Chinese automobiles to ride Indian roads soon: Foton, BYD on the list
Chinese automobiles will ride Indian roads pretty soon, sources say. During the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s India visit, he is expected to deliver a session on the Chinese companies which are looking at India as an investment destination. Beiqi Foton, among many others is the automobile company which has its heart set on India. Apart from Foton, BYD auto is also expected to invest in the Indian market as far as the automobile sector is concerned.
Build Your Dreams or BYD is best known for its BYD F3 car which on date is one of the top cars in China with approximately 30,000 units sold. On board the company is investment wizard Warren Buffet, with a 10% stake.
Beiqi Foton who is rumored to have already started on their feasibility research of an Indian market entry, is one of the leading automobile companies in China. Beiqi Foton or BFC specializes in trucks and machinery relating to agriculture. With an asset base of 5 bn Yuan and employee strength of 28,000, Beiqi is a big name in the Chinese automobile sector. It also secured one of the top 5 spots in the list of top 500 Chinese brands. It is the 2nd in the world in terms of its commercial vehicle manufacture and had sold well over 600,000 units worldwide last year.
Foton has researched the markets of India and conducted studies as to whether or not a supplier-base is available for
the supply of commercial automobile parts and for local production. A USD 200 mn investment in India is what is seen on the cards for Foton. The company is still undecided on whether its entry to India will be single or a collaborative effort.
Till date, in India GM is collaborating with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, the only Chinese automobile company which has operations in India. Together, the companies plan to produce a 1-tonne light vehicle commercial in nature. A few sedans are also being planned. The major competition in the Indian front will be from the Tata and the Mahindra company which own the lion’s share of the commercial market.
Patent rights and Chinese manufacturing regulations are expected to be the major obstacle for most automobile companies who are planning to set up a base in India. A lot of automobile manufacturers like BYD are often found to copy the car designs from its more international competitors. This could be an issue for Chinese automobile manufacturers when they come head-on with the original makers of the cars who have a broad base in the Indian market. BMW, Chevy and Corolla are some of the brands which could have a problem with their design and in some cases, logo being blindly copied on to the Chinese models.
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