Chennai, March 22 : Indian import of cars from Britain has seen nearly 11-fold increase in the past seven years, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said on Wednesday.
According to its website, SMMT is the voice of the British motor industry representing more than 700 automotive companies in that country.
"In 2016, Indian motorists bought 3,372 British-built cars, up from 309 in 2009. Demand rose 15.8 per cent compared with 2015, lifting India from 10th to eight place in the UK's Asia export markets," SMMT said in a statement on its website.
According to SMMT, the top British best seller models in India are Land Rover Discovery Sport, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar XF. Jaguar XE and Jaguar F-Pace.
On the other hand, Indian-built models accounted for 31,535 new car registrations in Britain in 2016, logging an increase of over 12.6 per cent over 2015 numbers, SMMT said.
Asia is now the third biggest export market for British built cars, after Europe and America, accounting for 13.4 per cent of sales.
"Economic growth has led to increased demand for high-quality luxury vehicles. Key to the British sector's success has been meeting this demand with a shift to premium," said SMMT.
"Ten new car models began production in Britain last year, nine of them from premium brands, helping to make Britain the second biggest producer of premium cars in Europe, after Germany, and the EU's third biggest car producer,a SMMT added.
"Growing prosperity in Asian markets in recent years has seen a surge in demand for premium cars, even despite high import duties in many countries. As a car market, India really understands British brands, and thanks to its engineering excellence and highly skilled workforce, Britain has a rich heritage of producing the highest quality, globally competitive premium vehicles," Tamzen Isacsson, Director of Communications and International, SMMT was quoted as saying in the statement.
According to SMMT, last year, some 14 million pounds worth of British car parts were bought by the Indian automotive aftermarket, and this is set to increase significantly - by around 15 per cent annually over the next five years.
