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India as an Automotive Export Hub

Srinivas

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India as an Automotive Export Hub

In what may come as a surprise to many, India is quietly becoming a production hub of high-end vehicles meant for export to China. Iconic US motorbike maker Harley Davidson, Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM and Mahindra & Mahindra have preferred to set up manufacturing facilities in India than in the relatively low-cost China and export the output.

KTM, 48 per cent owned by Bajaj Auto, 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. Exports are expected to commence in 2014. The two bikes are Duke 200 (Rs 1.35 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi) and Duke 390 (Rs 1.88 lakh) manufactured at Chakan in Pune as part of the company’s joint development programme with Bajaj Auto. The KTM strategy is to sell high-power bikes from Europe and low-power ones from India. The bikes would be assembled at an outsourced facility in China.

Confirming the plans, S Ravikumar, senior vice-president (business development), Bajaj Auto, 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 treble exports to around 70,000 units per annum from India, from about 25,000 currently. That effectively means about 13 per cent of the exports would come from selling to China.

Stefan Pierer, CEO, 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.” Keeping KTM company will be Harley Davidson, which has lined up for export models developed on the recently unveiled Street platform from its facility in Bawal (Haryana). Currently, Harley does not have any plants outside the US, except in Brazil and India, and it wants to leverage those plants for export 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 the US.

These bikes will be exported from India to markets in Europe and Asia, including China.” Production and export of both 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.

Chinese Car News | India Took Our Jobs – India as an Automotive Export Hub | China Car Times - China Auto News

It is been since last decade we are hearing about China did this or that, Now is the time for us India to be proud of our manufacturing capability, good thing is we already have IT services and good brand companies. We have very young population and we can learn from chinese policy failures and sustain this boom for a long time :cheers:.

 
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