Overview
India ranks just behind China with the world’s second largest population at over 1 billion
people. Less than 1 percent of the population currently owns automobiles, which is a much
smaller proportion than the rest of the Southeast Asia region. For example, the regional average
of ownership is 16.45 percent.1 Nonetheless, sales of passenger vehicles in India have more than
doubled since 2001 to over 1.5 million units (see Table on last page). India also has one of the
fastest growing economies, and many U.S. companies view India as a potentially lucrative
market. It is expected that the automotive industry will play an important role in helping the
economy to continue this growth. Not only are domestic sales expected to grow dramatically,
but India will play a significant role in the global automotive market. The world’s top
manufacturers, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and others, have a significant share of
already established manufacturing bases. These manufacturers hope to not only capture an
emerging market, but also to use these bases as export hubs to serve the region and the global
market. As can be seen in the Table, exports of passenger vehicles have more than quadrupled
since 2001.