As Chevrolet say goodbye to India, its Beat basks in glory as top exported car

Volkswagen, Ford and Nissan increased exports despite their sales in India are not overwhelming.

Chevrolet exit, Chevrolet exit India, GM India sales — Chevrolet BeatPR Handout

US auto major General Motors made an announcement on May 18, 2017, marking the retirement of Chevrolet brand in India. General Motors India will wind up sales of Chevrolet cars by end of this year. Interestingly, the brand's small car Beat has become the top exported vehicle from India in the first half of financial year 2017-18.

GM India exported 45,222 units of the Chevrolet Beat in the first six months of this financial year, reports ET Auto. During the same period in the last financial year, the company's car exports was only 30,613 units of the Beat. General Motors India exports left-hand-drive Chevrolet Beat from its Talegaon plant in Maharashtra to the markets like Chile, Central America, Peru and Argentina. The plant now manufactures Chevrolet cars solely for exports purpose.

Volkswagen Vento Highline Plus, Vento Highline Plus India, Vento Highline Plus price, Vento Highline Plus features — Volkswagen VentoVolkswagen

German car maker Volkswagen's Vento is the second largest exported car from India. VW India shipped out 41,430 units of the Ventos to Latin American markets during April-September 2017. Ford EcoSport, which topped the chart of top 10 cars and SUVs exported from India in H1 of last fiscal, dropped to the third position this time. Ford India exported 39,935 units in April-September FY18, short of 2,419 units when compared to its figures in April-September of FY17.

Fourth top exported model from India is the Ford Figo hatchback. Ford India exported 26,331 units of the small car to Europe. Hyundai Creta and the Grand i10 remain at the same fifth and sixth position, respectively. The South Korean carmaker exported 25,940 units of Creta SUV and 19,719 units of Grand i10 from its Chennai plant.

Maruti Suzuki exported 18,869 units of the Baleno premium hatchback and sealed the seventh spot in the list. Ford Figo's compact sedan sibling, the Aspire is the eighth largest exported model with 16,081 units.

Nissan models have become ninth and tenth most exported cars from India. The Japanese car maker transshipped 13,847 units of the Sunny sedan in April-September 2017 from Chennai plant. The Micra hatchback's exports figure was 13,599 units.