China and India - The Booming Auto Industry
It used to be the General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler at first, then comes the new era of Germans, Americans, and the Japanese. Not so far in the future we will start to see the rise of the new markets for automobiles from China and India.
Cars have become a necessity in our daily life. With oil prices topping an all time sky high of $130USD per barrel, people are still in favor to drive their fuel guzzlers everyday to work, leisure, and errands. The demand for a four wheeler is still huge as people are eager to pay for the high fuel price.
For carmakers, solving the problem for high fuel prices is simple - reducing the sale price of the car, make it drink less fuel, and promise the customers of a better mileage for their money. This can be made simple by producing fuel economical cars in countries that are well popular for their cheap labors and raw materials - China and India.
To relate both countries by their auto industry strategies together, we will not see them doing the same approach towards their growing global market share. India, more of a place full of low cost labors, is a central hub for assembling cheap and low cost cars for the European region. Cars like Hyundai Getz, Suzuki Swifts, and so many other super minis are assembled and being exported via Chennai port. While India itself is a central hub for other car makers to build their plants and assembly line in, local car maker Tata has announced it’s own super economical and fuel saving super compact, the Tata Nano. It costs a mere 1 Lakh (approximately $2500USD) and with this price, it gives the opportunity for consumers to consider a cheap and economical car.
China on the other hand has a different approach than India. Since last year China has overtaken Germany to emerge as the third largest car making country in the world. With its growing population and economy, it may one day reach the position of the Japanese car industries. Since intellectual property is not being taken in seriously in China, many vehicles are designed identically to look like some other automobiles around. They also have their own brand such as LiFan and Chery with the former trying to purchase a plant in Brazil to manufacture their own cheap and economical car engine, which will realize the car being fully China made instead of their locally assembled imported vehicles.
Looking at the rate at how their market grows, we do hope that one day China or India will emerge as the new benchmark in automotive industry, maintaining standards and quality while keeping the price low for people around the world - Would be better if they can come out with hybrid cars too.
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