Business News
German auto industry eyes Indian market
Sep 22, 2009, 13:10 GMT
Frankfurt - India's largely untapped market offers enormous potential for the German car industry, experts at the Frankfurt International Car Show said Tuesday.
'In Germany there are 500 cars for every 1,000 people. In India there are only 11 cars for every 1,000 people,' said Matthias Wissmann, president of the German car industry association VDA.
Increased cooperation between the two countries was needed, Wissmann told an India Day forum at the IAA international car show in Frankfurt.
The best way to achieve this was through the creation of a free trade zone between the European Union and India, he said. Talks on this have already been held, he added.
Indian Ambassador Sudhir Vyas said his country wanted to advance from being the world's 11th biggest car producer to seventh by 2016. By this time the automobile industry would account for 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and employ 25 million workers.
The VDA said German car sales in India grew last year and the market there also presented good opportunities to parts suppliers.
Bernhard Steinruecke, general-director of the German-Indian chamber of commerce, said 12 German firms supplied parts for the new Indian compact car, Tata Nano.
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