Foreign Carmakers Ship More Made-In-USA Cars Overseas - Forbes

Honda-USA has reached a milestone, will export one millionth vehicle to S Korea!! Wow !!

Honda producing cars in USA, for over 30 yrs, with a view to 'make cars closer to customers', American cars with Japanese quality'. 
This has been in sharp contrast to Toyota strategy to make more cars in Japan.

Always wondered, why strong brands, which sell big nos in USA, do not produce more locally.
Apple included. (Apple just announced they will make more apple products locally)

Acc to the article, the top export markets for US-built vehicles are: Canada, Mexico, Germany, China & Saudi Arabia. I wonder, why not increase production in China and start in Saudi Arabia, to cater to local needs and also within the region, GCC/MENA ?

That would mean lower cost & more jobs.  A 'glocal' brand. A good example is Maruti Suzuki in India.

Foreign Carmakers Ship More Made-In-USA Cars Overseas - Forbes

Chinese car exports to emerging markets

Excellent article on how

• Chinese auto makers are increasing their presence in 'easier' markets, such as part of BRICS -Brazil, Russia, S Africa and ME -  Algeria, Iran, Saudi Arabia.
• Smartly ignoring US & EU ! (Blue ocean strategy!)
• Reason - value for money! ( hope it does not come at the cost of quality - after all, compared to big brands, how many smaller brands have come forward with recalls, in spite of inferior quality & less stringent quality-control !!)
• But then, with JD Power reports, et al, the Chinese brands will start improving their quality score & learn to manage it !!
• Established brands are keen to ramp up nos in the 18 million units Chinese market - again, right strategy. 

Read on...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/business/global/valuable-gains-for-china-in-emerging-auto-markets.html?pagewanted=all

Indian Car Mfrers should tap export opportunity

Cars "Made in India" exports :


Car exports in May 2012 from India : 
45 K compared to 33.5K cars exported in May, 2011 ===> 34 % jump


Now that is the smart way of handling a dip in demand. 


Most of the cars brands have taken to a more easy out, by offering hefty discounts.


Demand for low-cost cars has gone up in most of the markets. As there is more pressure on wallet, mass-segment will opt for better value for money. It may not be a bad idea for India's manufacturers to go for an aggressive push on exports. Even Middle East looks promising...


Hyundai, Ford, Nissan will find it easier to reach out to markets where their brands enjoy certain equity. But others, like Suzuki, Tata & Mahindra may need to invest & commit themselves for a long haul. It may be worth the effort, surely...