look at trebling exports to around 70,000 per annum from India, from about 25,000 currently. That effectively means about 13 per cent of the exports would come from selling it to China.
Explaining the KTM plan Stefan Pierer, chief executive officer, KTM Motorcycles AG said, “ We are in the process of setting up an assembly unit in China, which is expected to be commissioned sometime next year. CKD (completely knocked down kits) from both India and Austria are likely to be exported to China.”
Keeping KTM company will be Harley Davidson, which has lined up for export models developed on the recently unveiled Street platform to China from its manufacturing facility in Bawal (Haryana). Currently Harley does not have any plant outside US, except in Brazil and India and it clearly wants to leverage this plant for exports to China. Anoop Prakash, managing director, Harley Davidson India, said, “Harley Davidson has developed the Street platform after a gap of 14 years. Both Street 750 and Street 500 will be manufactured in India, the only other production hub for the models apart from Kansas in United States. These bikes will be exported from India to markets in Europe and Asia including China.” Production and exports of both the models on the Street platform are expected to commence in India mid next year. Prakash, however, declined to specify a timeline for starting exports to China.
Abdul Majeed, partner and leader (automotive practice), Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) explained, “Both India and China are key markets in terms of two-wheeler sales. Given that customer requirements in both countries are largely similar, two-wheeler makers operating out of India only stand to gain in cost leadership if they are able to attain quality parameters while exporting to China.”
The potential to gain volumes in electric vehicles too has drawn manufacturers like Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to explore opportunities in China. The discontinuation of government incentives on green vehicles has meant that Mahindra e2o has sold only around 400 units since its launch in March this year – numbers which the company was expecting to clock per month in India. The company is now looking overseas to sustain operations.
Mahindra & Mahindra group company Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles (MREV) is developing a variant of the electric car for exports scheduled to commence in early 2014. While the export variant would be first shipped to countries in the European region, MREV is additionally looking at opportunities to tap the growing market for electric vehicles in China. Chetan Maini, chief of strategy and technology, MREV had told Business Standard, “The export variant would be ready by early next year. We are looking at exporting the e2o to all markets we previously exported the Revai. We will also explore possibilities in China.”
According to industry estimates the Chinese market has the potential to sell around five million electric vehicles by the end of the decade. Nearly half of the 4,750 units of the Revai manufactured since inception were sold in around 24 countries mostly across Europe and West Asia.
“The automobile market in India has slowed down over the last two years. In spite of the fact that competition is intense in China, the significant volumes make it an attractive market. Rupee depreciation will additionally help Indian vehicle and two-wheeler manufacturers to price their products competitively in the Chinese market. OEMs are therefore increasingly looking east to scale up utilization of existing capacity and to expand their customer base across geographies”, said Puneet Gupta, associate director at automobile advisory firm IHS Automotive India.
According to data available with IHS sales of light vehicles (passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles of up to six tonne) in China is set to grow by 19 per cent to 16.20 million units in 2013 as compared to 13.6 million units last year. Sales of passenger vehicles have declined by 4.62 per cent to 1.4 million units and those of light commercial vehicles (up to 7.5 tonne) by 10.36 per cent to 260,423 units in the Indian market between April and October this financial year.
India slowly replacing China as auto mfg hub | Business Standard
