From Mexico City to Pretoria, India's car exports are running into turbulence

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : Just a month after Mexico doubled tariffs on car imports, South Africa is considering the option, in a one-two punch that threatens Indian automobile exports of over $2 billion. The latest move, if it takes effect, will hurt India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, and Hyundai Motor India Ltd—For Maruti, South Africa is the largest export market, while for Hyundai, it is among the top five.

Maruti shares fell 2.39% on the BSE on Wednesday and Hyundai shares fell 0.61%, while the benchmark Sensex rose 0.60%. South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is reviewing its automobile industry policy, officials informed lawmakers on Tuesday. One of the measures is raising the 25% import duty on cars to 50%, the ceiling set by the World Trade Organization for passenger vehicle imports.

Commerce ministry data showed that Indian automakers exported $1.2 billion worth of passenger vehicles to South Africa in fiscal year 2025 (FY25), a growth of 26% from the previous year. Between April and November this year, exports have crossed $1 billion, an increase of 30%. Mexico was close behind: India exported $938 million worth of passenger vehicles to Mexico during the year.

However, that performance has come under a cloud, with the Mexican Parliament raising tariffs from 15-20% to 50% on 11 December. The new tariffs apply only to countries such as India and China, with which Mexico does not have a free trade agreement. A South African official said his department's comments highlighting WTO-permitted tariffs and current import duties were meant to inform lawmakers about the current structure and did not advocate any policy position.