Record demand for made-in-India cars

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- VIKRAM CHAUDHARY

INDIA IS SET to record its highest-ever passenger car exports in 2025, underscoring a structural shift in the country's auto manufacturing base even as some global automakers have exited local production.

Data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) shows that car exports during the first 11 months of calendar year 2025 stood at 790,667 units, already surpassing the full-year figure of 743,326 units recorded in 2024. With December typically the strongest month for exports, industry executives expect shipments this year to comfortably exceed one million units, nearly double the 428,098 units exported in 2020.

While 2020 was affected by Covid-related disruptions, exports had already crossed the pre pandemic peak last year. The previous high was recorded in 2017, when India exported 738,894 cars, driven largely by Ford and General Motors using their Indian plants as global export hubs.