China's SAIC Motor Corp is reportedly experiencing significant sales growth in India, its seventh-largest overseas market. According to an announcement made by senior executives on Wednesday, sales volume in the region has already surpassed 10,000 vehicles with an additional 38,000 pending orders.
The Chinese firm managed to exceed its forecasted sales volume in India thanks to the popularity of its locally-made compact sports utility vehicle (SUV), the MG Hector. The particular model is manufactured in the company's factory in Hatol, located in the Western Indian state of Gujarat.
The MG Hector was originally launched in June of this year and since then SAIC has been rapidly expanding its production output to meet the rising demand from Indian SUV buyers. The Shanghai-based company's self-owned MG brand has managed to gain popularity in the region.
India is expected to become the world's third-largest automotive market by 2020. Sales data in the country has revealed that overall passenger vehicle sales are expected to have a growth rate of 5 percent per year over the next five years. If this is proven to be true, India could overtake Japan as the third-largest car market, right behind China and the United States.
According to the managing director of MG India, Rajeev Chaba, it has already rolled out the 10,000th MG Hector from its plant and is moving quickly to meet additional orders. It was also revealed that the company already has around 38,000 bookings up to the Hindu festival of Diwali.
Based on its current sales volumes, Chaba stated that the company is projecting sales of up to 24,000 units next year. The sales forecast for the year after is expected to reach 70,000 units.
To keep up with the rising demand, MG India and its parent company are heavily investing in expanding its production capacity in the region, although it is not yet clear if this would translate into the establishment of another production facility. There are reports claiming that SAIC may be looking into buying an existing production facility in the country owned by GM.
India is currently part of SAIC's top seven largest international markets for its various brands such as MG, Maxus, SAIC Volkswagen, Roewe. The other countries that are on that list include Australia, Chile, Indonesia, the Middle East, New Zealand, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
While China had experienced an overall decline in exports of around 8 percent for the year, SAIC still managed to exceed its initial expectations with over 240,000 units shipped abroad in the first three quarters of this year. This represents a 15.5 percent year-on-year growth.
