India Overtakes South Korea To Become Fifth-Largest Carmaker In The World

According to the annual reports shared by Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), India has been the world’s sixth-largest motor vehicle manufacturer – from 2010 till 2015 – after China, US, Japan, Germany and South Korea. The evaluation included production of all kinds of automobiles, such as passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and two-wheelers.

If we take only cars into consideration, India has managed to surpass South Korea and become the world’s fifth-largest carmaker. With 25.7 lakh cars produced in the first seven months of 2016, India is 20,000 units ahead of South Korea's numbers over the same period. Claiming the top spot is China with 1.28 crore cars produced, followed by the US at 70.8 lakh, Japan at 54 lakh and Germany at 36.2 lakh.

Although annual production figures are still a long way off, manufacturers in South Korea fear for a continued fall from the fifth place, since the country’s auto industry has been facing labour unrest and increasing taxes. Only 2.5 lakh cars were exported from South Korea in August 2016 – a figure that was tagged as a seven-year low for the country’s auto industry.

Meanwhile, India’s domestic demand for vehicles continues to rise due to stable industry growth. Car production in India employs about 1.9 crore people directly or indirectly, and accounts for almost seven per cent of the country’s economy. 

Reports released by SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) also show how the Indian automotive industry has grown over the last few years. During the 2015-16 fiscal year, the production of passenger vehicles increased by 5.97 per cent compared to the previous fiscal year. Over the same period, domestic passenger vehicle sales saw an increase of 7.24 per cent while exports in the same segment witnessed a healthy jump of 5.23 per cent.