Competition Landscape in India's Automotive and Auto Parts Sector

The automotive sector is one of India's largest andFor the 4-wheelers segment, MUL/Suzuki dominates
fastest growing manufacturing sectors. It is rankedthe automotive landscape holding a 33% share of the
the 11th largest passenger car producer in the world.passenger car market in 2004/05. In the second
In the category of motorcycles and scooters, India isplace is Tata Motors, a local company, commanding
ranked 1st and 2nd respectively. With India26% share, while Hyundai Motor ranked third with
increasingly liberalizing its market place, many new15% share and the rest split amongst close to 2
joint ventures evolved, resulting in close to 2 dozendozen other manufacturers.
global auto manufacturers setting up shop in India.For the 2-wheelers segment, it remains quite a local
The auto component segment is equally robust,dominant game but global players also have obvious
supplying the entire range of parts required by thepresence in the market. Major players in this segment
domestic automobile industry and currently employsinclude Bajaj Auto, TVS Suzuki, LML Limited,
about 250,000 people. Although small by globalHero-Honda Motors, Yamaha Motor India, Kinetic
standards, this segment is growing rapidly as a resultEngineering, Maharashtra Scooters Majestic Auto,
of its low costs and rising quality. Over 300 small andKinetic-Honda Motors, Royal Enfield (India), Scooters
medium companies directly service the OEMs(India), Greaves Ltd. Foreign manufacturers also have
assembling vehicles in India. Downstream, close topresence in India through their 100% owned
5,000 other micro firms are working for these Tier 1subsidiaries, e.g. Honda Motorcycle, Scooter India Pvt.
suppliers, as well as for the replacement marketLtd. M/s Honda Motor Co., Japan, Yamaha Motor,
Competition in IndiaJapan. The largest player is Hero Honda Motors,
As a result, competition in India's automobile andaccounting for 40% of market share, followed by
parts sector had been heating up in the recent years.Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor, which account for 27%
Many global players in the automobile and partsand 18% respectively.
industry have already set up presence in India. MostMarket Share in the Auto parts sector
of them are through tie-ups with dominant localThe auto parts sector in India is highly fragmented
players, while some are done entirely on their own.and yet to overcome quality related problems.
In the absence of strong competition in the past, theDespite this, India has also managed to attract
local car manufacturer Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) hasleading players in the auto parts manufacturing to
virtually dominated the Indian automotive market inlocate in India. These players include Delphi Systems,
the passenger segments since the 1980s. As theBosch, Visteon, Denso, Johnsons Controls, and TRW
automotive manufacturing sector rapidly evolvedAutomotive to name a few. As a result of such
through the dynamics of open market andsuccessful localization of these components, vehicles
deregulation, many new joint ventures (both technicalmanufacturers started outsourcing more and more
and financial) were formed between local players withcomponents rather than manufacture in-house. For
leading global manufacturers. In 1982, MUL, then aexample, GM expects to source more auto parts a
wholly government-owned company, signed up ayear from India by 2008, increasing to US$1 B from
collaboration agreement with Suzuki of Japan toUS$120 B in 2007. Hence, local firms are encouraged
establish the volume production of contemporaryto develop components and set up facilities.
models. Subsequently, the licensing regime wasWhenever required, OEMs and these global tier 1 part
scrapped in 1993 paving way for 17 new ventures,makers supported through equity participation or
of which 16 are now manufacturing carstechnical collaboration etc
Since then, there has also been an emergence ofCompetition in the International Market
new competition for higher value segments of theBesides the competition observed amongst global
passenger car market. Hence, local players like MULplayers in the domestic India market. India as an
also began to face competition from new foreign carautomotive manufacturing country is also pitting
makers. Ford entered the mid-range market with theagainst other competitors in the international market.
Ikon model in April 1998, a move which was followedIn terms of exports of automobile, India is ranked
by Honda, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, and Daewoo. Other29th, while China, the other huge automotive factory
players, Hyundai and Daewoo, have since improvedranked 17th. For exports of auto parts, India was
their share of the passenger car market with new26th, while China came in 11th. The top country for
modelsexports of automobile and auto parts was Germany.
Market Share in the Automobile Sector