WASHINGTON: Indian car exports through Chennai and Kamarajar sea ports saw contraction in the first half of the current fiscal by 4.7 per cent and 3.57 per cent respectively. From April to September 2016, Kamarajar Port exported 1.06 lakh cars compared with 1.10 lakh cars in the corresponding year-earlier period. At the same time, Chennai Port handled 79,233 units against 83,105 units for the same period.
The decline in exports at Kamarajar Port was reported by most car majors such as Honda (58.95 per cent), Toyota (17.64 per cent), Nissan and Renault (2.31 per cent) and Ford (2.63 per cent). The Chennai Port, which handles vehicles from Hyundai, Nissan and Ford, saw a slight increase in volumes from Hyundai and Nissan.
“The reasons are not too far to seek,” said a Kamarajar Port official. “Some car manufacturers such as Ford, Toyota and Nissan are on the verge of coming out with new models or trying the combination of coastal, rail or road to reduce time and logistics cost,” indicating that car-makers might be holding back on the older models. “However, we expect the export numbers to increase in the second half of the current fiscal,” the official said.
At the Chennai Port, Hyundai pipped other car manufacturers in India in showing growth. It exporting 79,138 cars through the port as against 77,364 cars for the corresponding year-earlier period. Interestingly, Hyundai, for the first time, used the Kamarajar Port to send about 1,000 cars to Cochin.
Nissan occupied the second slot at 52,133 (53,367) cars through the Kamarajar Port, followed by Ford with 42,554 (43,708) cars. Incidentally, Ford shifted its loyalty from Chennai Port to Kamarjar Port as the number of export vehicles came down to a mere six from 5,720 in the corresponding year-earlier period at the Chennai Port.
Nissan and Renault together exported 52,133 cars from Kamarajar Port and 89 cars from the Chennai Port. Asked about the contraction, a Hyundai official said: “We are trying various modes to export cars. Moving vehicles through coastal shipping was one such move. We also tried transporting cars from the Walajabad auto hub near Chennai through rail.”
