Business

India among world’s top automakers

NEW DELHI: With the boom in the domestic auto industry in recent years, India has found a place among the world’s top 15 automakers and has been ranked fourth in the list of automobile manufacturers in the leading developing countries’ category.

According to United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) ‘International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2008’, India occupies the 12th position in the global list of top 15 automakers. Heading the list is Japan followed by the US and Germany while the other countries among the top 15 are Mexico, France, Korea, the UK, Canada, Spain, Iran, Sweden, Brazil, Italy and Indonesia.

While India has been placed fourth among the leading developing countries in automobile production, topping the list in this category is Mexico, followed by Korea and Iran. In the fifth slot is Brazil, followed by Indonesia, Turkey, Argentina, Thailand, Singapore, China, China (Taiwan Province), Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Columbia.

Significantly, the UNIDO report has revealed that India also figures among the top 15 global producers of chemicals and chemical products, electrical machinery and apparatus, basic metals (iron and steel, non-ferrous metals), coke, refined petroleum products, nuclear fuel, non-metallic mineral products (glass and glass products, cement, lime and plaster, ceramic products), machinery and equipment, leather, leather products and footwear and textiles.

In the textile sector, India has been placed fifth among the world’s top 15 producers in the world, after Japan. The top slot has gone to China, followed by the U.S., Italy and Japan.

The other countries making up the global 15 are Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Germany, Korea, the UK, Brazil, Turkey and Bangladesh. According to an UNIDO statement here, the yearbook is the 14th issue of its annual publication and is based on 2006 data. It follows the international standard for industrial classification that categorises the automobile sector as manufacture of motor vehicles, bodies (coachwork) for motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers and manufacture of parts and accessories of motor vehicles and their engines.

The yearbook’s primary objective is to provide statistical indicators to facilitate international comparisons relating to the manufacturing sector.

In this regard, the countries included in the data are listed in two categories of industrialised and developing countries.

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