Figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers show that exports of Indian-made vehicles surged by 60% over year-ago levels during the April-September period (first half of India’s fiscal year) to stand at 131,000 units.
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Exports of Suzuki subsidiary Maruti Udyog – the biggest gainer – increased by 136.1% to 10,961 units following increased demand of its premium small car ‘Alto’, mainly in Europe.
Maruti Udyog earlier this year upped its target for Suzuki-designed Alto exports to 24,000 units in 2002-03, following the strong response to the model in Europe.
The Alto, sold as the Alto 1.1 in India, was launched in Europe at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2002 and is manufactured at Gurgaon.
Based on initial discussions with distributors, Maruti had planned to export 14,000 units of the Alto. Subsequently it was introduced in Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Greece, Austria, Ireland and the UK. Maruti decided to increase its export targets as the orders from these countries swelled with the Alto’s increasing popularity.

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By GlobalDataAfter successful launch in these markets, more European markets are likely to be added by the end of the year.
Led by the success of the new Suzuki Alto in Europe, Maruti is set to increase its exports by 150% this year. The company expects to export over 31,000 vehicles during 2002-03, compared to 12,232 vehicles in the previous year.
Other makers recorded smaller export gains this year.
Ford India, the largest exporter of cars from India, recorded a 5.7% gain in exports over the H1 period with 15,700 units of CKD (Completely Knocked-Down) kits of its mid-size car ‘Ikon’.
The local unit of Korea’s Hyundai Motor rose by 27.2% to 3,321 cars while that of Tata Engineering jumped by 136.1% to 782 units.