India overtakes Japan to become third largest auto market globally

Tags: Economics/Business National News

According to the latest Nikkei Asia industry data, India has overtaken Japan to become the third largest auto market for the first time.

An overview of the news

• India’s new vehicle sales were at least 4.25 million units, ahead of the 4.2 million sold in Japan, based on preliminary results. 

• New vehicles delivered in India between January and November 2022 totaled 4.13 million. 

• In December 2022 sales volume the total comes to around 4.25 million units.

• India sales volumes are expected to increase further with the inclusion of pending sales figures for the fourth quarter for commercial vehicles.

• Most of the new autos sold in India last year consisted of vehicles powered by gasoline, including hybrid vehicles.

• Along with Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and other Indian automakers have seen sales growth during the last year.

• According to British research firm Euromonitor, only 8.5 per cent of Indian households own a passenger vehicle in 2021, which means there is considerable scope for growth in sales.

• According to data from the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motorcycle Association, 4,201,321 vehicles were sold in Japan last year, down 5.6 percent from 2021.

World's largest auto market

• In 2021, China topped the global auto market with sales of 26.27 million vehicles.

• The US stood second with 15.4 million vehicles sold, followed by Japan with 4.44 million units.

• According to Nikkei Asia, China overtook Japan to become the second largest auto market in 2006.

• In 2009, China overtook the US to become the world's largest auto market.