of the top markets lmc sees sales in china rising 7 to 22 million vehicles this year and climbing 21 in the united states to 135 millionwhile both china and the united states are putting the pandemic behind them india is still recovering from a deadly second wave and has fully vaccinated only about 5 of adultsthe extra pressure on public finances has also left india at risk of losing its investment credit rating limiting its scope for the sort of additional stimulus measures that have helped to boost us and chinese auto marketshigh hopesit is a grim prospect for foreign manufacturers at a time when they are having to invest in electric vehicles and future technologies in more mature profitable marketsaccording to the society of indian automobile manufacturers siam ford honda skoda and volkswagen saw sales in india drop 2028 last fiscal year through march 31 more than twice the decline at maruti suzuki and hyundaiutilisation levels have fallen below 30 at some foreign manufacturers factories data from siam showedthat is a far cry from their initial goalsnissan had hoped for 5 share of indias car market by 2020 but has less than 1 todayhonda told reuters in 2018 that to be a meaningful player it needed 10 market share its share has fallen to 3 from 5 back then and it has closed one of two plants in the countryand ford which has invested over 2 billion in india has less than a 2 shareto compete in india companies need a steady stream of new products which needs more investment said lmcs ammar masterautomakers with an aged product range face an uphill battle and are at a greater risk of losing sales and market share he said adding companies like ford nissan and honda do not currently have strong product pipelinesa lack of clarity on export policies and other regulatory hurdles are complicating matters for global carmakers executives at two of them saidindia last year withdrew its export incentive scheme crucial for companies like ford and volkswagen that ship out more cars than they sell locally and is yet to finalise a new onethe absence of free trade agreements between india and export nations is also putting it at a cost disadvantage compared with places like thailand and vietnam that have such deals the executives addedindia needs to offset its associated risks that hold back multinational automakers from scaling up or investing further said former ford india executive vinay piparsania