Nissan had revived the Datsun brand in 2013 and had big plans with their budget brand. Nissan, with this brand, wanted to manufacture budget cars for emerging countries like India, Indonesia, Russia, and Africa among others.
However, due to the declining sales figures, the brand never gained traction and caused Nissan to finally pull the plug off the Datsun brand in India.
Ford had announced to stop manufacturing vehicles from its two manufacturing facilities located in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu after it recorded an operating loss of around $2bn in India over the past decade.
The carmaker has been manufacturing cars for 25 years in the country but has struggled to taste success due to rising competition.
However, the company, in a statement, revealed that it will continue to cater for its hybrid and all-electric cars via import route in India and will support its existing customers.
Harley Davidson, back in 2011, had set up its first plant outside America in Bawal, Haryana to keep the costs of its bikes in check for the Indian market.
However, the steep taxes on the assembled bike still made it more expensive than the competition. In addition to this, the COVID-19 pandemic could also be blamed for fast-forwarded Harley’s decision on leaving the nation.
The Italian automaker Fiat, which was among the oldest car manufacturing companies in India, had decided to leave the country due to the dwindling sales and the growing competition.
Fiat decided to cease its production in the country in January 2019 and completely halted operations in March 2020.
UM Motorcycles, also known as United Motors of America, had started its India operations in collaboration with Lohia Auto Industries.
However, due to the use of lower quality parts in its products, the company started receiving backlash from users and experts alike. This led to legal prosecutions from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) and made the company end its India operations abruptly.
The US-based Cleveland Motorcycles had left India within one year after announcing its entry into the two-wheeler market.
It had announced its entry at the 2018’s Auto Expo but eventually ceased its operations in 2019, citing weak demand for its bikes.
Eicher Polaris, a joint venture of Eicher Motors and Polaris Industries with an investment of over Rs 350 crore, stopped its India operations within six years of incorporation in March 2018.
Eicher Motors, while shutting Eicher Polaris’ India operations, said it was getting increasingly difficult to sustain operations with significantly lower than expected sales. The joint venture saw.
South Korea’s fourth-largest automobile manufacturer Ssangyong Motor Company had ended its India operations in 2018. With only one SsangYong product in India, the automaker left the Indian market within four years due to extremely limited brand recall value.
Later M&M, Ssangyong's parent company, decided to launch SsangYong’s next car ‘G4 Rexton’ under its branding.
MAN Truck and Bus, owned by the Volkswagen Group, had exited India in 2018 due to several years of poor demand for their commercial vehicles.
The company was facing tough competition from domestic commercial vehicle manufacturers like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland.
US-based automaker General Motors, which had started its operations in India in 1996 with the Opel brand, decided to close its India operations in May 2019 due to mounting losses, and near-negligible sales.
However, in almost two decades of its India operation, some of the company’s cars — Opel Astra, Opel Corsa, Chevrolet Optra, SRV, Tavera, Cruze and Beat — were able to win the heart of the enthusiasts but weren't able to cover-up its loses.